[Sca-cooks] chowder

[Michael Gunter]

>I might have guessed chowder had milk and potatoes but one of the
>Clam Chowders is tomato based. Is it a matter of thickness, with
>soup being thinner than a chowder? Or is this just a regional
>naming difference?

I always thought it was the thickness issue as well. Of course
things tend to get bastardized over the years. It could be the
original fish stews were considered chowders and then, as the
original seafaring folk went west they used the word "chowder"
to reflect any thick soup, especially those using potatoes.
This is pure speculation on my part.

New England Clam Chowder is a different animal than Shaker Corn
Chowder but you can see the obvious similarities. Manhattan Clam
Chowder is a vastly different animal than these two. I do wonder
if "chowder" evolved from being any fish stew to a thick soup
with potatoes or the other way around?

My comment about the restaurant having fish soup other than chowder
was inaccurate. I was referring to a nice bouillabaisse type of
tomato-y dish with different chunks of fish instead of the
traditional New England Clam Chowder. Going back to the fish
soup argument, I don't consider a bouillabaisse to be a chowder
but I do consider a thick corn chowder, with no fish whatsoever,
to be a chowder. This could be a poor Southerner's interpretation
of chowders, though.

With all the new corn coming in, I've been looking at making
a nice Crab Corn Chowder recently anyway.

>--
>THLord Stefan li Rous

Gunthar

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