This recipe comes to us from an old sea Captain in Shelter Island, N.Y., who wrote the recipe down in 1924 on a now-yellowed and tattered letter to share with a woman in Indiana. We preserve it here for you.

It still tastes just as good today as it must have then!

6 medium sized onions, chopped
6 potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 quart clams
1/2 lb. salt pork, sliced
1 pint tomatoes, canned or fresh ripe
salt and pepper
1 or 2 rolled crackers (optional)

In a heavy Dutch oven, fry out strips of salt pork over low heat, then chop and return to pot. Brown onions in the salt pork.

Add potatoes, then broth of clams. Add tomatoes, then the chopped clams. Fill pot with water to cover the clams and then simmer for 1 hour or more, stirring to prevent sticking occasionally.

Cooks Note: We usually add clams near the end of the cooking to prevent them from becoming tough and rubbery.

Submitted by: CM