1½ cups water

½ cup dry white wine

8 pounds olde salt littleneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed

1 pound mussels

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 ounces bacon, diced (about 1 ¼ cups)

1 large onion, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, cut into ¼-inch dice

3 sprigs thyme, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 sweet potato, thinly sliced (for sweet potato cream)

2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint

1 tablespoon Ararat (available at laboitepice.com) or smoked paprika

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salt-water crackers

Cook the clams:

Pour water and wine into large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add clams, cover and cook until they pop open, approximately 5 minutes. Remove clams to a bowl, discarding any that have not opened. Strain liquid and set aside. When cool enough to handle, remove clams from shells and set aside.

Make the sweet potato cream:

Put cream and sliced sweet potatoes in pot and cook until potato is cooked through. Puree in blender until smooth and pass through a fine mesh strainer.

Cook the chowder:

In a pot, melt butter with bacon over medium-high heat until bacon is crispy. Add onion, garlic, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Sauté until onion is translucent, approximately 4 minutes. Add potatoes, reserved clam juice and sweet potato cream. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Fish out and discard bay leaves. Add mussels and cook until open. Return clams to pot. Stir in parsley and mint, season to taste with salt and pepper. Finish with Ararat.

Serve:

 Ladle soup into six warm bowls and serve with salt-water crackers on the side.