#clam-chowder

#clam-chowder

While many football fans are preparing to watch the upcoming Super Bowl, the team at Tasting Table is thinking about a different kind of bowl: a warm, cozy, soup-filled bowl, and the kind brimming with fresh clams, potatoes, and a creamy base, known fondly as clam chowder. There are plenty of clam chowder types to choose from. These include San Francisco clam chowder - a nod to the city hosting Super Bowl 2026 - and New England clam chowder, the well-known chowder powerhouse.

In New England, the official dipping buddy for creamy clam chowder is called a common cracker, and it's different than any other cracker in almost every possible way. For starters, it's larger (about the size of a Ritz cracker), rougher, and looks unmistakably old-school. The common cracker's flavor is also deliberately restrained. Wheaty, crunchy, and very hearty - these unleavened crackers swell slightly in creamy New England clam chowder. This makes them take on a dumpling-like quality, and it's not accidental.

Named after the 34th row of oysters in Duxbury Bay, Row 34 is obsessed with serving the highest quality, local ingredients - including the freshest seafood possible - to its customers. Co-owner and chef, Jeremy Sewall, grew up on the coast of Maine and opened Row 34 in 2013. His cousin supplies the lobsters for the restaurant's five locations, and Sewall has cultivated relationships with fishing communities up and down the coast. The team's commitment to finding the best seafood does not go unnoticed.