Melody Makes JFK's Fish Chowder

A favorite of a fan favorite president!

Although warmer weather has been periodically making a comeback in my neck of the woods all month, it's still been chilly enough to want a nice warm bowl of soup after work. Being from New England, the idea of a rich, creamy chowder is definitely a comforting thought on chilly days, and I've always been interested in trying to make one from scratch. 

This dish isn't the New England clam chowder my home region's famous for, but it was a favorite lunch snack of a certain mid century president! I've been wanting to spotlight this recipe for a while, but never could quite work out the best time to give it a shot. This year, I decided I wasn't going to let another winter go by without sharing it with all of you.

I was first clued into this recipe's existence through Eating with Uncle Sam, a cookbook I bought at the National Archives while on a trip to DC many years ago. You can read about that trip on the blog, while also checking out a recipe for nut and raisin bread from Molly's Cook Book. This was well before I lived in DC, and unfortunately the exhibit the cookbook was created to go alongside was long gone when we visited the National Archives museum, but the book itself is still very interesting. Most of the recipes included are from the 20th century, and there's a big focus on presidential faire, as well as recipes from World War I. 

One that immediately caught my eye was JFK's "New England Fish Chowder," a haddock based and potato heavy chowder that sounded pretty much right up my alley. I've always liked fish, and chowder is definitely something I struggle to pass up when it shows up on a menu. Not long after getting Eating with Uncle Sam, I was talking about the book with my grandma and mentioned the chowder recipe. She held up a finger, immediately went to her recipe box, rifled through it, and produced this!

A newspaper clipping with the very same recipe printed in it! 

My grandparents - like many young Americans in the 1960's - got totally swept up by the Kennedys. They even got to see him speak on the New Haven town green during his presidential campaign, with my uncle boosted on my grandfather's shoulders to see him. The Kennedys were a symbol of hope and vitality to many people, and the public always wanted more of what their personal and private lives were like. 

This clipping is undated, but probably is from the early days of the Kennedy presidency. It focuses on what kind of food the First Family - but particularly the President - likes eating, and includes the recipe for fish chowder, a baked seafood casserole (so 60's!), and a hot fruit dessert that JFK apparently liked to eat smothered in whipped cream. Presidential food has always fascinated the public, and it's definitely possible Melody's mom clipped out articles like this to get meal inspiration from the stylish First Family just like my grandma did. 

This is such a cool little historical artifact, and I was so amazed at how quickly my grandma was able to whip it out. Newspaper is one of the worst materials to preserve archivally because the paper is so acidic, so best archival practices usually dictate actually photocopying the articles onto acid free paper and throw out the originals. I didn't want to do that, so this has been living in an archival comic book storage bag to try and keep it safe. It's been living tucked in one of my favorite cookbooks until we get our hands on a proper recipe box.

Not long after this discovery was made, my mom gave the recipe a shot and I remember really liking it. I don't remember why I decided not to try it out myself and put it on the blog, but again, this year was the time for change! 

Unfortunately, I no longer live super close to a really nice fish market, so that did cause a little bit of chin scratching about where to get our ingredients. Us New Englanders are definitely snobby when it comes to seafood, so we ventured out to a fish market to pick up some good white fish for this soup. We ended up with two pounds of cod because the market didn't have haddock, and haddock and cod are reasonably similar fish. 

To start off, you simmer this fish for 15 minutes in 2 cups of water. Once that's done, drain the fish and set aside the broth for later. Make sure you go through your fish to debone it if the market hasn't done so already. Even if they have, it's always good to double check!

Next, the recipe calls for 2 ounces of diced salt pork. This was another ingredient we just couldn't find in our neck of the woods, so we had to substitute with some thick cut bacon. Annoying, but at least it's an ingredient with something you can more or less substitute. Nothing worse than being totally derailed because you can't find one ingredient! 

Cook the salt pork (or bacon) until it's crispy and set it aside. You'll garnish the top of your soup with it at the end.

Next, slide 2 onions and cook them in the fat until they're golden brown. Then, add the fish, 4 large diced potatoes, 1 cup of chopped celery, a crumbled bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste, along with the fish broth and enough boiling water to make three cups of liquid in the soup total. This simmers on the stove for 30 minutes. 

Finally, add 1 quart of milk and 2 oz of butter. Simmer for five more minutes, and you're ready to eat!

Garnish with the crispy pork, and you've got a bowl of warm chowder to enjoy!

Or not, if you don't like fish. There's no way of getting around this: this soup is very fishy, which is totally fine by me! But Jess really does not like most fish, so this has been something of a difficult week for her as I'm eating the leftovers. It's also not a good dish to eat on your own in some ways because it makes a lot of soup. I've been eating the leftovers for most of this week, and while it's good... it's been a lot of chowder. In hindsight, we should have halved the recipe. 

But if you do like fish, this is a really nice soup! The broth is a lot thinner than most clam chowders I've ever had, but that's definitely not a bad thing. The cod and potatoes still keep it a hearty, thick soup. It - obviously - also goes really well with oyster crackers. 

My only word of warning about this dish? It's expensive to make a full serving. Fish isn't cheap, especially if you're going to a local shop, but it can still get pricey even if you're just going to a grocery store like Stop and Shop. The recipe is easy to halve if necessary, but even a pound of cod or haddock can be a little alarming to someone on a budget. If you're feeling in the mood for a presidential meal, this is definitely a fun one to try out, but the price tag can feel a little presidential too, if you know what I mean. 

On the plus side, this whole week I've been getting to feel just like Senator John F. Kennedy heading out with a thermos of this in hand to go change the world on Capitol Hill, and there are probably worse ways to spend the last week in February.

Although I'm not sure he was drinking tea out of a mug with a quote by himself on the side...