How to Ruin a Classic: Clam Chowder

I know what you’re thinking: You’re the drinks guy. Why are you writing about food? DFO has a food guy and he’s damn good at writing. Just bear with me here. Recently I came across this video of Jacques Pepin making “Classic New England Clam Chowder”.

I watched it and there are so many things wrong here I felt the need to respond. Before I go any further, I just want to say how much I love Jacques Pepin. I’ve got multiple seasons of his cooking shows saved, as well as 5 of his cookbooks that I use frequently!

I’m so sorry Jacques.

Let’s begin

Timestamp: 0:13

Ok, so our recipes differ immediately. He’s chopping bacon instead of salt pork. OK, I get it. Salt pork is a sort of niche ingredient, and bacon is more widely available. You need it to render the fat out to start the base. I can live with bacon here.

Timestamp 0:36

Olive oil is a choice. Though I think it makes sense. Two strips of bacon have way less fat to render than a block of salt pork. But the salt pork is also used later on, so I don’t know where this is going.

Timestamp 0:47

This is concerning. I’m a minute in and our recipes have nothing in common. He’s using leeks instead of a yellow onion. Leeks are part of the onion family so I’ll reluctantly give a pass here. It’s not something I would add. Leeks are filthy and the time to clean it and then chop it could be used just mincing an onion. In Jacques’ defense here, he says you can use an onion if you don’t have a leek. Which is true.

Timestamp 1:26

Garlic I can live with. I like garlic, but I don’t use it in mine. I’m not offended if you wanna grate some and throw it in.

Timestamp 2:26

Fresh thyme, like the garlic, I can get behind. I don’t use it, but it’s not uncommon to see that in New England Clam Chowder.

Timestamp 2:36

Jalapeno peppers. In New England. Clam. Chowder. No. No. No. I’ve had clam chowder many places in New England and I’ve literally never seen or heard of people putting jalapenos in chowder. If for some reason you want some heat, add some tabasco sauce when you serve it in your bowl. But not a jalapeno. Maybe its for flavor depth? But just the fact that it’s in there and he still calls this New England Clam Chowder hurts me to my core.

Timestamp 3:11

I’m still in shock with the jalapenos. Moving on. Bottled clam juice. I’m fine with this believe it or not. I use all the liquor (no, not THAT kind) that comes in the cans when I make my chowder so it’s essentially the same thing. Adding more only increases the depth of flavor, or hides the fact there are jalapenos in this  so go ahead and add more clam juice if you want to.

Timestamp 3:21

Water. I’m confused here. Why are we adding water? This is clam chowder. We want to taste the clams. Water dilutes the flavors going on. Then again, Jacques Pepin has three Michelin stars to my zero, so I’m assuming there’s a reason for the water, I just can’t figure it out.

Timestamp 3:25

Finally. An ingredient that we have in common! I have to admit, it’s a bit distressing that the first common ingredient we have is the potato.

Timestamp 3:41

“So this is a New England clam chowder…” No. Stop it. It is not a New England clam chowder.

Timestamp 3:55

“That” points to pot  “Is a classic New England”. What did I JUST say? Apparently this was the Howard Johnson’s New England clam chowder recipe. I want to know where they got this from. Show me on the map of the place where this recipe was concocted. I need to have a talk with the locals there and find out who hurt them.

Timestamp 4:03

“…you need to adjust for salt…” True. In this application you do need to add some. If you used salt pork, additional salt is unnecessary. The rendered fat from the salt pork, as well as some of the chopped pork itself you leave in the pot adds the perfect amount of salt. No need to add any more unless you really like salt.

Timestamp 4:40

Ok, the old school pepper grinder is awesome. My grinder is slightly jealous of that contraption. But long story short pepper is required and we now have our second common ingredient.

Timestamp 4:57

This is more a preference than a grievance. New England clam chowder can be served thick, or thin. My traditional recipe is a thinner chowder, so it doesn’t sit as heavy and can be the main course. However one of my favorite places on the Cape serves it thick. So a cup is more than enough to satisfy the need for some chowder as an appetizer. I have zero issues using flour and the liquid to thicken the chowder up to serve. Maybe this is why he added the water earlier.

Timestamp 5:46

By now I’ve already added my clams so I actively avoid boiling the pot right now because I don’t want to toughen up the clams. Since this chowder stew doesn’t have the delicate clams in it, go ahead and boil it to intensify the flavors and thicken the broth.

Timestamp 5:51

“…And some corn. I put a bit of corn in my chowder because I like corn and I think it goes well with it”. Again. Just no. There’s clam chowder, there’s corn chowder, but there is no corn in clam chowder. This is making the dish way too complicated. Personal preferences aside, leave it out of this.

Timestamp 7:21

In goes the corn. sigh. This hurts to watch one of my favorite chefs do this to one of my favorite things to make.

Timestamp 7:30

Believe it or not, I’m fine with canned clams. In fact the recipe I use specifically calls for them. Sure, you could get a ton of littlenecks and cherry stones and open them up yourself, but that is a gigantic pain in the ass and I’m happy to outsource that task for my chowder. Jacques again boils the clams. Again, I’m afraid they’ll get tough and rubbery, even though they’re chopped or minced.

Timestamp 7:47

Now this is strictly a personal choice. Heavy cream is fine to use. I’ve used it in the past, but I tend to stick with half and half. It adds more body than whole milk does, but it’s not as rich as heavy cream is. Though if you wanna make it, go with whatever you want.

Timestamp 8:14.

I like the chives as a garnish, but no oyster crackers in sight. C’mon. Oyster crackers are chowder 101.

Final impressions

Wow. Just…wow

That is most definitely NOT New England Clam Chowder. Than being said, it looks delicious, and if someone served me that, I’d eat all of it.

Well, now that I’ve pointed out everything wrong with that recipe, I need to share the recipe I use. What you will need:

4 cans snows 6.5oz chopped or minced clams
1/2 cup diced salt pork
1/2 cup chopped onion
Clam juice
1 whole potato
Dash pepper
2 cups milk (or half and half)

In a heavy pot, fry salt pork until golden. Remove some salt pork and reserve. Add onions and cook until tender (transparent)
Add clam liquor, potatoes, seasonings and clams. Cook about 15 min. or until potatoes are fork tender. Add milk/half and half. Serve in large bowls, and top with pad of butter and reserved salt pork. Add large pilot crackers (or oyster crackers)

Serves 4

That’s the recipe as was written on a notecard from my grandmother (maybe this is why I’m such a chowder purist…) and every time I make it I double the ingredients because the chowder will keep for a couple days in the fridge and just like red sauce or chili, it’s always better the next day.  So here is all the ingredients laid out and ready to go to make the double batch:

Yes that is in fact bacon. For all the complaining I did above, I had to use bacon. Though not for lack of trying. I went to three different stores and nobody had salt pork. So again, bacon can be used, but I prefer the salt pork.

Bacon into the heavy pot. In my case a lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven. I cut up the entire pack or bacon, but didn’t add it all to the Dutch oven. I kept some in reserve to fry separately so I could top with more bacon at the end, as well as have some on hand for leftover chowder.

Like any good chef, I have my mise en place all ready to go to the right of my Dutch oven. The onions go in next to cook in the rendered bacon fat until they’re tender. Next goes the big bowl of clams from the 9 cans I opened, then the potatoes.

Now we simmer, uncovered until the chunks of potato are starting to be fork tender. I stir occasionally, just to make sure nothing gets stuck to the bottom, and to keep things from bubbling too much. Once the potatoes are ready, in goes the half and half.

Now, we simmer a little bit more and wait. I’ll taste here and season with pepper as necessary. I took the opportunity to cook up the rest of the bacon, as well as a loaf of bread, because I completely forgot to pick up oyster crackers at the store. After all that complaining, of course I’d forget that.

And there you have it. Real Classic New England clam chowder. This is one of my favorite recipes to make, especially with how easy it is to cook. No frills, simple and delicious. 

(Banner image from Pixabay)