of ingredients is fish layered with sliced potatoes, onions and spices
in a cast-iron caldron, and then gently simmered. Just before the
muddle is served, an egg is cracked into the rich fish broth.
Winter chowders and their cousins can be had from small
roadside diners, to fancy-pants restaurants and ski hills serving up
steaming bowls of it.
Advice about creating an authentic chowder varies from only
using North Atlantic haddock and cooking it in the potato water;
or using lobster stock for the base; to only clam juice; salted pork
not bacon; evaporated milk not cream; no herbs, just a bay leaf and
freshly cracked black pepper. All the cooks agree, however, that the
crowning jewels are always the locally caught fish and shellfish —
lobster, scallops, mussels, oysters and clams.
95
chowders. Renowned Chef James Beard (1903-1985) described the
Manhattan version: “that rather horrendous soup called Manhattan
clam chowder … resembles a vegetable soup that accidentally had
some clams dumped into it.”
Rhode Island clam chowder is distinctively absent of dairy and
tomatoes and its clear broth is known for its unique use of quahogs
(pronounced co-hogs). Quahogs are Rhode Island’s state shellfish
and the key ingredient along with bacon, onions and potatoes.
On the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Hatteras Island-style
chowder also skips the cream and tomatoes and uses clam juice
instead, along with tiny littleneck or cherrystone clams that pro-duce
a delicate, sweet flavor.
In eastern North Carolina, a close cousin of chowder began on
the banks of the Neuse River and found its way to church fun-draisers
and family gatherings. Fish muddles, as they came to be
known, were cooked outdoors in big cast iron cauldrons over open
fires. Traditionally only rockfish were used, but as numbers have
dwindled, different white fish and even chicken has become a com-mon
replacement. Greater than the sum of its parts, the simple list
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Seafood
Chowder
This recipe is
just a guide,
something to
build on, because
a good chowder
recipe is a per-sonal
process.
Preparation
Melt the butter in a large soup pot, add the bacon
and onion and cook over medium heat until the
onion begins to soften. Add clams and sauté for
5 minutes. Add the stock, wine, clam juice, potatoes,
salt, pepper and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce
the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are
tender. Add the cream and thyme and stir. Add the
lobster, bring to a simmer over a medium heat, and
cook until lobster is done, about 5 minutes. Add
cayenne pepper and stir. Season to taste. Sprinkle
with dill.
2 Tbsp butter
10 strips thick-cut
bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1½ cups stock (fish or
vegetable)
2 russet potatoes, diced
1½ tsp salt
¼ cup white wine
(optional)
¼ tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp chopped fresh
thyme
2 cups shucked clams,
chopped, plus juice
2 cups chopped lobster
meat
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh
dill
Ingredients