"[Clam Chowder] is rude, rugged, a food of body and substance like Irish stew, Scottish haggis, English steak and kidney pie a worthy ration for the men and women of a pioneer race and for their offspring."
Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)
Chowder has its roots in the Latin word calderia, which originally meant a place for warming things, and later came to mean cooking pot. The word calderia also gave us cauldron, and in French became chaudiere. It is also thought to come from the old English wordjowter or fish peddler.
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the wordchowder to the fishing villages along the coast of France from Bordeaux to Brittany. There are also early European references made in the Cornwall region of Southwestern England and in the Brittany region of northwestern France.
These two regions are located across the English Channel from one another. When the ships returned from the sea, every village had a large chaudiere waiting for a portion of each man's catch, to be served later as part of the community's welcoming celebration.
The first chowders were made with a technique called "layering chowder ingredients." Even before cookery books were published in America, newspapers, magazines and travel accounts mentioned broth and soup as well as recorded recipes.
According to the book50 Chowders by Jasper White, the oldest-known printed fish chowder recipe was in the Boston Evening Post on September 23, 1751. The use of herbs and spices in this recipe show the typical 18th century English taste for lots of seasonings and the poetic form showed the tradition and love for this dish.
First lay some Onions to keep the Pork from burning
Because in Chouder there can be not turning;
Then lay some Pork in slices very thing,
Thus you in Chouder always must begin.
Next lay some Fish cut crossways very nice
Then season well with Pepper, Salt, and Spice;
Parsley, Sweet-Marjoram, Savory, and Thyme,
Then Biscuit next which must be soak'd some Time.
Thus your Foundation laid, you will be able
To raise a Chouder, high as Tower of Babel;
For by repeating o'er the Same again,
You may make a Chouder for a thousand men.
Last a Bottle of Claret, with Water eno; to smother 'em,
You'll have a Mess which some call Omnium gather 'em.
Canadians can be thankful to our brothers and sisters in Newfoundland for their introduction of fish chowders to North America. Differentkinds of fish stews exist in almost every sea-bound country in the world.
So when European settlers first arrived on the shores of Newfoundland and witnessed empty clam and oyster shells piled into mounds ten feet high, they must have thought they hit the chowder jackpot.
Although we are credited for introducing clam chowder to our pilgrim friends south of the border, rumour has it these puritans quite despised anything to do with shellfish and instead fed "these meanest of God's blessings" to their hogs. With this in mind you may find it humorous that today, the New Englanders claim their chowder to be the most famous of all.
West Coast cod chowder
Ingredients
1 pound pacific/true cod fillets or ling cod
4 slices bacon
cup chopped onion
1 cup peeled diced raw potatoes
2 cups water
cup flour
cup clam juice
1 can evaporated milk (13 ounces)
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
teaspoon white pepper
Method
Rinse fish with cold water; pat dry with paper towels.
Cut fish into half-inch cubes; set aside. In small skillet, sauté bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; blot with paper towels and crumble. Set aside. Discard all but two tablespoons bacon drippings from skillet.
Add onion to skillet; sauté until tender but not brown. Remove from heat. In deep saucepan, combine onion and potatoes. Add water; cover and bring to gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add fish; cover and bring to boil again. Reduce heat and cook for additional 10 minutes, or until fish and potatoes are done. In small bowl, combine flour and clam juice; stir with fork until smooth.
Add to fish and potato mixture, stirring constantly to blend flour. Stir in evaporated milk, butter, salt and white pepper. Continue heating over medium heat until chowder thickens.
Garnish with crumbled bacon before serving. (Variation: add clams, prawns or other shell fish and try some chipotle peppers for a spicy/smoky flavour.)
