Topic · Seafood Soups Mastery
Type of Chowder Soups
Chowder belongs to the variety of soups that are enhanced with fatback, salt pork, any kind of seafood, traditional usage of saltine crackers or ship biscuit that has been crushed, milk and thickened with flour. Known as clam chowder to some Americans, chowders are cooked with milk and cream in a number of places or made with tomato as in ‘Manhattan Clam Chowder’. Corn chowder is made with whole corn maize kernels.
Clam chowder, fish chowder, and corn chowder have been popular in Atlantic Canada and New England. Seafood chowder has been a favorite and traditional dish in Ireland. At times, clam chowder has a coarse-grained consistency that occurs when there is sand still remaining in the clams during the preparation time.
| Chowder name: | Description: |
| New England Clam Chowder: | Made of milk or cream or with a cream base, New England clam chowder is also traditionally made with bacon or salt pork, potatoes, clams, flour, or hardback. Tomatoes could not be used in clam chowders according to a 1939 bill that was passed and was considered illegal by the Maine Legislature. The people of the Midwest occasionally referred to it as Boston Clam Chowder. The New England traditional chowder was layered with ingredients and crackers like Crown Pilot. |
| Manhattan Clam Chowder: | With tomato used to enhance the red coloring and flavor, the Manhattan clam chowder has a clear broth. This chowder was known as the ‘Fulton Fish Market clam chowder and the ‘New York clam chowder’ in the 1890s. The people in Maine called it the ’Manhattan clam chowder’ in the early 1900s. Typically, restaurants serve either the Manhattan chowder or the New England chowder, but not both in the restaurant. Though no actual date heralds the Manhattan chowder in the 1930s, the cream-based New England version has been in circulation since the mid 18th century. Very often, red and white chowders are served with clam cakes by restaurants in Northern Rhode Island, while white and clear chowders are a favorite on the southern coast. With tomato replacing milk, tomato-based stews were initiated by the Portuguese immigrants in Rhode Island as an integral and traditional part of Portuguese cuisine, according to Good Eats. The modified version as the ‘Manhattan-style’ clam chowder was not accepted by the New Englanders who made fun of the people of New York by calling them ‘New Yorkers’ in an insulting manner. |
| Rhode Island Clam Chowder: | The traditional Rhode Island clam chowder contains clear broth. Well-reputed and long-established restaurants and hotels in New England and on Block Island serve clear chowders, while on the south coast of the state, the tourists prefer the white chowders and the locals prefer clear chowders with the traditional version containing broth, quahogs, onions, bacon, and potatoes. Red chowder is served as a Rhode Island clam chowder in some parts of the state that has potatoes and a tomato broth base. Unlike the Manhattan red chowder, it does not contain carrots, beans, chunks of tomatoes, and other vegetables and has been served for decades at memorable establishments such as Crescent Park and Rocky Point. Though clear chowder has been served as the traditional Rhode Island chowder, the Rhode Islanders associate this red chowder as the state’s native chowder. |
| Outer Banks Clam Chowder: | This version of the clam chowder has bacon, clear broth, onions, and potatoes with flour as the thickening agent and is served throughout North Carolina’s Outer Banks region. This clam chowder is seasoned with large amounts of black and/or white pepper and sometimes with hot pepper sauce or chopped green onions. |
| Other Clam Chowder Variations: | With their own unique style, some of the restaurants serve clam chowders that do not come under these four categories. Normally clam chowders are served with small hexagonal oyster crackers and saltine crackers. Clam chowders are served in the United States as a creamy New England style clam chowder and at times served especially in sourdough bread bowls in San Francisco and is a signature dish since 1849 being popular with the tourists who are fond of sourdough. Smoked salmon is added instead of smoked pork to the New England style chowder in Portland and Seattle. Made with fish, cream, onions, and/or corn, Fish chowder is very like clam chowder and is made of shredded fish like cod as a substitute for clams. |
| Southern Illinois Chowder: | The New England and the Manhattan chowders differ from the Southern Illinois chowder. Originating from the French-Indian term in Edwards County, Illinois, it means besides the chowder that is eaten, but also the social gathering where it is cooked and eaten. Introduced by the early settlers or ‘backwoodsman’, the chowder is a popular dish in the southern part of the United States. The ‘chowder time’ traditionally starts when the tomatoes begin to ripen and dwindles when the heavy frost settles in. |
| Corn Chowder: | Very much like the New England clam chowder, the corn chowder is made with corn and bacon that are substituted for clams in the recipe. As a popular dish in Vermont, the saying goes that it is connected to money and is a natural and harmonious combination. |
Type of Chowder Soups
