Clam dip is a

dipping sauce A dip or dipping sauce is a common condiment for many types of food. Dips are used to add flavor or texture to a food, such as pita bread, dumplings, crackers, chopped raw vegetables, fruits, seafood, cubed pieces of meat and cheese, potato ch ...

and

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to enhance the Flavoring, flavour, to complement the dish or to impart a specific flavor. Such specific flavors generally add sweetness or pungency, or sharp or piquant ...

prepared with

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams h ...

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

, and

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, and/or salts, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". Salt may ...

s as primary ingredients. Various additional ingredients can be used. It is usually served chilled, although it is sometimes served hot or at room temperature. It is used as a dip for

potato chips Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

, crackers,

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, and

crudités Crudités (, ) are French appetizers consisting of sliced or whole raw vegetables which are typically dipped in a vinaigrette or other dipping sauce. Examples of crudités include celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, bell pepper strip ...

. Commercial varieties of clam dip are

mass-produced Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

by some companies and marketed to consumers in grocery stores and supermarkets.

History

In the early 1950s in the United States, the first televised recipe for clam dip appeared on the ''

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety show, variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical- ...

'' show, a radio and television variety program broadcast on NBC from 1933 to 1971. After the recipe segment aired, canned clams in New York City reportedly sold out within 24 hours. The ingredients used in this recipe were minced canned clams, cream cheese, lemon juice,

Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...

, garlic, salt and pepper. Clam dip remained popular throughout the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S., at which time prepared manufactured clam dips were available in U.S. supermarkets. As various tomato-based salsas gained more popularity with American consumers beginning in the late 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of clam dip and similar dips made with sour cream and cream cheese declined.

Preparation

Clam dip is typically prepared using canned chopped or minced

, and various

s, and usually served chilled. It is used as a dip for

potato chip Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

s, bread, crackers, and

. It has a creamy texture and

mouthfeel Mouthfeel refers to the physical sensations in the mouth caused by food or drink, making it distinct from taste. It is a fundamental sensory attribute which, along with taste and smell, determines the overall flavor of a food item. Mouthfeel i ...

. Canned, cooked, and frozen or fresh clams may be used, the latter of which can be cooked by steaming or pan cooking. Canned clams can be drained, or the liquid can be retained and used as an ingredient. After refrigeration, the dip may thicken, and the liquid from canned clams can be used to thin the dip. Milk or cream is also sometimes used to thin clam dip. When refrigerated overnight, the flavors of the ingredients intermingle more greatly, resulting in a more flavorful dip.

Smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food, particularly meat, fish and tea, by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but ...

clams are sometimes used, which imbues a distinct smoky flavor to the dip. The clams can be smoked in the shell and then minced afterward. Additional ingredients can be used, such as lemon juice,

, onion,

scallion Scallions (also known as green onions and spring onions) are edible vegetables of various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions. Their close relatives include garlic, shallots, leeks, chive ...

shallot The shallot is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was t ...

chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spe ...

, garlic, and pepper sauce. The ingredients can be mixed using a food processor. It is sometimes served as a hot dip, which can be kept warm using a

chafing dish A chafing dish is a metal cooking or serving pan on a stand with an alcohol burner holding chafing fuel below it. It is used for cooking at table, notably in gueridon service, or as a food warmer for keeping dishes at a buffet warm. Historica ...

, and melted cheese can be used as an ingredient in hot versions. It is also sometimes served at room temperature. Clam dip can be served in a hollowed-out loaf of bread, such as sourdough. It can be garnished with ingredients such as parsley, scallions and paprika. Crudités to accompany the dish can include red peppers, carrots, radishes, and cauliflower, among others. Prepared clam dip can be preserved by storing it in a freezer.

Commercial varieties

Some companies

mass-produce Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

commercial varieties of prepared clam dip and market them to consumers in grocery stores and supermarkets. Commercial varieties are typically packaged in plastic tubs. Prepared clam dip mixes have also been commercially manufactured and marketed to consumers. One such product comes packaged with dried sour cream that is reconstituted using water.

Nutrition information

A one-tablespoon serving of clam dip using the recipe that aired in the early 1950s on the ''Kraft Music Hall'' show contains 71 calories, 1 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 5 g total fat (with 3 g saturated fat), 25 mg cholesterol and 136 mg sodium.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, Clam dips
Clam dip recipe
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...