A Battle Older Than the Super Bowl, Manhattan Versus New England
What greater East Coast food battle has there been than the classic New York versus New England fight over the seafood soup known as clam chowder? New Englanders claim birthrights to this stew of potatoes and clams, as do New Yorkers, who call their version Manhattan clam chowder. The title of Creator of Clam Chowder probably goes to New England, as mentions of the soup date back to the mid-1800s while official mentions of Manhattan clam chowder cannot be found until the early 1900s. But irrespective of who invented it, the true question, not unlike the question of who has the better football team, is who makes the best chowder, period.
Chowder is classically any soup that uses potatoes as a thickening agent. Potatoes can be the sole thickening agent or used in combination with flour, or cream as in the New England version of clam chowder. In clam chowder, be it Manhattan or New England style, onions are sautéed with salt pork (or bacon) and occasionally some other vegetables. Potatoes, clams, and clam juice are added. The difference in the two versions is one of tomatoes or no tomatoes, clear broth or creamy broth.
New England clam chowder was said to have developed because of the relative ease of harvesting clams and their abundant availability on coastal New England states. The rich stew of clams, salt pork and potatoes was then given a cream or milk base for chowder so dense you sometimes need a fork to eat it. The loyalty for this version is so strong that the legislature in the state of Maine proposed a bill in 1939 to outlaw the Manhattan version from being served in Maine’s restaurants. Versions of New England clam chowder are now served all over the country including the popular version served in a sourdough bread bowl you find all over San Francisco.
The origin of Manhattan clam chowder is not as clear as the soup base itself. This clear broth, with the additions of tomatoes, could have its roots in the Portuguese immigrants of Rhode Island, the Italian immigrants in Manhattan, or a combination of the two. One story says it was Portuguese fishermen's families who eliminated the cream from the chowder and began adding tomatoes. New Englanders thought the idea so strange that the only people who could be weird enough to make that adjustment would be New Yorkers, so they began calling it Manhattan clam chowder. Another very plausible story is that Manhattan clam chowder was just a way to rename and market an Italian fisherman’s stew that was already being sold all over New York City’s Little Italy.
This year, perhaps, the chowders will face off at your Super Bowl party as an extension of the battle being played between football teams on the television. Cream versus tomatoes might not be quite the same as Brady versus Manning. But it is a fight worthy of playing out in the kitchen as you watch the battle unfold on the field.
Made with onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic, chorizo sausage, flour, white wine, Idaho potato, clam juice, whole clams in juices
Serves/Makes: 6
- 1/4 pound thick cut bacon
- 1/2 large onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 pound chorizo sausage
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 large Idaho potato
- 2 cups clam juice
- 1 can (10 ounce size) whole clams in juices
- 1 can (24 ounce size) diced tomatoes
- 1 cup fish or chicken stock
Preheat soup pot over medium high heat. Cut bacon cross wise into 1/2-inch pieces. Add bacon to hot pot and saute for about 5 minutes to render fat.
Meanwhile, dice onion, celery, and green pepper. Mince garlic. Remove bacon from pot and set aside for later.
Add onion, celery and pepper to bacon fat. Reduce heat to medium and sweat onions and celery for about five minutes until softened. Add garlic and chorizo and sweat for another 2 minutes. Add flour and saute for 1 minute. Add white wine and bring to a boil and reduce by half.
Peel potato and dice into 1/2-inch cubes. Add clams with their juices, clam juice, tomatoes with their juices and stock. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
Add potatoes and boil for about 5-6 minutes until cooked through. Bring soup to a simmer. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve garnish with reserved bacon pieces.
Made with salt, onions, carrots, fresh parsley, bacon, potatoes, clams, cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper
Serves/Makes: 16
- 8 ounces chopped onions
- 8 ounces chopped carrots
- 1/2 ounce diced fresh parsley
- 4 ounces bacon, chopped
- 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 5 pounds canned chopped clams, drained
- 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon finely-ground black pepper
- 1/8 cup salt
- 36 ounces heavy whipping cream
- 1 gallon milk
- 1 tablespoon shrimp base
- 12 ounces butter
- 12 ounces flour
You will probably want to reduce the amount of each ingredient proportionately for a smaller finished product.
Over a medium heat, cook down onions, carrots, parsley and bacon for about 20 minutes. Meantime, steam potatoes for about 20 minutes, or until slightly tender. Drain clams and reserve 1 quart clam juice. Set aside.
Add cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper and salt to the onion-veggie mixture. Add heavy whipping cream, milk, reserved clam juice, and shrimp base and allow to come to boil.
In a smaller pot, melt butter and slowly add in flour to form roux. Once veggie mixture is boiling, add roux and thoroughly stir. Turn off heat and add clams. Add potatoes. Serve.
Recipe Source: Guest Chef: Alonzo Callens
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