[Sca-cooks] For the Chowderheads

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Dec 6, 2005, at 7:53 PM, marilyn traber 011221 wrote:

> 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?

It's been alleged that the word refers to the pot [chaudiere] in  
which the dish is cooked, and that that is French. When you compare  
the concept to some matelote and bourride recipes (fish soups  
exclusive of the more-famous boulliabaise, and more common in places  
like Normandy), it seems like they might have common ancestors.

Adamantius




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04