From Yellowjackets · 2021- · Reconstructed
Paul's Clam Chowder
Serve when
Serve with a spoon held out for a taste-test first — the way Paul offers it in the scene.
In the series
Season 2
- S2E3 · ~00:12:00 In a flashback, Coach Ben's boyfriend Paul makes clam chowder in their kitchen and asks Ben to taste it, joking about how much cumin he used
In the series
This chowder appears in one of the show's gentlest scenes: a flashback to Coach Ben's life with his boyfriend Paul, cooking dinner together before the crash upends everything. It's a small, ordinary domestic moment that the show uses precisely because of how far it is from anything else Ben goes through afterward.
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the bacon in a heavy pot until crisp, then remove and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
- Cook the onion and celery in the bacon fat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then whisk in the clam juice and reserved clam liquid until smooth.
- Add the potatoes and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the milk, cream, cumin, and clams, and warm through gently without boiling — boiling toughens the clams. Season to taste, top with the reserved bacon, and serve with oyster crackers.
Substitutions
- Cumin: It's an unusual note in a New England-style chowder, which is exactly the joke in the scene — leave it out entirely for a more traditional chowder, or keep it in if you want the dish as Paul actually made it.