Today we’re setting off on a gastronomic journey across the USA—a country whose cuisine has absorbed the traditions of dozens of cultures and turned them into something truly unique and recognizable around the world.
A thick, velvety cream soup with tender clams, diced potatoes, and fragrant bacon. The flavor is deep and creamy, with a light briny note from the sea and a smoky bacon finish. Served hot, often right in a bread bowl.
Ingredients:
• Canned clams — 3 cans (180 g each), reserve the juice
• Bacon — 150 g
• Butter — 40 g
• Onions — 2 medium
• Celery stalks — 3
• Garlic — 3 cloves
• Potatoes — 4 medium (about 600 g)
• Wheat flour — 3 tbsp
• Heavy cream (20–33%) — 400 ml
• Milk — 250 ml
• Bay leaves — 2
• Dried thyme — 1 tsp
• Salt — to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper — to taste
• Fresh parsley — for serving
Instructions:
Step 1. Preparing the bacon.
Cut the bacon crosswise into strips about 1 cm wide. Place it in a heavy-bottomed pot or saucepan with a capacity of at least 4 liters. Set over medium heat and fry for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon turns golden and crisp and the fat has fully rendered out. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel. Leave the fat in the pot.
Step 2. Sautéing the vegetable base.
Add the butter to the bacon fat. Dice the onion into 5–7 mm cubes, slice the celery into 5 mm half-moons, and finely chop the garlic. Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook over medium heat for 5–6 minutes, until the onion turns translucent and soft. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute, until its characteristic aroma blooms.
Step 3. Creating the soup base (roux).
Add the flour to the vegetables and stir thoroughly with a wooden spatula for 2 minutes. The flour should coat all the vegetables and toast lightly—you’ll catch a faint nutty aroma. This creates a lump-free thickener for the chowder.
Step 4. Adding the liquid and potatoes.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1.5 cm cubes. Pour the reserved clam juice, milk, and 250 ml water into the pot. Add them gradually, stirring constantly so the flour dissolves evenly. Add the potatoes, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently for 15–18 minutes, until the potatoes are tender—a knife should slide in without resistance, but the cubes should not fall apart.
Step 5. Adding the cream and clams.
Pour in the cream and stir. Warm the soup for 3–4 minutes without bringing it to a boil—otherwise the cream may curdle. Add the clams, stir, and cook for another 3–5 minutes over low heat. The soup should become thick, velvety, and enveloping—a spoon drawn across the bottom should leave a trail that slowly closes.
Step 6. Final seasoning.
Remove the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick, add a little milk. If it is not thick enough, simmer for another 5 minutes over low heat with the lid off.
Step 7. Serving.
Ladle the chowder into deep warmed bowls. Generously scatter crisp bacon and finely chopped fresh parsley over the top. Serve immediately with oyster crackers or crusty white bread.
💡 Fact: Clam chowder is the subject of a genuine “civil war” between the states. In Massachusetts, in 1939, there was even an attempt to ban adding tomatoes to chowder by law, in order to protect the creamy New England version from the “red” Manhattan variety.
A juicy, dense loaf of ground meat with fragrant seasonings, baked beneath a glossy sweet-tangy tomato glaze. Slice it open and there’s an appetizing texture dotted with vegetables. The flavor is rich and meaty, with a balance of sweetness and tang from the glaze. Classic comfort food, served with mashed potatoes.
Ingredients:
For the meatloaf:
• Ground beef — 700 g
• Ground pork — 300 g
• Onion — 1 large
• Garlic — 4 cloves
• Celery — 2 stalks
• Carrot — 1 medium
• Eggs — 2
• Breadcrumbs — 100 g
• Milk — 80 ml
• Worcestershire sauce — 2 tbsp
• Dried thyme — 1 tsp
• Smoked paprika — 1 tsp
• Salt — 1.5 tsp
• Black pepper — 0.5 tsp
• Fresh parsley — 1 small bunch
For the glaze:
• Ketchup — 120 ml
• Brown sugar — 2 tbsp
• Dijon mustard — 1 tbsp
• Apple cider vinegar — 1 tsp
Instructions:
Step 1. Preparing the panade.
Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Stir and leave for 10 minutes. The crumbs should fully absorb the milk and turn into a soft paste—this is the secret to a juicy loaf: the panade locks moisture inside the meat as it bakes.
Step 2. Preparing the vegetables.
Dice the onion, celery, and carrot as finely as possible, into 3–4 mm cubes. Press the garlic through a garlic press. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion, celery, and carrot for 5–7 minutes, until the vegetables soften and the onion takes on a faint golden color. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cool completely—hot vegetables will start cooking the ground meat too early.
Step 3. Mixing the meat mixture.
Place both kinds of ground meat, the cooled vegetables, soaked panade, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, paprika, finely chopped parsley, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix with your hands for 2–3 minutes until uniform, but no longer—overmixed meat will turn rubbery. The mixture should be moist but hold its shape when formed.
Step 4. Shaping the loaf.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the meat mixture on the sheet and shape it with your hands into an oblong loaf about 25 cm long, 12–14 cm wide, and 8–10 cm high. Smooth and lightly compact the surface so there are no cracks. Shaping it on a baking sheet rather than in a loaf pan lets the fat run off and gives it a crisp crust on all sides.
Step 5. Making the glaze and the first stage of baking.
Mix the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and apple cider vinegar until smooth. Using a silicone brush, coat the top and sides of the loaf with half the glaze. Put it in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
Step 6. Applying the second glaze layer and final baking.
Take out the loaf and brush on the remaining glaze. Return it to the oven for another 20–25 minutes. The loaf is ready when the internal temperature at the center reaches 72°C (check with a cooking thermometer). The glaze should turn dark, caramelized, slightly glossy, and sticky.
Step 7. Resting and serving.
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it rest for 10–15 minutes without slicing it. This is critically important—the juices will redistribute, and the loaf won’t fall apart when cut. Slice into pieces 2–2.5 cm thick. Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans. On the cut, the loaf should be evenly gray-pink, juicy, with visible flecks of vegetables.
💡 Fact: Meatloaf became a symbol of American home cooking during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when homemakers added bread and vegetables to ground meat to “stretch” expensive meat for the whole family. Over time, a dish born of forced thrift became the nation’s favorite comfort food.
A golden, crisp double-crust pie made with flaky, buttery pastry and generously filled with apple slices in a caramel-cinnamon syrup. The flavor is warm, sweetly spiced, with tartness from the apples and the lavish buttery aroma of the pastry. Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
For the pastry (double batch—bottom and top crusts):
• Wheat flour — 350 g + extra for dusting
• Cold butter — 230 g
• Sugar — 1 tbsp
• Salt — 1 tsp
• Ice water — 80–100 ml
• Apple cider vinegar — 1 tsp
For the filling:
• Tart apples (Granny Smith or Antonovka) — 1.2 kg (6–7 medium)
• Brown sugar — 100 g
• White sugar — 50 g
• Lemon juice — 2 tbsp
• Ground cinnamon — 1.5 tsp
• Nutmeg — 0.25 tsp
• Cornstarch — 2 tbsp
• Butter — 20 g (for the filling)
For the egg wash:
• Egg — 1
• Milk — 1 tbsp
• Granulated sugar — 1 tbsp (for sprinkling)
Instructions:
Step 1. Making the pastry.
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into 1–1.5 cm cubes and add it to the flour. Using your hands or two knives, work the butter into the flour until it resembles pea-sized crumbs—visible pieces of butter should remain; they are what create the flaky layers. Mix the ice water with the vinegar and pour it in gradually, stirring with a fork, until the dough starts to come together. Do not knead! Divide the dough into 2 portions, one slightly larger for the bottom crust. Shape into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Step 2. Preparing the apples.
Peel and core the apples. Slice them into 5–6 mm wedges. In a large bowl, mix the apples with the brown and white sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Toss gently so every slice is coated in the spiced mixture. Leave for 15–20 minutes—the apples will release juice, which will become the base of the caramel syrup inside the pie.
Step 3. Rolling out the bottom crust.
Take the larger disk of dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll it into a circle 32–33 cm in diameter and 3–4 mm thick. Carefully transfer the dough to a 23–25 cm pie dish by rolling it around the rolling pin. Lay the dough in the dish, pressing it against the bottom and sides without stretching it. Do not trim the overhanging edges yet. Refrigerate the pastry-lined dish for 15 minutes.
Step 4. Filling the pie.
Take out the pastry-lined dish. Pile in the apple filling, pressing it down lightly—the mound in the center should rise 3–4 cm above the rim of the dish, as the apples will sink during baking. Pour in all the released juices. Dot the top with small pieces of butter (20 g).
Step 5. Covering the pie with the top crust.
Roll the second disk of dough into a circle 28–30 cm in diameter. Cover the filling with it. Trim the overhanging edges, leaving a 2 cm margin. Fold the bottom and top edges of the dough together to form a decorative rim—crimp with your fingers or press with a fork. Cut 5–6 slits, 4–5 cm long, in the top crust—these are steam vents; without them, the pie may burst.
Step 6. Egg wash and baking.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Beat the egg with the milk and brush the entire top surface of the pie. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar—it will create a crisp caramel crust. Place the pie on the lower third of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 220°C, then reduce the temperature to 180°C and continue baking for another 35–40 minutes. If the edges begin browning too quickly, cover them with strips of foil.
Step 7. Checking doneness and serving.
The pie is ready when the top crust is deeply golden and bubbles of thick syrup are actively escaping through the steam vents. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 2 hours at room temperature—this is critically important so the filling can thicken and not run out when sliced. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
💡 Fact: The expression “as American as apple pie” became a popular saying in the 20th century, though apples themselves are not native to America—they were brought over by European colonists. During World War II, soldiers asked, “What are you fighting for?” often answered: “For mom and apple pie.”