Looking for clam chowder
I did my infrequent checking of work e-mail this morning and found this from Dave in Perry Hall. I think the world is divided into people who think if crab soup is on the menu, why order clam chowder, and people who think if clam chowder is on the menu why order crab soup, and all of the first category live in Maryland.
And I'm no help. I'd just send him to a place like Oceannaire Seafood Room in Harbor East or McCormick & Schmick's in the Inner Harbor, and I think he would prefer a local neighborhood restaurant.
Elizabeth-EVERYONE around here has cream of crab soup, so enough already. But for what should be a shell fish mecca, there seems to be a dearth of clam chowder – New England or, God forbid, New York in our area.
The best of the few that I’ve found is Carried Away Gourmet in Bel Air, which unfortunately only has it on an infrequent basis. Nominations please.
Comments
I personally am not overly fond of crab soup - although I love cream of crab (when done well). I also like-wise am not fond of New York clam chowder but love a good New England clam chowder. What kind of soup I order in a restaurant depends on several things. It depends on the weather (I mean I'd rather have gazpacho than any of the above on a hot day); and it depends on what else I want to get. If I'm getting a heavy entree, I don't want a heavy soup also. If the restaurant heavily sherries their cream of crab I will probably get clam chowder if both are on the menu. I may get neither and go for a good tomato tortillini or tomato florentine with an heirloom tomato salad (you can't have too many tomatoes in the summer). Finally, it just depends on what sounds good to me at the moment of ordering. I don't think I turn a blind eye to clam chowder in any case though, particuarly outside of Maryland!
Posted by: Joyce W. | October 5, 2008 9:40 AM
I usually look for Manhattan clam chowder, because in most places, the New England version is so thick with cornstarch that you could put up wallpaper with it.
Posted by: John McIntyre | October 5, 2008 1:50 PM
because in most places, the New England version is so thick with cornstarch that you could put up wallpaper with it
That's especially (but not solely) likely when you're not in New England.
Posted by: Hal Laurent, VoR | October 5, 2008 10:07 PM
Double-T Diner frequently has Manhattan Clam Chowder available. (It hasn't been called "New York Clam Chowder" for literally a hundred years). It's usually pretty well minced up, but you can definitely identify numerous bits of clam in among all the vegetables and such.
Maybe it's the proximity that New York has to New England, but clam chowder is one of the few foods with a place name in it that actually gets used in that place. That is, Manhattanites will say specifically "Manhattan Clam Chowder". Most times the name isn't used in the place named (e.g. French fries unheard of in France, no English Muffins in Britain, and so forth).
Posted by: Claude | October 5, 2008 11:51 PM
clam chowder - gack.
Posted by: PCB Rob | October 7, 2008 8:42 PM
conch chowder - bigger gack!
Posted by: Joyce W. | October 8, 2008 5:28 AM
And Claude, when I wanted to try "Danish" in Denmark I was told to ask for "Wienerbrot," or bread from Vienna. Go figure.
Posted by: Dahlink | October 8, 2008 8:56 AM