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Hot Clam Night Cap
One ounce clam juice, filling with hot water, and serving salt, pepper, etc.
A fountain formula rather than a kitchen one: a shot of clam essence in a mug of hot water, seasoned at the counter. It works, but only if the proportions and the seasoning are handled deliberately.
- The ounceOne fluid ounce is 2 tablespoons. It is the concentrated flavour base; the recipe does not say what size cup it fills, so judge the water by taste.
- "Filling with hot water"Fountain hot water came from the urn tap rather than a boiling pot. Bring the mug up with water just off the boil; the drink should be hot enough to sip slowly and no hotter.
- What clam juice wasBottled clam juice or clam nectar, the strained liquor from steamed hard-shell clams, sold at fountains alongside beef extract. Modern bottled clam juice is the same product and is already salty, so taste before adding more salt.
- Do not boil itHard boiling is generally held to flatten clam liquor. Heat the water, not the juice, and combine off the heat.
- "Salt, pepper, etc."The etcetera was the counter's discretion: celery salt, a dash of Worcestershire, a squeeze of lemon, sometimes a small pat of butter floated on top.
- Warm the mugAn ounce of cold juice and a cold cup will drop a hot drink well below drinking temperature. Rinse the mug with hot water first.
- YieldOne serving. Scaled up for a crowd, mix the clam juice into hot water in a pitcher or urn and season each cup individually, since salt tolerance varies sharply in a savoury drink.
Hot savoury drinks were a standard part of the winter soda fountain, which had to earn its keep in months when nobody wanted iced soda: clam broth, beef tea, hot malted milk and bouillon all appeared on the same list as ice cream sodas. Clam juice in particular was promoted as a restorative, sold bottled, and often recommended for invalids and for people out in the cold. The name is the giveaway about its intended role: a "night cap" was the last drink of the evening, and calling a cup of hot clam broth one placed it squarely in the fountain's business of offering respectable, non-alcoholic versions of bar-room service, a trade that was already established well before Prohibition and is often said to have expanded further under it.