Clam chowder is a soup made with clams and can have a broth or cream base. Varieties include New England, Manhattan, Rhode Island, and Delaware styles, with different ingredients and flavors. Recipes can be modified to suit individual preferences.
Clam chowder is a hearty soup whose main ingredient is clams. More commonly referred to as clam chowder, the chowder can have a broth base or a cream base. It comes in several varieties, including New England style, Manhattan style, Rhode Island style, and Delaware style. Regardless of the particular variety of chowder being prepared, the lollipop neck, long neck, or quahog clams are usually used.
New England clam chowder is usually made with a thick, cream-colored base. Often, the soup is flavored with bacon and includes chunks of potatoes, celery, and onions. Many people refer to this type of chowder as white clam chowder due to its milky white appearance.
Another type of clam chowder is known as Manhattan clam chowder. This particular soup has a tomato based broth. The broth itself is usually thin in texture but can be thickened if tomato puree is added. Aside from the clams, the soup generally contains a substantial serving of tomato, onion, carrot, and green bean chunks. Some recipes also use potatoes and other types of beans.
A less popular variety of clam chowder is Rhode Island clam chowder. Typically, this type of soup has a light, thin broth that is heavily flavored with bacon and clam juice. It also includes chunks of potatoes, celery and onions. Some individuals add tomato juice to the broth to give it additional color and flavor, but traditionally, the broth for this type of clam chowder is clear.
Delaware clam chowder is very similar to New England Style clam chowder except for one major twist. This type of clam chowder also includes cubes of salted pork, usually sauteed in butter. It has a thick cream base and also includes celery chunks, potatoes and sauteed onions.
Other lesser-known varieties of clam chowder can be found that have a little more spice. For example, Hatteras clam chowder has a slightly thickened clear broth flavored with bacon and spiced with plenty of white or black pepper. This soup also includes lots of potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Menorcan clam chowder is similar to Manhattan-style clam chowder, except for the notable addition of bacon or pork and datil pepper. Datil, a very hard-to-find pepper in the Habanera family, adds a lot of spicy heat to this particular type of clam chowder.
Given the many varieties of clam chowder, any person who loves the taste of clams can find one that suits their tastes. Recipes abound on the internet and in cookbooks that use a variety of flavor combinations. Considering the versatility of clam chowder, with a little imagination, any recipe can be modified to suit individual preferences.
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