Hah! Well you’ve hit the nail on the head, I’m in California and clam chowder with good fresh clams is a rare treat.

I use canned clams in my chowder, and I usually reach for some fatty pork product to render fat for sauteing the veggies and as a finishing garnish (I once splurged on some guanciale, but wasn’t a discernable enough upgrade to be worth repeating). Interesting to know that the chowder isn’t traditionally thick. I can’t think of a single time I’ve had it at a restaurant where it wasn’t, which is why I was adding extra thickeners to try to match that expectation.

Yep, didn’t have any bacon in the house, but I like having a little meaty salty bite in my chowder, and turns out spam fried until crunchy fits the bill!

Oh certainly try it, clam chowder is one of my favorite soups. Both New England and Manhattan style are delicious, but my inner fatass prefers the New England.

I differ from the usual recipes in that I’m a sucker for really getting some good browning on the vegetables before adding the liquid. The flavor is worth the trade off of having a tan colored chowder rather than the pale cream of the traditional New England style.

I agree, soup weather is the best!