[Sca-cooks] For the Chowderheads
Johnna Holloway
johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Thu Dec 8 09:29:19 PST 2005
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
>>
>
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