Lelia's Kitchen_WIN23_Ed.qxp_Copy of profile_sTEFAN_fall05.qxd 11/25/23 8:50 PM Page 26
food | letters from lelia’s kitchen
BY LELIA GENTLE | PHOTOS BY ANDY HYSLOP
Clam Chowder
D
on’t you just love those moments when tastes or smells take you back to times and places gone by? The delicious scent of baking bread wafting from the open doors of a nearby bakery can act
like a time portal, instantly sweeping you from a busy street to your grandmother’s kitchen years ago. Those tantalizing smells can refresh forgotten memories in all of us. For me, clam chowder is that portal. One bowl of hot steaming clam chowder, and I am immediately transported to the wharf in San Francisco eating the creamy chowder from a chewy sourdough bowl or to the harbors of Boston watching shuckers place the freshly shucked clams into the simmering chowder. In my mind, I can almost smell the brininess and taste the sweetness of the clams. Fresh minced clams with potatoes and onion, simmered in a broth of clam juice and cream—just heaven! In my own kitchen, I sometimes try to replicate favorite or unique foods from my travels. The foods I recreate are usually comparable to those from my trips, but some26 Winter 2023 www.foodanddine.com
thing still seems lacking — perhaps the salt air and the ocean breezes, the details that etch those tastes and experiences in our minds. But given those limitations, let’s get as close as we can. A distinctive hallmark of a stellar chowder is the proper doneness of the potatoes. I always choose a waxy potato, not a starchy one, in order to keep a firm structure of the potato. Overcooking the potato is a cardinal sin when it comes to chowder, it should retain a crisptender quality, and never be mushy. A one-half inch dice is always the perfect size. The other must-have in a great chowder is a rich, smokey salt pork or bacon.
3 Ways…
Chowder is traditionally made with salt pork, but will be excellent with a thick-cut smokey bacon, like the kind you find at our local farmers markets. Sourcing clams could be a challenge in land-locked cities like Louisville, but look no further than our specialty seafood shops or grocery stores that specialize in seafood. Of course, fresh shucked clams are standard for the finest chowder. If you can find fresh clams in the shell, be sure to soak them in cold water for an hour or so to help purge any sand that might be present in the shell. Then use a soft brush to scrub the shell before shucking to make sure there is no grit which would fall into your chowder. And when you shuck the clams, be careful to catch all the juice, as you will need every single drop. If you don’t get enough juice from the clams, use bottled clam juice to make up the difference. If you are not using fresh clams, bottled clam juice can be easily sourced from most any grocery. If fresh clams are not available, frozen