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Clam Juice Shake
One ounce American Clam Bouillon, 2 ounces milk, 5 ounces water. One pinch of salt and a little pepper for each glass. To be well shaken. A delicious drink. Always use white pepper.
A fountain drink built from a bottled savory concentrate, closer to a cold, thin clam broth with milk than to anything sweet. The proportions are fluid ounces and add up to one 8-ounce glass.
- The measuresAll quantities are fluid ounces: 1 oz concentrate, 2 oz milk, 5 oz water, making a single 8-oz soda glass. The recipe serves one.
- American Clam BouillonThe capitalisation suggests a proprietary bottled clam preparation of the sort sold to fountains and druggists; such products were likely seasoned and may have been more concentrated than modern clam juice, though the strength is not documented here. Bottled clam juice is the nearest thing on a shelf now; if it tastes thin at this dilution, treat the ratio as a starting point and dilute to taste.
- SaltClam juice and clam bouillon are both already salty. Taste before adding the pinch of salt rather than after.
- Why white pepperThe likeliest reason is appearance: black pepper leaves visible dark specks in a pale, milky glass, while white pepper seasons without showing. The recipe itself gives no reason.
- ShakingThe original says only "to be well shaken," with no mention of ice; a fountain would plausibly have shaken it in a metal cup and served it cold. Chilling the mixture is advisable.
- CurdlingMilk that is not fresh can curdle when mixed with a salty, mildly acidic broth. Use cold, fresh milk and serve immediately after shaking.
Savory drinks were a standard part of the American soda fountain before Prohibition and well into the 1920s, sitting on the same list as phosphates and egg drinks: clam bouillon, beef tea, tomato bouillon and celery tonic were sold as bracing rather than refreshing, and often as mildly medicinal, in the same spirit as the malted milk and the beef-iron-and-wine tonic. Bottled clam bouillon and clam nectar were manufactured products, advertised to druggists in bulk and recommended for invalids and for people told to avoid alcohol, which gave the fountain a respectable substitute for a pick-me-up at the bar. Clam broth as a restorative is generally traced to the New England and New York oyster houses, where the liquor from steamed clams was served hot in a cup; the fountain version simply chilled it, cut it with milk, and shook it to order.