Chowder

 

Since the weather is still on the nippy side these days (thanks Punxsutawney Phil), I've been thinking soups are a good thing to work on.  In tossing around ideas with my friend David the other day, the topic of chowder came up.  He suggested taking on the red v. white chowder discussion for a post...I was not even aware there was a difference.  So may I present...Chowder.

CHOWDER

At its most basic, a chowder is defined as any slow-cooked soup or stew made in a large community pot to meant to feed a number of people as they get hungry.  Chowders are like the famous "stone soup" of the folk tale, an economical means to feed many on a little, made from local ingredients to suit local tastes. 

Didyaknow -- the term "chowder" comes from a short-handed Anglicized version of the French word chaudiere -- the large cooking cauldron that hangs over the fire in which feeding-the-masses soups/stews/gruels are made.

Chowders can be made using everything from a water to a cream base, sometimes includes pureed veggies, spices, and a thickener -- in the form of potatoes, flour, or cornstarch. Chowders can be made from corn, chicken, cheese or seafood.

Chowders started showing up in American cookbooks in the 1800s.  In the Northeast, seafood chowder was a staple for New Englanders though early seafood chowders used haddock or cod as their main protein.  It wasn't until around the 1830s that clam chowder became standard fare and by the end of the century, different regions along the Atlantic coast became known for their distinctive varieties of the dish.

Didyaknow -- chowders are traditionally served on Fridays. This is due in most part to the Catholic practice of fish-only Fridays.

New England Clam Chowder (aka Boston Clam Chowder) -- is a thicker style chowder made from a milk or cream base with potatoes, onions and clams.  NECC is traditionally served with oyster crackers which are crumbled or crushed and mixed into the chowder to give it even more "oomph."  there are no other veggies in the mix and tomatoes of any sort are a BIG no-no.

Fun fact -- in 1939 a bill was introduced to the Maine legislature to make illegal the addition of tomatoes to a New England Clam Chowder...it did not pass, but it certainly made a statement on where folks stand when it comes to their clam chowder. 

Manhattan Clam Chowder (aka New York Clam Chowder) -- is made from a combination of clear broth and tomatoes (gasp!).  It is said that it was the Portuguese immigrants who introduced tomato-based stews to the region.  All other ingredients are similar to what you find in NECC.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder (aka South Country Style Chowder) -- is made from tomato broth, but does not contain chunks of tomatoes, and includes quahogs, bacon, onions, and sometimes carrots or beans.

Didyaknow -- quahogs are hard shell clams, as opposed to soft shell clams, they tend to be bigger and meatier which is why they are used in chowders.

New Jersey Clam Chowder -- cream-based chowder made with clams, bacon, onion, peppers, potatoes, Old Bay crab seasoning, asparagus and tomatoes slices.

Hatteras (NC) Clam Chowder -- is a clear broth chowder made with bacon, potatoes, sliced green onions, but uses flour as an additional thickened, lots of pepper (white or black), and hot pepper sauce.  We do love our Texas Pete in NC.

Minorcan (North FL) Clam Chowder -- it's like Manhattan Clam Chowder with a powder keg kick.  All ingredients for this tomato-based chowder are the same but with the addition of Datil pepper. To give you a sense of how hot, on the Scoville Scale, Datil peppers rank higher than a Cayenne pepper, but not quite as hot as a Habenero chili.

I've never made a clam chowder before so think that will be this week's project.  So keep an eye out for a cool new chowder recipe coming to a blog near you!

I'm pretty sure my Dad just did a happy skippy dance with that bit of news.