Boston clam chowder
Clam chowder is a North American clam soup that has a number of variations. The word ’chowder’ comes from the French word ”chaudière”, which stands for a casserole dish, in which fishermen from Brittany put some of their draught in order to prepare the bouillabaisse soup. There are several versions of the chowder soup: Manhattan clam chowder, New England clam chowder, Rhode Island clam chowder, not to speak of the different versions that contain fish, corn and tomato.
Chowder is a thick soup. Boston Chowder used to be thickened with sea rusks. In modern recipes, the rusks are salt crackers or bread, and they are served separately. Boston clam chowder is milk-based and it contains bacon, potato, onion and small common cockles.
1 pack of American bacon
1 small leek
1 large onion
3 sticks of celery
1 carrot
1 large clove of garlic
3 laurel leaves
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
4 firm potatoes
2 tbsp wheat flour
1.3 litres fish stock
2 dl double cream
1 to 2 cans (about 350 g) clams in water
chopped parsley, salt and white pepper
Serve with: Crackers or bread
Slice the bacon and chop the onions, celery, potatoes and carrot. Brown the bacon, and remove the bacon from the pan. Brown the vegetables in the bacon grease, and add crushed garlic. Mix and add the broth, laurel leaves and thyme. Let boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Mix the wheat flour with cream, mixing all the time, and thicken the soup with this mixture. Let boil for 5 minutes. Add clams, check the taste and add salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve the thick and hot soup with crackers or bread.