Shaker-Style Corn Chowder
This recipe for corn chowder is based upon and adapted from the recipe
book “The Best of Shaker Cooking.” The recipe uses fresh corn, which
adds to the pale gold color, and the subtle sweet flavor that you don’t get
from canned corn. If you are making stock from scratch, add the corn-cobs
to impart depth and flavor. Good quality, thick-cut bacon comple-ments
the sweet fresh corn and spices of cumin and turmeric add both
color and subtlety.
2 cups fresh, husked corn
(about 3 ears)
4-6 slices thick-cut bacon, diced
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
3 cups stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 cup heavy cream
2 large potatoes, diced
Sea salt and fresh ground black
pepper to taste
Fresh chives, chopped for garnish
94
WBM february 2019
CHOWDER can take
advantage of almost
any ingredient that goes
to qualify it as a thick,
wholesome soup. The
addition of ingredients like sweet or
new potatoes, mushrooms and cheese
adds depth and richness. Winter
squash, like acorn and butternut, adds
color. Corn has long been prized for
its affordability and heartiness and has
been used in chowder since at least
1884, when the first recipe appeared
in Mary Lincoln’s “Boston Cook
Book.” In the 1900s the Shakers of
Pennsylvania baked fresh corn ker-nels
in the sun for days, then soaked
the ears in warm water for 12 hours,
before salting and serving them with
butter and cream. The Shaker culinary
legacy lives on in simple, wholesome
food prepared with local ingredients.
Today there are as many variations
on chowder recipes as there are ports
of call. Recipes have been passed down
through generations, and tweaked here
and there for taste. Chowder festivals
and cook-offs are held from Cape Cod
to Carolina Beach and every coastal
town in between. Pleasure Island held
its final Chowder Cook-Off, a tradi-tion
that lasted 20 years, in 2017.
If you’re from New England, clams
are king, and so you certainly grew
up with them in a thick and creamy
broth with the addition of onions,
potatoes and salted pork but most
definitely no tomatoes. Manhattan
clam chowder, a characteristically
red, dairy-free broth that makes
full use of the tomato, originated
with Portuguese immigrants who
arrived around 1910. The first recipe
appeared in “Soups and Sauces” by
Virginia Elliott and Robert Jones
in 1934, who named the soup, but
it has almost no real connection to
the city. The New England chowder
purists were purportedly so unhappy
with the red version that a Maine
legislator introduced a law in 1939
prohibiting tomato usage in clam
Preparation
In a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat, add the diced bacon
and cook until golden brown. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
Add the butter, onion, bell pepper, cumin, and turmeric and sauté until
the onion and pepper are tender. Add the corn, potatoes and stock and
bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the
corn and potatoes are soft. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
Add salt and pepper and adjust to taste. Allow the chowder to sit, up to
an hour, allowing the chowder to cure and the flavors to combine. Reheat
just before serving. Serve alongside freshly baked skillet corn bread.