Dispatch no. 12: early spring
my New England Clam Chowder! | my Manhattan Clam Chowder! | soup season, then and now
the working lunch, NYC version | no soup for you! | the very first Manhattan clam chowder (for me)
stories + thoughts
When i moved to New York City right out of college, my first real job was at the venerable publishing behemoth Simon & Schuster. through a well-connected boarding school friend of my very cosmopolitan gallery-owning oldest sister, i landed an enviable assistant position in S & S’s Publicity Department, headed by a chain-smoking stiletto-wearing woman of imposing stature who all of us at the lower levels found inspiring and intimidating in equal parts.
Mine was a heady, full-throttle position in a teeming epicenter of urban literary culture and while i was often insecure about my prowess at carrying out my many demanding work assignments, i must’ve been doing something right because after a few months i was “noticed” and subsequently poached by the top non-fiction hardcover Editorial team.
While the stakes were even higher and my obligations more demanding in the Editorial Department hot seat working for this legendary brilliant and eccentric pair, for some reason i was welcomed into the fold like i was family. i sat at a desk just outside my two bosses’ offices answering all incoming phone calls, writing and typing letters (mostly rejections!) from The Editor to would-be authors’ queries, arranging in-house meetings, and photocopying endless pages of edited manuscripts. the doors between the three of us were usually open so that when i answered the phone both editors could signal a yay or a nay to me with vigorous hand or mouthed gestures indicating whether or not they’d take the call, while the numerous waiting lines blinked their impatience.
I was also in charge of booking The Editor’s lunch reservations. she ate her lunch out almost every day, switching between 2 or 3 renowned midtown restaurants, dining amongst the other literati. these were working lunches with A-list authors handpicked from her large circle (i booked the guests as well) and i always knew what time she wanted to dine, which table (and seat!) to request, as well as the singular quirks of whatever guest she was hosting.
Part of The Editor’s “ritual” before she left the office for lunch was to change her beautifully tailored but well-worn (wool or linen, season depending) blazer for an imperceptibly different but slightly less worn version of the same that she kept in her office closet. she would also switch out her beautifully made sensible pumps for a pair of slightly less worn identical ones that she kept lined up underneath her desk next to maybe a dozen other pairs of the same pumps (Ferragamo, all of them, if you must know) in various states of wear.
Sometimes when she was rushing to get out the door, she’d become exasperated searching for her pumps of choice and the two of us would invariably end up side by side on our hands and knees under her desk until she was satisfied that we’d found the ones she wanted to wear to lunch. once she was off, finally, the Assistant Editor would leave for her own business lunch and then i knew i had at most an hour for my lunch break before i had to be back at it at my desk.
Very short on funds (did i mention the extremely meagre salary that accompanied a much sought-after and status-y entry-level job in book publishing?) my personal lunch options were rather restricted. thankfully, S & S, located in the heart of Rockefeller Center, not only had a rich assortment of food trucks gracing the nearby midtown streets (i had my first ever falafel on one of those lunch breaks and i can still remember the wondrous garlicky tahini sauce dripping onto the foil wrapping in my lap), but there were all kinds of little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and take-out joints tucked in throughout the neighborhood, too.
During one of these exploratory lunch break forays on a cold grey day in early December, i stumbled first upon a delicious smell and then a sign on an awning in front of me on West 55th Street announcing Homemade HOT & COLD SOUPS with a line out the door of 6 or so bundled up customers indicating something worth waiting for.
By now i’d lived and worked in the city for a couple of years, so i was no stranger to the quicker pace, faster talk and shorter patience of the average New Yorker. but when my turn came to order and I was faced with the tantalizing list of soup options coupled with the intoxicating aromas and my grumbling stomach, i just could not make up my mind.
When i (politely, i thought) said to the man, clearly in charge, behind the counter that i was trying to decide between the Potato Leek and the Manhattan Clam Chowder and which would he recommend, i could feel the bustling room get quiet. while i can’t say that the man actually yelled at me, he very sternly and exasperatedly motioned me to the left side of the small room, instantly turning his attention to the person who had been behind me in line with an emphatic NEXT!
The Soup Man did not say No Soup for You! to me, but he might as well have.
Mortified and confused (and still so hungry) i was grateful to an older woman who, having just quietly and obediently collected her carton of soup, leaned in to me conspiratorially and, on her way out, gestured with a nod of her head to a sign on the wall that read:
THE RULES
FOR THE MOST EFFICIENT AND FASTEST SERVICE THE LINE MUST BE KEPT MOVING…
PICK THE SOUP YOU WANT!
HAVE YOUR MONEY READY
MOVE TO THE EXTREME LEFT AFTER ORDERING!
Oh! oops. well.
Too hungry to remain mortified, i walked out the door and took myself to the back of the now longer line, cash in hand. at this point, i wasn’t especially fazed (for long, anyway) by the exacting and eccentric humans I continued to meet in the city. when it was finally my turn (again), this time i did not hesitate when i ordered my first ever Manhattan Clam Chowder. since i’d grown up with New England Clam Chowder during our summers on the Vineyard, i was curious, and this was Manhattan after all.
Outside on the street, on top of a covered trash can, not only did i gulp down my deliciously pungent and steaming hot tomato-y clam chowder as well as every single bite of the bonus bread, apple and chocolate that came with each order of soup at Soup Kitchen International but i was back at my desk just in time for the afternoon’s barrage of incoming phone calls.
Needless to say, on the many occasions i returned to Soup Kitchen International during my lunch break, by now i knew the drill and always played by The Rules, like a seasoned pro.
And during the holiday season, when i was moonlighting in the evenings at Barneys on 17th Street after my day job at S & S, that soup would keep me going until i clocked out from the store at 9:30 pm, at which point I would grab a slice before walking home to my studio on Sullivan Street.
A Tale of Two Chowders
Tomorrow is May 1st and that does not exactly scream soup season, i know. but, for one thing, we’re not really talking soup here — we are talking CHOWDER and as we all know, New England Clam Chowder is acceptable at pretty much any time of year, as long as you are somewhere up north on the East Coast near the Atlantic Ocean. after all, MY first indoctrination to NECC as a child came in August on a ferry crossing to the Vineyard, a rite of passage in more than just the proverbial sense.
over the years, i have had my share of chowders and more often than not i don’t even like them — too white, too gluey, too floury, never enough clams, potatoes too big, etc., etc.
I can count on one hand the times I’ve had a really exceptional New England Clam Chowder and three of those times is when I’ve made it myself. just sayin’.
It may be blasphemous but here’s what i’m looking for — a lighter, brothier version — sure, some dairy but not exactly creamy, rich in flavor, some subtle herbaceous notes, and plenty of clams, chopped but not minced. is that too much to ask? i’m here to say heck no, it’s not — and besides this is so easy and takes almost no time. the Manhattan Chowder is just a tomato-y version of the New England, with a couple of minor adjustments. i do love the bacon for the smoky contribution it makes — and clams and pork have historically always been the best of friends — but you can certainly omit it or switch it out for turkey bacon if you’re not a pork eater.
I will say the chicken stock is an important addition and I will also say that there’s really no point in making either of these chowders unless you have fresh clams. that said, clams do actually freeze really well, so i will accept those ;-), if they were fresh at one time haha, but please don’t use canned.
For my New England version here, because I’m feeling a little springy, my favorite green garlic takes the place of regular garlic (which locally is almost phased out now) and leeks take the place of onion in this one.
The Manhattan version, very similar to the NE version with a few crucial variations, can be a whole other thing during the height of summer when tomatoes are in season. chop up some big ripe juicy beauties, add some minced fresh chile of your choice, and slice a hefty handful of fresh basil leaves to stir in at the end. summer in a bowl!
These chowders are both SUPER EASY, i promise! Feel free to serve with oyster crackers (personally not my thing) or garlic bread (most def my thing), these olive oil crackers that have been a staple in my life for years, topped with herbs or poppy seeds and flaky sea salt
Olive Oil Crackers with Fresh Herbs +/or Seeds and Sea Salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
fresh sage +/or rosemary +/or parsley +/or chives, finely chopped
sea salt to taste
preheat oven to 425 degrees F
to make the dough, mix flour, baking powder, salt, water and olive oil together in a bowl.
divide the dough in half and roll out each half separately directly on an ungreased cookie sheet.
roll the dough out very thinly until it covers almost the entire cookie sheet.
add whichever herbs or combination you want, and sprinkle the sea salt over everything. (you can brush the dough with a little olive oil before
adding the toppings, to help them stick. or use an egg wash if desired.)
cut the dough into squares or strips with a sharp knife or a rotary pizza cutter.
bake for 12-14 mins until crackers turn golden + crispy (watch them like
a hawk, they can burn easily!)
or, as with my very first cup of Manhattan Clam Chowder eaten on a trash can in Manhattan, a slice of bread, an apple, and a piece of chocolate ;-).
Ahoy!
easiest + best New England! + Manhattan! Clam Chowder (s)
serves 6 generously