[Sca-cooks] For the Chowderheads
marilyn traber 011221
phlip at 99main.com
Tue Dec 6 16:53:43 PST 2005
Mistress Brighid wrote:
> I was bored, so I went chowder-hunting. This is what I caught:
>
>
< Much goodness snipped >
> Tomato may not be a quintessential ingredient of a New England
> chowder, but neither is it a latter-day foreign interloper.
> Likewise, potatoes and milk are common ingredients, but are not
> required in a traditional chowder.
>
> Brighid ni Chiarain
> Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
OK, well, let's take it back a few years. Apparently the term "chowder" for a
fish stew is fairly recent (anybody want to see what the OED says?), but it
seems to have elements in common which could have been combined in period-
Salt pork (or bacon) as the fat, fresh fish, crackers, and onions seem to be
pretty common throughout. What period soup/stews might have been the
forecaster of what we call chowder today? I'm thinking we ought to look most
at the Brits, particularly coastal/seafaring types, with perhaps some small
influence from the Dutch and French, those being the groups which were most
influential in colonizing the northeast, shortly after our period.
I notice similarities with the original gazpacho, for example, but the
Spanish didn't have a lot of influence in New England. I also notice that
many of the ingredients are what might readily be found on ship board- Brandu-
do you have any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Phlip
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