SC - New pet peeve

[Philip & Susan Troy]

melc2newton at juno.com wrote:
> 
> and was told that they were their own, but that they had used all period
> ingredients.( Although Clam Chowder is my favorite, the cream based type,
> especially from scratch, I have difficultly believing it's Norman French,
> even Generic Norman French... but I degress... )

Your difficulty is understandable. Chowder, especially in the form you
refer to, is an at-least-second-generation American interpretation of
Breton dishes now known as bourride and matelote, made from herring or
other rather small fish, and eels, respectively. 

The earliest American chowders appear to have been layered, baked
constructs like a lasagna, or a fish-based Irish stew, made from salt
pork, ship's biscuit, potatoes, onions, fish and fish stock, with butter
added as a garnish at the table. Even these are only loosely related to
European originals, bearing about as much relation to French soups as if
a French immigrant to the New World had said, "Okay, what have we got
around here to make a hotpot out of?"

Clams don't seem to be as widely eaten in Western Europe as they are in
the USA, and if the recipes are anything to judge from, the same seems
to have been true in period.

Clams were added later, probably in the early 19th century, and "New
England Clam Chowder" as we know it today, with milk and cream, potatoes
only (and sometimes roux) without ship's biscuit or cracker crumbs,
_and_ sans tomato product, seems to appear for the first time in Fannie
Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cook Book in, what, 1896?

I'm extremely fond of pointing out to sanctimonious fans of
"traditional" NE chowder that tomato was widely used in NE chowders till
around 100 years ago, and probably still would be if they could grow
good tomatoes in New England and preserve them properly in a ketchup
that tasted good. (Real tomato ketchup, a thin but highly flavored,
sweet, tangy, and _spicy_ condiment, has gone the way of all flesh, but
it was often included in fish and clam chowders until the late 19th
century, as an alternative to fresh or canned tomatoes.)
  
Speaking of pet peeves and all...I guess you can tell this is something
of a push-button for me.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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