![Starting lunch with a traditional clam juice shot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Starting_lunch_with_a_traditional_clam_juice_shot.jpg)
Clam juice is a
broth
Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...
derived from steamed
clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...
s,
which can be drunk on its own or used as an ingredient in various dishes and beverages.
Preparation
Clam juice is typically prepared from the liquid obtained from
steamed
Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American southwest, steam pits used for cooking have ...
clams.
Clam juice may be prepared fresh for consumption,
or purchased in prepared bottled form.
Some companies
mass-produce
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
prepared clam juice, which is made by steaming fresh clams in water with salt, collecting the extracted liquid known as clam extract or clam liquor, and then filtering it.
In 1937, William G. Frazier invented a clam opener devised to easily open clams and retain all of the clam juice, which was collected in a bowl.
A patent for the clam opener was issued by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
on November 15, 1938.
Use in dishes
![Clam juice being used in preparation of clam chowder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Clam_juice_being_used_in_preparation_of_clam_chowder.jpg)
Clam juice is sometimes used in the preparation of
clam chowder
Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were us ...
and other
chowder
Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...
s.
It may be used as an ingredient in various sauces and meat sauces,
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
dishes, in
soup bases, and as a condiment to top foods, similar to the manner that
fish sauce
Fish sauce is a liquid condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. It is used as a staple seasoning in East Asian cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisine, particularly Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, P ...
may be used.
Italian chefs sometimes use clam juice as an ingredient in
seafood dishes
Seafood dishes or fish dishes are distinct food dishes which use seafood (fish, shellfish or seaweed) as primary ingredients, and are ready to be served or eaten with any needed preparation or cooking completed. Seafood dishes are usually dev ...
and pasta sauces.
It is sometimes used during the
deglazing process in cooking.
It may provide a mineral-like flavor to dishes, and serve as a substrate to assist in combining flavors present in a dish.
As a beverage
Some restaurants and bars in the US serve
shots of pure clam juice.
For example, the Old Clam House in San Francisco, California serves a shot glass of hot clam juice at the beginning of each meal.
In the early 1900s in the United States, clam juice was purported to be a
hangover
A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical sympto ...
remedy.
![Everleigh Club exterior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Everleigh_Club_exterior.jpg)
The
Everleigh Club
The Everleigh Club was a high-class brothel which operated in Chicago, Illinois from February 1900 until October 1911. It was owned and operated by Ada and Minna Everleigh.
Opening
Ada Everleigh, the elder, was born in Greene County, Virginia o ...
, a former
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
in Chicago, Illinois, that was in operation from 1900 to October 1911, would serve iced clam juice and a tablet of aspirin as a starter for breakfast, which began at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Beverages with clam juice
Soda fountains
In the United States in the early 1900s, clam juice was used as an ingredient for various beverages at
soda fountain
A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The device combines flavored syrup or syrup concent ...
s.
Beverages prepared with clam juice included hot clam juice, hot clam soda, hot ginger clam broth, hot celery punch, hot clam cream, clam night cap, tomato clam broth and others.
During this time, a recipe for hot clam juice used one-half to one-ounce of clam juice in an eight-ounce glass, the remainder of which was filled with hot water.
Accompaniments included soda crackers, celery salt, salt and pepper.
The beverage was sometimes prepared with the addition of milk or hot milk.
The addition of a small portion of butter would enhance the flavor of hot clam juice.
Cocktails
In contemporary times, clam juice is sometimes used as an ingredient or
drink mixer
Drink mixers are the non-alcoholic ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. Mixers dilute the drink, lowering the alcohol by volume in the drink. They change, enhance, or add new flavors to a drink. They may make the drink sweeter, more sour ...
in
cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...
s, such as the
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
,
also known as a Bloody Caesar.
Clamato
Clamato
Clamato is a commercial drink made of reconstituted tomato juice concentrate and sugar, which is flavored with spices, dried clam broth and MSG. Made by Mott's, the name is a portmanteau of ''clam'' and ''tomato''. It is also referred to collo ...
is a
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
beverage prepared with
tomato juice concentrate, clam juice and spices.
It also contains
high fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzym ...
, monosodium glutamate, salt and
ascorbic acid
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
.
Clamato is used as an ingredient in the
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
cocktail.
The
michelada
A ''michelada'' (Spanish pronunciation: itʃeˈlaða is a Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, assorted sauces (often chili-based), spices, and chili peppers. It is served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. There are numerous variations of thi ...
, a
beer cocktail
A beer cocktail is a cocktail that is made by mixing beer with other ingredients (such as a distilled beverage) or another style of beer.
In this type of cocktail, the primary ingredient is usually beer.
List of beer cocktails
* Black and ...
, is sometimes prepared using Clamato as an ingredient.
See also
*
Clam sauce
Clam sauce (Italian “alle vongole”) is a topping for pasta, usually linguine. The two most popular varieties are white, usually featuring minced clams, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice or white wine, and parsley, or red, usually a thin tomato sa ...
*
Fred Fear & Company – a former U.S. purveyor of clam juice
*
List of juices
This is a list of juices. Juice is a liquid that is naturally contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with these or other biological food sources such as meat and seafood. It is commonly consumed as a bever ...
*
Oyster sauce
Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts,The Times, 22 January 1981; ''Cook Accidentally on purpose'' sugar, salt and water thick ...
*
References
Further reading
*
* 172 pages.
* {{cite book , author=Hill, Edward C. (M.D.) , title=Medical News , publisher=Henry C. Lea's Son & Company , chapter=Rational Diet in Disease , issue=v. 87 , year=1905 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CITAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA586 , quote=Clam juice may be tried in the vomiting of pregnancy (Thompson). p. 586.
Clams
Drink mixers
Juice