2 quarts clams, chopped, liquor reserved
8 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 lb. lean salt pork (not fatback)
8 Pilot crackers
1 pint milk
butter, 1 pat for each serving

Obtain and clean two quarts of clams. Separate the bags from the shoulders. Strain off the liquor to settle and reserve.

Chop the heads and shoulders quite fine. Pare and slice eight potatoes. Cut up the slice of pork into small cubes and fry out.

Soak 8 Pilot (or Milk) crackers. Throw into the kettle chopped clams, a little salt and pepper, then a layer of potatoes. Pour over the strained liquor carefully, allowing what's settled to remain in cup, then add sufficient cold water to cover the whole.

Cook until the potatoes are done, then add the soft part of the clams, crackers, and 2 cups of milk. Boil eight minutes and serve hot. Onions if you like.

Serve with a pat of butter and additional chowder crackers.

This is an old authentic recipe from a 1916 Cookbook, "What We Cook on Cape Cod".

Addendum: Some people have asked us what they should do with the salt pork in the pan once it's fried up with the onions, etc.

On Cape Cod, we leave it in the chowder, seeing as that's the frugal New England thing to do. We use high quality salt pork which is mostly pink and is much like bacon, so there isn't any reason to remove it. You can remove it if you're on a special diet, but your chowder will turn out differently.

To adhere more closely to the authentic recipe, you can trim away the white portions of the salt pork, retaining the pink. Or, for a total break with tradition, try substituting pancetta.

Submitted by: CM