Clam chowder

This variety typically consists of fried cubed salt pork, salted water, potatoes, diced onions, quahog clams, butter, salt, and pepper. This variety was more common in the early and mid-20th century, and likely shares most recent common ancestry with New England clam chowder.

Served throughout North Carolina's Outer Banks region, this variation of clam chowder has clear broth, bacon, potatoes, onions, and flour as a thickening agent. It is usually seasoned with white or black pepper, and occasionally with chopped green onions or even hot pepper sauce.

Long Island clam chowder is part New England-style and part Manhattan-style, making it a pinkish creamy tomato clam chowder. The name is a joke: Long Island is between Manhattan and New England.[5] The two parent chowders are typically cooked separately before being poured in the same bowl. This variant is popular in many small restaurants across Suffolk County, New York.[6]

Manhattan clam chowder has a reddish color from tomatoes

Manhattan clam chowder has a red, tomato-based broth. The addition of tomatoes in place of milk was initially the work of Portuguese immigrants in Rhode Island, as tomato-based stews were already a traditional part of Portuguese cuisine.

In the 1890s, this chowder was called "Fulton Fish Market clam chowder" and "New York City clam chowder." The "Manhattan" name is first attested in a 1934 cookbook.[1] Manhattan clam chowder is included in Victor Hirtzler's Hotel St. Francis Cookbook (1919) as "clam chowder."[4]

Today, Manhattan-style chowder often contains some vegetables, such as peppers, celery and carrots.[7]

Maine style clam chowder is made from soft-shell clams (steamers), rather than quahogs. It is made of clams, clam juice, cream, milk and onions, and thickened with potatoes. It generally does not contain salt pork or bacon, but is often served with melted butter on the surface.[8]

Minorcan clam chowder is a spicy version found in Florida restaurants near St. Augustine and the northeast corner of Florida. It has a tomato broth base, with datil pepper, an extremely hot chili comparable to the habanero. The datil is believed to have been brought to St. Augustine by Menorcan settlers in the 18th century, and tradition holds among their descendants that it will only thrive and grow in two places: Menorca, Spain, and St. Augustine, Florida.[9]

New England clam chowder, occasionally referred to as Boston or Boston-style clam chowder,[4] is a milk or cream-based chowder, and is often of a thicker consistency than other regional styles, even though traditionally it is rather thin. It is commonly made with milk, butter, potatoes, salt pork, onion, and clams.[10] Some late 19th and early 20th century recipes use condensed milk.

New England clam chowder is usually accompanied by oyster crackers. Crown Pilot Crackers were a popular brand of cracker to accompany chowder, until the product was discontinued in 2008. Crackers may be crushed and mixed into the soup for thickener, or used as a garnish.[11]

Traditional New England clam chowder is thickened with oyster crackers instead of flour. (Oyster crackers are made to accompany oysters.)

One Rhode Island clam chowder has a tomato broth base and potatoes but, unlike Manhattan style, no chunks of tomato and no other vegetables. Its origins are reportedly Portuguese and it was commonly served with clamcakes.

Another Rhode Island clam chowder is made with clear broth; this is common from eastern Connecticut to southeastern Rhode Island. In southeastern Rhode Island, it is sometimes called "South County Style" referring to Washington County, where it allegedly originated. In other parts of New England, it contains quahogs, broth, potatoes, onions, and bacon.

Clear clam chowder is based on clear broth, and so has a thinner consistency thinner than Manhattan or New England styles. It sometimes adds mussels or steamers.