Irish Seafood Chowder

Creamy seafood chowder, chock-a-block with fruits of the sea

As we toured Ireland searching for the defining characteristics of Irish cuisine, I was struck by how often seafood was combined with dairy products, whether cheese or cream. I encountered a cheesy seafood pie, Kenmare Bay mussels in a white wine and cream sauce, and what became one of Angela and my favorite foods in Ireland, seafood chowder. Irish seafood chowder is remarkably similar to the iconic New England clam chowder with which most of us in the US are familiar. This brought up the question of who influenced whom?

One of the most interesting things we learned when travelling in Ireland is just how intimate the Irish are with America. Every Irishman we met has relatives in the US, has lived in the US, or has at least visited. We met a woman who lived in a hut that clung to the steep slopes of the Dingle Peninsula. She spoke broken English (her first language was Irish, or Gaelic), and her life as a farmer seemed, at first glance, to be hardly distinguishable from the way her forbears lived centuries ago. We later learned from Dingle locals that she visits Springfield Mass once a year, her son-in-law was a fireman who responded to the 9-11 attack on the two towers, and that this same woman has a picture hanging on her wall, of herself with Tom Cruz. (Apparently, she was an extra in Far and Away, which was partially filmed in Dingle.) A surprising statistic: the current population of Ireland is about 4.5 million while over 50 million people identify themselves as Irish-American. My point? Like all things Irish, their chowder is a product not of an Irish culture in isolation, but of a culture that has been in constant dialogue with the US for over 150 years.

Of course, there were many different versions of seafood chowder in Ireland. This recipe has all of our favorite qualities. It’s thick and creamy with a touch of sweetness imbued by the massive amounts of fish and shellfish. I took the liberty of using wild caught salmon in honor of a bartender/brewer I met on the Dingle Peninsula who lamented that he doesn’t eat salmon any more—the farm raised stuff just doesn’t have any flavor.

Ingredients:

8 fresh clams

2 large potatoes (I used russets)

3T butter

1 large onion, diced

½ c. white wine

2 c. fish stock*

2 c. milk

1 bay leaf

¾ c. diced fresh carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely

¾ c. fresh corn kernels (or substitute frozen)

¾ c. fresh peas (or substitute frozen)

½ lb salmon, skin and bones removed, cut into bite-sized chunks (preferably wild-caught)

½ lb firm white fish (I used cod), cut into chunks

½ lb raw shrimp, shells removed, deveined, and cut into chunks

½ lb scallops (use bite-sized bay scallops whole or larger sea scallops cut into chunks)

2 c. heavy cream

5T flour dissolved in about 2/3 c. milk to make a thin paste

1 T. fresh thyme, chopped fine

Salt and pepper to taste

1 T. fresh parsley, chopped fine for garnish

Lemon wedges for garnish

Directions:

1. Add ¼ inch water to small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the clams and cover. Steam clams until they open, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard any clams that do not open.

2. When the clams have cooled enough to handle, remove from shells and chop coarsely. Set aside.

3. Clean potatoes and place in a small saucepot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes and allow to cool enough to handle. Peel potatoes and cut into large dice. Set aside.

4. Melt butter in medium saucepot over medium heat. Add onion. Sauté for 4 min.

5. Add wine to saucepot. Add fish stock, milk and bay leaf and bring to a simmer (from this point on, adjust heat as necessary to keep the liquid on the verge of a gentle boil).

6. Add carrots, peas, corn, and potatoes and cook for 8 minutes.

7. Add the fish, shrimp and scallops and cook for 3 minutes.

8. Stir in the cream and thyme. Slowly stir in the flour paste to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thick, adding more flour paste if necessary.

9. Remove from heat and serve in soup bowls with parsley sprinkled over the top and a wedge of lemon for garnish.

This seafood chowder is wonderful served with fresh Irish soda bread, recipe coming soon…