chowder

{{Infobox food

| name = Chowder

| image = Shrimp and corn chowder.jpg

| image_size = 280px

| caption = A seafood chowder prepared with shrimp and corn

| alternate_name =

| country =

| region =

| creator =

| course =

| type = Soup or stew

| served =

| main_ingredient = Seafood or vegetables, often milk or cream

| variations = New England clam chowder, seafood chowder, corn chowder, potato chowder

| calories =

| other =

}}

Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish.

Clam chowder from New England is typically made with chopped clams and diced potatoes, in a mixed cream and milk base, often with a small amount of butter. Other common chowders include seafood chowder, which often consists of fish, clams, and other types of shellfish; lamb or veal chowder made with barley; corn chowder, which uses corn instead of clams; various fish chowders;[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4065467/chowder_recipes_1912/ "Fish Chowders Make Goodly Fare"] Brooklyn Eagle (11 March 1912): 22. via Newspapers.com {{open access}} and potato chowder, which is often made with cheese. Fish, corn, and clam chowders are popular in North America, especially Atlantic Canada and New England.

Etymology

File:Potato and corn chowder.jpg

The origin of the term chowder is obscure. One possible source is the French word chaudron,{{cite book | last=Leslie Bilderback | first=CMB | title=The Complete Idiot's Guide To Comfort Food | publisher=DK Publishing | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-4406-2617-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MkF_132_4YC&pg=PA86 | page=86}} the French word for cauldron, the type of cooking or heating stove on which the first chowders were probably cooked.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4065539/chowder_recipes_1969/ "Chowder Origins Still a Mystery"] Fresno Bee (19 February 1969): 17. via Newspapers.com {{open access}}{{harvnb|Hooker|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dWNACFO5zZwC&pg=PA2 2]}} Chodier was also a name for a cooking pot in the Creole language of the French Caribbean islands. Additionally, a Portuguese, Brazilian, Galician and Basque fish and shellfish stew is known as caldeirada which appears to have a similar etymology.{{cite web|url=http://oquee.co/o-que-e-caldeirada/|title=O que é Caldeirada|date=15 November 2015|access-date=4 October 2018|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004225836/http://oquee.co/o-que-e-caldeirada/|url-status=dead}}

Another possible source of the word "chowder" could be the French dish called chaudrée (sometimes spelled chauderée), which is a thick fish soup from the coastal regions of Charente-Maritime and Vendée.{{cite web|last1=Scalza|first1=Remy|title=14 Chowders + Craft Beer|date=2 November 2014|url=http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2014/11/02/14-chowders-craft-beer-tickets-on-sale-for-2014-vancouver-chowder-chowdown/|publisher=Inside Vancouver|access-date=19 January 2016|archive-date=12 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812234342/https://www.insidevancouver.ca/2014/11/02/14-chowders-craft-beer-tickets-on-sale-for-2014-vancouver-chowder-chowdown/|url-status=dead}} Yet another etymology could be the Quebecois French word chaudière, which means "bucket".{{cite web|url= http://www.dufrancaisaufrancais.com/mots-quebecois-quotidien-vidange-chaudiere-moppe-vadrouille/ |title=Les mots québécois du quotidien: vidange, chaudière, moppe et vadrouille |language=fr |date=15 April 2014 |website=Traduction du Français au Français |access-date=4 October 2018}}

In the sixteenth century in Cornwall and Devon the dialectal word "jowter" was used to describe hawkers, particularly fishmongers, which later turned into "chowder" and "chowter". However, this is not cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as a possible source due to controversy regarding the origins of the dish itself. The earliest citation the OED gives for the word used in its current sense of a fish-based stew is American."Directions for making a chouder"; Boston Evening Post, 23 September 1751

History

Chowder as it is known today originated as a shipboard dish, and was thickened with the use of hardtack.{{Sfn|Hooker|1978|p=3}} Chowder was brought to North America with immigrants from England and France and seafarers more than 250 years ago. It became popular for its flavour, and is now used widely for its simple preparation.

An early description of chowder is found in the journal kept by the young botanist Joseph Banks, who visited English and French Labrador fisheries in 1766. Banks gives an account of chowder, which he described as "Peculiar to this Country", and its preparation. Even though it was unfamiliar, he stated that "when well made a Luxury that the rich Even in England at Least in my opinion might be fond of It is a Soup made with a small Quantity of salt Pork cut into Small Slices a good deal of fish and Biscuit Boyled for about an hour".{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=O'Brien |title=Joseph Banks, A Life |year=1987 |page=53}}

Chowder was not utterly unfamiliar in England at the time, as in Sir Launcelot Greaves (1762) Tobias Smollett has one character state, "My head sings and simmers like a pot of chowder". A Manx sailor in his memoirs recalls a meal made aboard a British ship on a voyage through the Caribbean in 1786: "....we frequently served up a mess called chowder, consisting of a mixture of fresh fish, salt pork, pounded biscuit and onions; and which, when well seasoned and stewed, we found to be an excellent palatable dish."{{cite book |first=Hugh |last=Crow |title=Memoirs of the late Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool |year=1830 |page=19 |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsoflatecap00crow}} Cookbooks of the period included recipes for "Chowder, a Sea Dish" which might be thicker than a soup: in 1830 an English baked dish made with salmon and potato was called a chowder.{{harvnb|Hooker|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dWNACFO5zZwC&pg=PA100 100]}}

In 1890, in the magazine American Notes and Queries, it was said that the dish was of French origin. Among French settlers in Canada, it was a custom to stew clams and fish laid in courses with bacon, sea biscuits, and other ingredients in a bucket called a "chaudière". The Native Americans adopted it as "chawder", and the name (and the dish) eventually became "chowder" in the United States.{{Sfn|Walker|Cox|2011|pp=22–24}} After the Revolutionary war, the fourth of July was celebrated with picnics, fireworks, dances and dinners. The foods served varied according to the customs of each region. Chowder was one of the dishes commonly served for the celebrations in the northern United States.{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Andrew F. |title=Food and Drink in American History: A "Full Course" Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2013 |page=364}}

In the United States, early chowder making is traced to New England.{{Sfn|Walker|Cox|2011|p=9}} It was a bowl of simmering chowder by the seaside that provided in its basic form "sustenance of body and mind – a marker of hearth and home, community, family and culture". It evolved along the coastal shoreline of New England as a "congerie" of simple things, very basic and cooked simply. It is a simple dish of salt and pepper, potatoes and onion, pork and fish, cream and hard crackers, and not a sophisticated dish of the elite. Its simplicity made it attractive and it became a regional dish of the New Englanders, and their favourite recipe was "chowder master".{{Sfn|Walker|Cox|2011|pp=11–12}} "Symbolically, functionally, mnemonically or dynamically" chowder has become a community-defining symbol for New Englanders.{{Sfn|Walker|Cox|2011|p=14}} Etta M. Madden and Martha L. Finch observe that chowder provides "visceral memories that provided feelings of familiarity, comfort and continuity".{{Sfn|Walker|Cox|2011|p=14}}

A recipe formulated and published in 1894 by Charles Ranhofer, a famous chef of Delmonico's restaurant, was called "Chowder de Lucines" and had ingredients of pork, clams, potato (sliced to a seven sixteenths-inch size), onion, parsley, tomato, crackers garnished by thyme, salt and pepper.{{harvnb|Hooker|1978|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dWNACFO5zZwC&pg=PA9 9]}} Others in the same family, totally different from the New England clam chowder, are: "Fulton Market style", introduced in 1904 and made from clams, tomatoes, allspice, cloves, red pepper, and Worcester sauce; a "Vegetable Clam Chowder" introduced in 1929 and made of clams, chopped onions, diced carrots, stewed tomatoes, and thyme; "Coney Island Clam Chowder";{{clarify|date=January 2017}} "New York Clam Chowder";{{clarify|date=January 2017}} and "Manhattan Clam Chowder", a late entry after 1930.

In most cases, particularly in the Maritime Provinces, Canadian chowder is thinner and more seafood-forward than its creamier American counterparts.

Types

Chowder is a soup with cream or milk mixed with ingredients such as potatoes, sweet corn, smoked haddock, clams and prawns, etc. Some cream-style chowders do not use cream, and are instead prepared using milk and a roux to thicken them. Some of the popular variations are clam chowder and potatoes; seafood chowder; spiced haddock chowder; Irish fish chowder with soda bread; crayfish chowder; clam chowder with cod; British seaside chowder with saffron; thick smoked-haddock chowder; Raymond Blanc's light shellfish chowder; New England–style clam chowder traditionally served with oyster crackers; smoked haddock chowder with leeks and sweetcorn; clam, broad bean and salami chowder; and many more.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chowder |access-date=18 January 2016 |title=Chowder recipes |publisher=BBC}} Chowder can be a comfort food, especially during the winter months.{{cite book |title=Ultimate Food Journeys: The World's Best Dishes and Where to Eat Them |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7566-9588-0 |chapter=Creamy Chowder in Boston |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FDAt0uVU7zYC&pg=PA287 | page=287}}

=Bermuda fish=

File:Bermuda Fish Chowder (3825239570).jpg]]

Considered a national dish of Bermuda, the primary ingredients in Bermuda fish chowder include fish, tomato, and onion that is seasoned with black rum and a sherry pepper sauce. The dish is of British origin, and was brought to the New World by the colonists.

=Clam=

Clam chowder is prepared with clams, diced potato, onion, and sometimes celery. It may be prepared as a cream-style or broth-style soup. Several variations of clam chowder exist, including New England clam chowder, which is a cream-style soup; Manhattan clam chowder, a broth-style soup prepared using tomato, vegetables and clams; Rhode Island clam chowder is a broth-style soup without dairy, and alternatively also includes stewed tomatoes which is known as red chowder;{{Cite web|url=https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/food-dining/types-of-clam-chowder/|title=The Scoop on Different Types of Clam Chowder|date=2020-02-19|website=Your AAA Network|language=en-US|access-date=2024-04-24}} New Jersey clam chowder; Delaware clam chowder; Hatteras clam chowder; and Minorcan clam chowder. In Connecticut clam chowder, milk is used instead of cream. New England clam chowder is made in a diverse variety of styles.{{cite web|last1=Worrall|first1=Simon|title=What's Best, Worst, and Most Weird About American Food|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151220-american-food-cuisine-local-state-ngbooktalk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222180211/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/151220-american-food-cuisine-local-state-ngbooktalk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 December 2015|website=National Geographic|access-date=19 January 2016}}

Clam chowder may be prepared with fresh, steamed clams or canned clams. The "clam liquor" from steamed or canned clams may be retained for use in the soup, and fresh or bottled clam juice may be used. January 21 is the National New England Clam Chowder Day in the United States.{{cite web|last1=Dea|first1=Cynthia|title=National New England clam chowder day|url=http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/21/national-clam-chowder-day/|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-date=30 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130121009/http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/21/national-clam-chowder-day/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Emily|title=National New England clam chowder day|url=http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/21/national-clam-chowder-day/|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-date=30 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130121009/http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/21/national-clam-chowder-day/|url-status=dead}}

In the late 1800s clam chowder was introduced in New Zealand as an "American" dish and has become integral to New Zealand cuisine.{{cite web |url=http://nzchowder.com/?cat=4 |title=The home of chowder in New Zealand |website=NZ Seafood Chowder Blog |access-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827172230/http://nzchowder.com/?cat=4|archive-date=27 August 2018|url-status=dead}} A variant of New Zealand clam chowder is "pipi chowder", also known as "pipi soup" made with New Zealand surf clams.Maggy Wassilieff, 'Seafood - Favourite Kiwi fare', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/5101/toheroa (accessed 30 December 2022) "Pipi" comes from the indigenous Maori name for the shellfish.{{cite web |website=Food |url= https://www.food.com/recipe/pipi-soup-nz-clam-chowder-483650 |title=Pipi Soup (NZ Clam Chowder) |access-date=2020-09-15}}{{cite web|url= http://gorgeouswithattitude.blogspot.com/2012/11/pipi-pie-to-pipi-sandwiches-recipes.html |title=Pipi Pie to Pipi Sandwiches, Recipes from a Vintage NZ Cook Book|access-date=4 October 2018}} Although there are variations in ingredients all New Zealand seafood chowders are made in the style of New England chowders, always with milk and/or cream.{{cite web|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/collections/recipes/cloudy-bay-clam-chowder|title = Cloudy Bay Clam Chowder | RNZ Recipes|website = Radio New Zealand}}{{cite web |author=Tea Girl |date= |title=Pipi Soup (Nz Clam Chowder) Recipe |url=https://www.food.com/recipe/pipi-soup-nz-clam-chowder-483650 |accessdate=2022-09-07 |publisher=Food.com}}

File:Clam juice being used in preparation of clam chowder.jpg|Bottled clam juice being used in preparation of clam chowder

File:Quail 07 bg 041506.jpg|New England clam chowder

File:Manhattan Clam Chowder 1.jpg|Manhattan clam chowder

=Corn=

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion. Some are prepared using meats, such as chicken or bacon. Corn chowder may be prepared with fresh, frozen, or canned corn.

File:Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder.jpg|Roasted corn and potato chowder

File:Corn chowder with crab 1.jpg|Corn chowder with crab

=Fish=

Fish chowder is prepared with fish such as salmon or cod, and is similar to clam chowder in ingredients and texture. Ingredients used in fish chowder may include potato, onion, celery, carrot, corn and bacon.{{cite web|last1=Stutman|first1=Seth|title=Sweet Potato Seafood "Chowder"|url=http://wwlp.com/2016/01/06/sweet-potato-seafood-chowder/|website=WWLP.com|access-date=18 January 2016|archive-date=18 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218191315/http://wwlp.com/2016/01/06/sweet-potato-seafood-chowder/|url-status=dead}}

File:Fishchowder.jpg|A bowl of fish chowder, with tilapia, red potato, chopped dill, and other ingredients

=Smoked salmon=

A popular dish in Pacific Northwest cuisine, smoked salmon chowder gets its red color from tomato paste and is prepared with celery, garlic, leeks, chives, potatoes and Alaskan smoked salmon. The best known smoked salmon chowders are made at Pike Place Market and by Ivar's Salmon House, both in Seattle, Washington.{{cite web |last=Danovich |first=Tove |date=2019-06-05 |title=The Comforting Sameness of Ivar's Clam Chowder |url=https://www.eater.com/2019/6/5/18642684/ivars-seafood-seattle-history |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Eater |language=en}}

=Southern Illinois=

Southern Illinois chowder, also referred to as "downtown chowder",{{cite book | last1=Stern | first1=J. | last2=Stern | first2=M. | title=The Lexicon of Real American Food | publisher=Lyons Press | series=Globe Pequot Series | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-7627-6094-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHBVnMl3nMkC&pg=PA100 | page=100 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} is a thick stew or soup that is very different from the New England and Manhattan chowders. The main ingredients are beef, chicken, tomatoes, cabbage, lima beans, and green beans. Traditionally, squirrel meat was a common addition.{{cite web|last=Wells |first=Len |url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/aug/10/tradition-is-ingredientin-bone-gap-chowder/ |title=Tradition Is Ingredient in Bone Gap Chowder |work=Evansville Courier & Press |date=10 August 2008 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |access-date=12 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201172804/http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/aug/10/tradition-is-ingredientin-bone-gap-chowder/}} Southern Illinois chowder is a hearty dish that has been described as being closer in style to burgoo and Brunswick stew than coastal chowders.

=Seafood=

Seafood chowder is prepared with various types of seafood as a primary ingredient, and may be prepared as a broth- or cream-style chowder. It is a popular menu item in New Zealand using ready-prepared mixed seafood, called "seafood marinara", "marinara mix", or simply "marinara". These terms to describe mixed seafood are unique to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and not to be confused with the meaning of "marinara" as in marinara sauce.

File:Seafood chowder.jpg|A cream-style seafood chowder at a restaurant, served with oyster crackers in the bowl at left

File:Shrimp chowders soups seafood.jpg|A broth-style seafood chowder prepared with shrimp

File:Scallops corn chowder.jpg|A cream-style seafood chowder prepared with scallops and corn

=Spiced haddock=

Spiced haddock chowder is made with haddock fillets, carrot, potato, plain flour, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard, and spices added to milk and cooked in a pot with butter.{{cite web |last=Torode |first=John |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spiced_haddock_chowder_68510 |title=Spiced haddock chowder |access-date=18 January 2016 |publisher=BBC}}

=Other types=

The White Castle restaurant serves a potato-and-bacon chowder.{{cite web|title=11 Fast Foods You Should Never Order|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/white-castle-chowder_n_4644752.html|website=The Huffington Post|date=23 January 2014|access-date=21 January 2016}}

Use of preserved clams

In North America, as people moved west, some homemade preparations of traditional chowder used canned or bottled clams when fresh clams were not available. In some places the ingredients were modified based upon other locally available foods such as salmon, corn and chicken.{{cite web|title=Ring in New Year with fresh chowder|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/ring-in-new-year-with-fresh-chowder/|website=The Seattle Times|access-date=19 January 2016|date=28 December 2015}}

Commercial varieties

Mass-produced, canned varieties of chowder are manufactured and purveyed to consumers, such as Campbell's and Progresso's New England Clam Chowder, among other brands.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book | last1=Rombauer | first1=I.S. | last2=Becker | first2=M.R. | last3=Becker | first3=E. | last4=Guarnaschelli | first4=M. | title=JOC All New Rev. – 1997 | publisher=Scribner | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-684-81870-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbyW2LeXIOkC&pg=PA110 | page=110}}

{{cite book | last=Alper | first=N. | title=The Everything Easy Gourmet Cookbook | publisher=F+W Media | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-60550-432-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNCQ9j6uOdUC&pg=PA284 | page=284 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{cite book | last1=Brody | first1=J.E. | last2=Flaste | first2=R. | title=Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book | publisher=Norton | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-393-03687-9 | url=https://archive.org/details/janebrodysgoodse00brod| url-access=registration | page=[https://archive.org/details/janebrodysgoodse00brod/page/194 194]}}

{{cite book | last=Tilley | first=M. | title=Hold That Hidden Salt!: Recipes for Delicious Alternatives to Processed, Salt-heavy Supermarket Favourites | publisher=Formac Publishing Company Limited | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-88780-952-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nYMYDNajV8C&pg=PA58 | pages=58–59}}

{{cite book | last1=Thorne | first1=J. | last2=Thorne | first2=M.L. | title=Serious Pig: An American Cook in Search of His Roots | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | year=2000 | isbn=978-1-4668-0598-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NB1__3RQgsC&pg=PA309 | page=309}}

{{cite web | title=Smoky bacon adds extra richness to creamy New England clam chowder | website=Today | date=10 December 2015 | url=http://www.today.com/recipes/new-england-clam-chowder-t60676 | access-date=19 January 2016}}

}}

Bibliography

{{cite book|last=Hooker |first=Richard James |title=The Book of Chowder |date=January 1978 |publisher=Harvard Common Press |isbn=978-0-916782-10-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWNACFO5zZwC}}
{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Jake |last2=Cox |first2=Robert S. |title=A History of Chowder: Four Centuries of a New England Meal |year=2011 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-1-60949-259-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0Y6co7LB_EC }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}