Clam Chowder Day

What the day is

Clam Chowder Day is observed on February 25. The dish is regional to a degree that has produced genuine legislative hostility.

Origin and background

New England chowder is milk or cream based, thick, with potato, onion, salt pork and clams. Manhattan chowder substitutes tomatoes and is thinner and red. Rhode Island has a clear version with neither. The rivalry is real enough that in 1939 a member of the Maine legislature introduced a bill to prohibit the addition of tomatoes to chowder, which was a joke with a point behind it and is still cited in the argument.

The word chowder is generally traced to the French chaudière, a cauldron, and the dish descends from the communal fish stews of coastal fishing communities, where the pot held whatever the boats brought in.

The technique that separates good from rubbery is timing. Clams are muscle, and heat makes them contract and toughen within a couple of minutes. They should be cooked separately, removed, chopped, and returned to the pot only at the very end, off the heat if possible. Chowder simmered with the clams in it for half an hour will taste of clam and chew like an eraser.

The liquid they opened in is the most valuable thing in the recipe. Clam liquor carries the flavor and should be strained through cloth to remove grit and used as the base rather than discarded for stock or, worse, water.

Thickening splits opinion. Traditional chowder relies on the starch released from potatoes, which gives body without gumminess, while many modern versions use a flour roux and finish heavier. Using a floury potato variety gets most of the way there without any flour at all.

How to take part

• Cook the clams separately and add them back at the end.
• Strain and use the clam liquor. It is the flavor base.
• Use floury potatoes and let them do the thickening.
• Make it a day ahead. Chowder improves overnight and should be reheated gently.
• Try the Rhode Island clear version, which is the underrated one.