BC Ferries Clam Chowder

[Jensen]

BC Ferries Clam Chowder

After reading the Chowdah cook-off thread, I realised how different the chowders discussed were from the chowders of my youth. All chowders were made with bacon or ham--smoky flavour is good! Celery was de rigeur and the broth was definitely tomato-based. None of that fancy cream soup for us!

And so, I dug out my "recipe book" and tracked down the chowder recipes I have. When I was in my 20s, I borrowed my mum's recipe box as well as a huge shoebox filled with recipes on notecards and scraps of paper from my grandmother. This is one of the two chowders that were made in our houses. Anyone from the Lower Mainland or the Island will recognise the name of its source however I should say that this recipe was from the early days of the ferry system--(before my time) when there was no cafeteria and the restaurant on the ferry was a sit-down affair with table service.

This recipe was printed in Victoria's morning paper, the Daily Colonist (before it was the Times-Colonist, which should give some idea of the time frame we're looking at here) and was adapted for home kitchens. For the non-BCers reading this, "clam nectar" is like clam juice but is sold in large tins (and it's cheap!), not the piddly little glass bottles I see on the shelf of my local Raley's.

And, like most old recipes, there are no real instructions. If you want to try it, you'll have to wing it...

• 1/4 lb bacon, diced
  
• 1/3 c diced onion
  
• 1/4 c carrot, diced
  
• 1/4 c celery, diced
  
• 1/4 c green pepper, diced
  
• 2 T flour
  
• 2 c clam nectar
  
• 2/3 c potato, chopped
  
• 1 14-oz. tin tomatoes, chopped with liquid
  
• 1 T tomato paste
  
• 1 can clams, with liquid
  
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  
• pinch of thyme
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

No instructions whatsoever but I do remember my mum always made a flour and water slurry to thicken it (if that helps).

Keywords: Soup, Main Dish, Appetizer, Seafood

( RG1650 )