Clam Chowder from the Nova Scotia Beach – Peter MacPherson

“Have you got any Anadama Bread?” the man beside me at the Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Saturday farmer’s market asked the woman selling baked goods.

“How do you know about Anadama Bread?” I asked the man in astonishment, since I was right in the middle of baking some at my cottage. It is a bread made from an old recipe that uses cornmeal and molasses.

We became fast friends and it turns out the Peter MacPherson, who now lives in the Carolinas, in the USA, and summers here, once lived here and was raised with all the traditions of good “down East food.”

When I told him of my Dining Out With History project, he said “You should have met my grandmother,” and he asked me if I wanted her recipe for Clam Chowder.

“Of course,” I said, “And I’ll make it next week.”

Here are the notes I made on an envelope at the market.

THIS IS HOW FOOD HISTORY IS PASSED ON.

I tried the recipe and it was great, but I have to confess, I could only come up with big hefty bar clams that Peter recommended, and think it would taste better with the more delicate soft shelled clams.

Enjoy, and thanks Peter for sharing your Grandmother’s recipe.