Minorcan Clam Chowder

[Celerity]

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026683-minorcan-clam-chowder

https://archive.ph/dN2SS



Though it shares similarities with mild-mannered Manhattan clam chowder, thick, briny, spicy Minorcan clam chowder gets its signature, fruity heat from datil peppers, and its Bolognese-like texture from a vegetable purée, plus a generous simmering time. Minorcans descend from indentured servants who, in the late 18th century, were recruited from around the Mediterranean, assembled on the Spanish island of Menorca and sent to Florida to farm indigo. Many Minorcan families still live near St. Augustine, Fla., and visitors to the Spanish-settled city can eat the chowder in a number of restaurants. However, the pinnacle of Minorcan clam chowder cooking is achieved just once a year at the St. Ambrose Spring Fair, for which Mary Ellen Masters — who is known as the “Queen of Minorcan Clam Chowder” — oversees the annual effort to prepare 180 concentrated, clammy gallons.



Preparation

Step 1
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until almost cooked through (a thin knife should easily pierce the potato without going all the way to the center), about 7 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Step 2
Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the onion, celery and bell pepper until nearly puréed.

Step 3
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, cook the salt pork over medium, stirring occasionally, until some of the fat is rendered and the pork is browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

Step 4
Add processed vegetables to the salt pork and cook, stirring frequently, until most of their liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add tomato purée and crushed tomatoes and continue cooking, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until liquid has almost all cooked away and the mixture is thick and chunky, about 10 minutes.

Step 5
Add the cooked potatoes as well as the bay leaves, Italian seasoning, marjoram, thyme and black pepper, and stir to combine. Add the clam juice and cook over medium-low at a soft simmer for 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Step 6
Add datil peppers and simmer over low heat until flavors blend, about 10 minutes, stirring in clams in the last few minutes of cooking to warm through. Taste and add salt if needed.

Tip
Essential to Minorcan cooking, datil peppers are cousins to habanero chiles and have a similar Scoville rating, but their flavor is sweeter and fruitier. The peppers ripen in June near St. Augustine, Fla., and you can purchase them seasonally from Mayhem Datil Pepper Farms.

[ultralite001]

1. This sounds amazing...

Can't wait to give it a try...

Cheers!!! Thanks for sharing...