[Sca-cooks] For the Chowderheads

[Johnna Holloway]

Excuse the delay. I had one of those headaches yesterday that claimed 
the day.

<>So for Chowders, Phlip asked about OED—this is what it says in part-- <>
“chowder. [App. of French origin, from chaudière pot. In the fishing 
villages of Brittany (according to a writer in N. & Q. 4 Ser. VII. 85) 
faire la chaudière means to supply a cauldron in which is cooked a mess 
of fish and biscuit with some savoury condiments, a hodge-podge 
contributed by the fishermen themselves, each of whom in return receives 
his share of the prepared dish. The Breton fishermen probably carried 
the custom to Newfoundland, long famous for its chowder, whence it has 
spread to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New England. Another writer in 
N. & Q. (1870) 4 Ser. V. 261, says `I have frequently heard some of the 
old inhabitants [of Newfoundland] speak of Commodore John Elliot's 
chowder pic-nic in 1786, which was given in honour of H.R.H. Prince 
William Henry [William IV] in command of H.M.S. Pegasus upon the 
Newfoundland station'. ]”

1. a. In Newfoundland, New England, etc.: A dish made of fresh fish 
(esp. cod) or clams, stewed with slices of pork or bacon, onions, and 
biscuit. `Cider and champagne are sometimes added' (Bartlett). 1751 
Boston Even. Post 23 Sept., Directions for making a chouder.

Hence chowder v. intr., to make a chowder; also trans. to convert into 
chowder; 'chowdering ppl. a.

    * 1732 B. Lynde Diary in Amer. Speech (1940) XV. 227/1 Dined on a
      fine chowdered cod.

Mark Morton in Cupboard Love traces chowder back to the Latin calidarium 
which became cauderon in French eventually becoming cauldron. Calidarium 
in plural is calidaria becoming chaudiere and faire la chaudiere in 
French. This became “to make the kettle” or a communal fish soup shared 
by fishing crews. <>

Sandra L. Oliver’s Saltwater Foodways includes an entire chapter on 
chowders and chowder parties. She dates the word back to the middle of 
the 16th century, courtesy of notes that appear in Karen Hess’s edition 
of Mary Randolph’s cookbook. Randolph includes a chowder recipe in her 
cookbook. Oliver mentions that Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery 
includes a recipe titled “To Make Chouder. A Sea Dish.” [This is dated 
1789, 1768, and 1805.] She includes a entire run down then of Chowders 
in New England through the 18th, 19th , and 20th centuries as they 
progressed through fish soups to clam soups with crackers and milk or 
cream.

<>Manhattan style? In Souper Tomatoes, Andrew F. Smith goes into 
chowders with tomatoes in a subsection titled “Chowder” pages 71-73. 
Smith says the earliest chowder recipe in America is dated to 1751. 
Smith writes that by 1829, Lydia Maria Child in The Frugal Housewife was 
suggesting adding a cup of ketchup to chowders. Child was a big advocate 
of tomato ketchup, so Smith reasons that this is how the tomato got into 
the chowders. Other authors followed. This led to a war of sorts in the 
1940’s where various culinary authors took sides about tomatoes in 
chowders and what the name ought to be. This actually turns out to be a 
fuller account than what is in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink 
in America. <>

I suspect that what we need is a copy of Serious Pig by John Thorne. He 
includes his essay on chowder in that volume. (This is probably the 
essay that I thought was in FHNews.) Where my copy is at the moment is 
another question? I seriously need to box and clear out some materials.

<>You can also look at 
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/ChowderHistory.htm

Hope this helps,

Johnnae

>
> Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
>