Regional Cuisine - New England Clam Chowder

The brisk spice of fallen leaves, the sea air and crisp apples are just a few olfactory treats that remind us of autumn in New England. Among these marvelous treats for the senses are popular dishes from appetizers to desserts that you just won't find, or at least won't find quite the same way, anywhere else in the world. If you doubt it, there's always an ad that was popular this past autumn, right after the Red Sox won the World Series. In it, a man was explaining, "Son, when you live in New England there are three basic truths... clam chowder is white..." Well, the other two truths just don't matter. We New Englanders take our clam chowder very seriously!

In autumn, up and down the New England coast nearly every town and township has its own Chowder Festival. Throughout the six states, restaurants cook up pots of chowder from their best recipes and compete for the honor of being named "Best Clam Chowder". The granddaddy of all New England Chowder Festivals is held in Newport, Rhode Island, where dozens of area restaurants compete for the title of "America's Best Clam Chowder".

Clam chowder is a simple enough dish, but like chili in Texas and crab cakes in Maryland, every cook has their own special version of the recipe. Of course, there are the basics such as clams, potatoes and milk. From there, it's every chef for himself. Some swear that clam chowder without salt pork is just potage. Others insist that clam chowder can't be made without onions. Cooks have nearly come to blows over whether heavy cream should ever be used and why a butter and flour roux is a better base than clam liquor. Secret recipes abound, with everyone having their favorites.

My own personal favorite happens to be the thick, creamy, eat-it-with-a-fork variety of clam chowder served at Legal Seafood and Au Bon Pain in Boston. Rich and full of potato chunks, meaty bits of clam, onions, garlic and salt pork, it's a meal rather than an opener for one. Served with a slab of butter slathered, homemade bread, it's guaranteed to raise your cholesterol level and please your taste buds for hours.

Chefs can be some tough critics when it comes to clam chowder particulars. Some chefs cry sacrilege, while others believe that fresh corn adds the perfect touch of crisp sweetness to the rich broth and pungent bits of clam meat. Corn isn't the only bone of contention when it comes to this regional specialty. Purists contend that the only real ingredients in clam chowder are clams, water, milk, onions, potatoes and butter. They can't agree on whether chowder should be made with mussels or littlenecks, Maine chefs choose littlenecks, while Connecticut chefs use mussels, whether to add the clam bellies or just the necks, or even whether clams should be steamed "virgin" or with garlic, wine or beer.

No matter whether you like your clam chowder thick or thin, with or without corn, flavored with salt pork or bacon, there is one thing on which all New Englanders agree, clam chowder is white. We're not quite sure what it is that they serve in Manhattan, but it's not clam chowder.