Quahog

By any other name---the clam. The quahog (KO-hog) is the hard-shelled, tough, difficult–to-open clam of the East Coast which is the basic ingredient for all the clam chowder south of Chesapeake Bay. The clam is found on the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatan. The largest size of the clam is called a quahog or chowder clam. It is from the Narragansett word poquauhock. These New England natives used the shells to make wampum. Clams are a big business for that area and are the official shellfish of Rhode Island.

One writer noted that clam chowder is mostly putting in some of this and some of that. And most chowders, like a good stew, improve with repeated cookings or heatings.

I have been making clam chowder more recently, because my husband was significantly anemic after his January surgery and clams have more iron than any other single food. In doing my clam chowders, I have used different versions of these recipes printed here. I do like using celery.

Even in Wilmington I can only get them canned unless I want to go clamming in the ocean. They are not a Gulf Coast seafood.

I have a 1969 cookbook from Wilmington, The Beachcomber’s Handbook of Seafood Cookery, which is a nice compendium of lore and recipes but probably worth more as it is illustrated by one of North Carolina’s most loved artists, Claude Howell, of Wilmington.

 

Southern Chowder

2 cups (more or less) ground clams

Clam liquor

2-3 slices salt pork

6 (more or less) medium sized potatoes, diced

1 small onion, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons cornmeal

Grind or chop clams in liquor. Render fat from salt pork by frying. Put clams and liquor, potatoes, and onions into a sauce-pan and add water to cover. Season with fat from salt pork and salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes are done. Make gravy of cornmeal and a small amount of water and pour in to give slight body to soup. Cook for 15 minutes longer.

Long Island Clam Chowder

2 cups ground or chopped clams

2-3 slices salt pork

Clam liquor

1 cup celery, chopped

3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

½ tsp thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Render fat from pork in pot and remove pork. Add all ingredients, including clam liquor, and dilute with water to cover. Simmer for three hours. Let cool. Chill overnight. When ready to serve, heat chowder, but do not allow it to boil.

New England Clam Chowder

4 cups ground or chopped clams

2-3 slices salt pork, diced

1 medium-sized onion

3 cups potatoes, diced

2 cups water

2 ½ cups scalded milk

½ cup cream

2 tablespoons butter

Clam liquor

Render out salt pork in pot until almost crisp. Add onions and simmer about five minutes, or until onions are soft. Add potatoes, water, and clam liquor. Cover and simmer about ten minutes. Add clams, scalded milk, and cream. Cook slowly about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add butter.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

In the preceding recipe, use one cup canned tomato soup in place of the cup of milk.