San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Vs New England Clam Chowder: The Difference Between These Quintessential Comfort Foods – Food Republic
No list of quintessential New England staples would be complete without clam chowder. This thick, comforting soup comes in many regional variations, including the white, milk-based New England style, the tomato-based Manhattan version, and the clear-broth Rhode Island take. Yet far away from the Atlantic coast, San Francisco has carved out its own iconic place in the history of this hearty dish.
Interestingly, San Francisco and New England clam chowder resemble each other in many ways. For starters, both are rich, creamy soups built around fresh clams, potatoes, and savory seasonings that give them a cozy profile and briny depth. At face value, the New England style more closely resembles San Francisco than its closer cities, and while there are many ingredients you can add to clam chowder, it’s instead the way that it’s served that puts San Francisco in a league of its own. Skipping the bowl, the Bay Area version instead opts for a hollowed-out sourdough bread bowl to soak up all of the soup’s creamy goodness.
San Francisco clam chowder brings together two local icons
The reason that San Francisco clam chowder and New England clam chowder are so similar is that the dish was brought by New Englanders during the California gold rush. Along with clam chowder, they also brought the ancestor to its future vessel — sourdough starters. Back then, it was just a mixture of naturally fermented flour and water, as store-bought yeast was expensive and hard to obtain. Unknown to them at the time, however, was that a local bacterium (appropriately named Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis) gave the starters the unique, tangy flavor that eventually put San Francisco sourdough on the map.
With both clam chowder and sourdough introduced to the Bay Area, it was only a matter of time before they were paired together, and Boudin Bakery is widely credited for making that happen. Established in 1849, you can still visit this bakery serving the iconic dish in the tourist hotspot, Fisherman’s Wharf. While it may not be as old as New England clam chowder, the dish still has a century of history under its belt and is even served at The Old Clam House, one of the oldest restaurants in the city.
Compared to New England, California is often associated with sunshine and beaches, while clam chowder is generally known to be a comforting cold-weather dish. However, San Francisco’s constant blanket of fog keeps the city cool and gray, making a warm bowl of clam chowder feel just as fitting there as it does in New England.
New England clam chowder is timeless coastal classic
If San Francisco has New England to thank for its clam chowder, New England has got 18th-century European sailors to credit for its beloved dish. Clam chowder is derived from European fish stews, with the word chowder being derived from the French word chaudière, meaning cauldron. It wasn’t only the Europeans who were enjoying clam chowder, either, and it’s known that the indigenous tribes of the area had been making their chowders for centuries using native ingredients like quahogs and corn, which likely influenced the modern version.
Similarly to how lobster rolls became a quintessential New England fare, clams are historically abundant in the region. The first written recipe for clam chowder can be found in the Boston Evening Post, published in 1751, making it over a century older than San Francisco clam chowder — although this version had not yet discovered the joys of a creamy base. The most recognizable version of New England clam chowder can be traced back to 1836, being served up at Ye Olde Union Oyster House in Boston, one of the oldest restaurants in America that you can still visit today, beloved by JFK himself!
New England clam chowder is for sure one of the classic seafood dishes you’ve got to try at least once, and while San Francisco and New England differ in serving vessels, it is becoming increasingly common to find clam chowder served in bread bowls in New England. However, unlike in San Francisco, this is by no means the regional standard and is more of a tourist niche.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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