Chowder is a thick soup prepared with

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, a

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooke ...

, and

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

Oyster cracker Oyster crackers are small, salted crackers, typically rounds about in diameter, although a slightly smaller hexagonal variety is also common. The crackers are often served with oyster stew and clam chowder and contain similar ingredients to sa ...

s or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish.

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

clam chowder Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were ...

is typically made with chopped

clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two she ...

s and diced potatoes, in a mixed cream and milk base, often with a small amount of butter. Other common chowders include seafood chowder, which includes fish, clams, and many other types of shellfish; lamb or veal chowder made with barley;

corn chowder Corn chowder is a chowder soup prepared using corn as a primary ingredient. Basic corn chowder is commonly made of corn, onion, celery, milk or cream, and butter. Additional ingredients sometimes used include potatoes or squash, salt pork, fish, s ...

, which uses corn instead of clams; a wide variety of fish chowders; and potato chowder, which is often made with cheese. Fish, corn and clam chowder are popular in North America, especially

and

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

Etymology

The origin of the term ''chowder'' is obscure. One possible source is the French word ''chaudron'', the French word for

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot (kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...

, the type of cooking or heating stove on which the first chowders were probably cooked. ''Chodier'' was also a name for a cooking pot in the Creole language of the French Caribbean islands. Note also the Portuguese, Brazilian, Galician and Basque fish and shellfish stew known as ''caldeirada'' which would appear to have a similar etymology. Another possible source of the word "chowder" could be the French dish called ''chaudrée'' (sometimes spelled ''chauderée''), which is a type of thick fish soup from the coastal regions of Charente-Maritime and Vendée. Yet another etymology could be from Quebecois French, where ''chaudière'' means "bucket". Although in the sixteenth century in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

a dialect word "jowter" was used to describe hawkers, particularly fish-sellers, with later variants "chowder" and "chowter", this is not cited by the Oxford English Dictionary as a possible source due to controversy regarding the origins of the dish itself. Though the earliest citation the ''OED'' gives for the word used in its current sense of a fish-based stew is American, the journal kept by the young botanist

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

visiting the English and French

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

fisheries in 1766 gives an account of chowder, "which I believe is Peculiar to this Country", and its preparation that shows it was unfamiliar, though "when well made a Luxury that the rich Even in England at Least in my opinion might be fond of It is a Soup made with a small Quantity of salt Pork cut into Small Slices a good deal of fish and Biscuit Boyled for about an hour". Chowder was not utterly unfamiliar in England at the time, as in ''Sir Launcelot Greaves'' (1762)

Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (baptised 19 March 1721 – 17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for picaresque novels such as ''The Adventures of Roderick Random'' (1748), ''The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'' (1751) a ...

has one character state, "My head sings and simmers like a pot of chowder". A Manx sailor in his memoirs recalls a meal made aboard a British ship on a voyage through the Caribbean in 1786: "....we frequently served up a mess called ''chowder'', consisting of a mixture of fresh fish, salt pork, pounded biscuit and onions; and which, when well seasoned and stewed, we found to be an excellent palatable dish." Cookbooks of the period included recipes for "Chowder, a Sea Dish" which might be thicker than a soup: in 1830 an English baked dish made with salmon and potato was called a chowder. In

Merriam-Webster's Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as G ...

dictionary chowder is defined as "a thick soup or stew made of

or corn with potatoes and onions and milk or tomatoes".

History

Chowder as it is known today originated as a shipboard dish, and was thickened with the use of

hardtack Hardtack (or hard tack) is a simple type of dense biscuit or Cracker (food), cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly dur ...

. Chowder was brought to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

with immigrants from England and France and seafarers more than 250 years ago and became popular as a delicious dish, and is now a widely used dish as it is simple to prepare. In 1890, in the magazine ''American Notes and Queries'', it was said that the dish was of French origin. Among French settlers in Canada it was a custom to stew clams and fish laid in courses with bacon, sea biscuits, and other ingredients in a bucket called a "chaudière", and it thus came to be invented. Then the Native Americans adopted it as "chawder", which was then evolved into "chowder" in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. After the Revolutionary war, the

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

was celebrated with picnics, fireworks, dances and dinners. The foods served varied, changing with the customs of each region. Chowder was one of the dishes commonly served for the celebrations in the Northern United States. In the United States, early chowder making is traced to

. It was a bowl of simmering chowder by the sea side that provided in its basic form "sustenance of body and mind – a marker of hearth and home, community, family and culture". It evolved along the coastal shoreline of New England as a "congerie" of simple things, very basic and cooked simply. It is a simple dish of salt and pepper, potatoes and onion, pork and fish, cream and hard crackers, and not a sophisticated dish of the elite. Its simplicity made it attractive and it became a regional dish of the New Englanders, and their favorite recipe was "chowder master". "Symbolically, functionally, mnemonically or dynamically" chowder has become a community-defining symbol for New Englanders. Etta M. Madden and Martha L. Finch observe that chowder provides "visceral memories that provided feelings of familiarity, comfort and continuity". A recipe formulated and published in 1894 by

Charles Ranhofer Charles Ranhofer (November 7, 1836 in Saint-Denis, France – October 9, 1899 in New York) was the chef at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York from 1862 to 1876 and 1879 to 1896. Ranhofer was the author of ''The Epicurean'' (1894),Charles Ranhof ...

, a famous chef of

Delmonico's Delmonico's is the name of a series of restaurants that operated in New York City, with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. The original version was widely recognized as the United States ...

restaurant, was called "Chowder de Lucines" and had ingredients of pork, clams, potato (sliced to a seven sixteenths-inch size), onion, parsley, tomato, crackers garnished by thyme, salt and pepper. Others in the same family, totally different from the New England clam chowder, are: "Fulton Market style", introduced in 1904 and made from clams, tomatoes,

allspice Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry (botany), berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a Canopy (forest), midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, ...

cloves Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, s ...

, red pepper, and Worcester sauce; a "Vegetable Clam Chowder" introduced in 1929 and made of clams, chopped onions, diced carrots,

stewed tomatoes Stewed tomatoes is a dish typical of the United States, prepared using fresh tomatoes, garlic and herbs, and consumed with bread or meat. Stew refers to the combination of vegetables and food ingredients that are cooked in a liquid medium. Moreo ...

, and

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...

; "Coney Island Clam Chowder"; "New York Clam Chowder"; and "Manhattan Clam Chowder", a late entry after 1930. In most cases, particularly in the

Maritime Provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

, Canadian chowder is thinner and more seafood-forward than its creamier American counterparts.

Types

Chowder is a soup with cream or milk mixed with ingredients such as potatoes, sweet corn, smoked haddock, clams and prawns, etc. Some cream-style chowders do not use cream, and are instead prepared using milk and a

to thicken them. Some of the popular variations are clam chowder and potatoes; seafood chowder; spiced haddock chowder; Irish fish chowder with soda bread; crayfish chowder; clam chowder with cod; British seaside chowder with saffron; thick smoked-haddock chowder; Raymond Blanc's light shellfish chowder; New England-style clam chowder traditionally served with oyster crackers; smoked haddock chowder with leeks and sweetcorn; clam, broad bean and salami chowder; and many more. Chowder can be a

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone, and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may app ...

, especially during the winter months.

Bermuda fish chowder

Considered a

national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, the primary ingredients in Bermuda fish chowder include fish, tomato, and onion that is

seasoned Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". H ...

with black rum and a

Sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

pepper sauce. The dish is of British origin, and was brought to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

by the colonists.

Clam chowder

Clam chowder is prepared with

s, diced potato, onion, and sometimes celery. It may be prepared as a cream-style or

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

-style soup. Several variations of clam chowder exist, including New England clam chowder, which is a cream-style soup; Manhattan clam chowder, a broth-style soup prepared using tomato, vegetables and clams; Rhode Island clam chowder, a broth-style soup prepared using tomato and clams with no vegetables, and alternatively a simple broth-style soup using clams; New Jersey clam chowder; Delaware clam chowder; Hatteras clam chowder; and Minorcan clam chowder. In Connecticut clam chowder, milk is used instead of cream. New England clam chowder is made in a diverse variety of styles. Clam chowder may be prepared with fresh,

steamed Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American southwest, steam pits used for cooking have ...

clams or canned clams. The "clam liquor" from steamed or canned clams may be retained for use in the soup, and fresh or bottled

clam juice Clam juice is a broth derived from steamed clams, which can be drunk on its own or used as an ingredient in various dishes and beverages. Preparation Clam juice is typically prepared from the liquid obtained from steamed clams. Clam juice may be ...

may be used. January 21 is the National New England Clam Chowder Day in the United States. In the late 1800s clam chowder was introduced in New Zealand as an "American" dish and has become integral to New Zealand cuisine. A variant of New Zealand clam chowder is "pipi chowder", also known as "pipi soup" made with New Zealand surf clams. "Pipi" comes from the indigenous Maori name for the shellfish. Although there are variations in ingredients all New Zealand seafood chowders are made in the style of New England chowders, always with milk or cream. File:Clam juice being used in preparation of clam chowder.jpg, Bottled

being used in preparation of clam chowder File:Quail 07 bg 041506.jpg,

New England clam chowder Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were us ...

File:Manhattan Clam Chowder 1.jpg,

Manhattan clam chowder Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were us ...

Corn chowder

Corn chowder is similar in consistency to New England clam chowder, with corn being used instead of clams. Additional vegetables that may be used in its preparation include potatoes, celery and onion. Some are prepared using meats, such as chicken or bacon. Corn chowder may be prepared with fresh, frozen, or canned corn. File:Roasted Corn and Potato Chowder.jpg, Roasted corn and potato chowder File:Corn chowder with crab 1.jpg,

Corn chowder Corn chowder is a chowder soup prepared using corn as a primary ingredient. Basic corn chowder is commonly made of corn, onion, celery, milk or cream, and butter. Additional ingredients sometimes used include potatoes or squash, salt pork, fish, s ...

with crab

Fish chowder

Fish chowder is prepared with fish such as salmon or cod, and is similar to clam chowder in ingredients and texture. Ingredients used in fish chowder may include potato, onion, celery, carrot, corn and bacon. File:Fishchowder.jpg, A bowl of fish chowder, with

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

, red potato, chopped dill, and other ingredients

Smoked salmon chowder

A popular dish in

Pacific Northwest cuisine Pacific Northwest cuisine is a North American cuisine of the states of Oregon, Washington and Alaska, as well as the province of British Columbia and the southern portion of the territory of Yukon, reflecting the ethnic makeup of the region, ...

, smoked salmon chowder gets its red color from tomato paste and is prepared with celery, garlic, leeks, chives, potatoes and Alaskan

smoked salmon Smoked salmon is a preparation of salmon, typically a fillet that has been cured and hot or cold smoked. Due to its moderately high price, smoked salmon is considered a delicacy. Although the term lox is sometimes applied to smoked salmon, th ...

. The best known smoked salmon chowders are made at

Pike Place Market Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Pu ...

and by Ivar's Salmon House, both in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Southern Illinois chowder

Southern Illinois chowder, also referred to as "downtown chowder", is a thick

stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and ...

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ing ...

that is very different from the New England and Manhattan chowders. The main ingredients are beef, chicken, tomatoes, cabbage, lima beans, and green beans. Traditionally,

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

meat was a common addition. Southern Illinois chowder is a hearty dish that has been described as being closer in style to

burgoo Burgoo is a stew, similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, often served with cornbread or corn muffins. It is often prepared communally as a social gathering. It is popular as the basis for civic fund-raisers in the American Midwest and South. Et ...

and

Brunswick stew Brunswick stew is a tomato-based stew generally involving local beans, vegetables, and originally small game meat such as squirrel or rabbit, though today often chicken. The exact origin of the stew is disputed. The states of Virginia, North Caro ...

than coastal chowders.

Seafood chowder

Seafood chowder is prepared with various types of seafood as a primary ingredient, and may be prepared as a broth- or cream-style chowder. It is a popular menu item in New Zealand using ready-prepared mixed seafood, called "seafood marinara," "marinara mix", or simply "marinara." These terms to describe mixed seafood are unique to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and not to be confused with the meaning of "marinara" as in marinara sauce. File:Seafood chowder.jpg, A cream-style seafood chowder at a restaurant, served with

oyster cracker Oyster crackers are small, salted crackers, typically rounds about in diameter, although a slightly smaller hexagonal variety is also common. The crackers are often served with oyster stew and clam chowder and contain similar ingredients to sa ...

s in the bowl at left File:Shrimp chowders soups seafood.jpg, A

-style seafood chowder prepared with

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

File:Scallops corn chowder.jpg, A cream-style seafood chowder prepared with

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

s and corn

Spiced haddock chowder

Spiced

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas where ...

chowder is made with haddock fillets, carrot, potato, plain flour, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard, and spices added to milk and cooked in a pot with butter.

Other types

The White Castle restaurant serves a potato-and-bacon chowder.

Use of preserved clams

In North America, as people moved west, some homemade preparations of traditional chowder used canned or bottled clams when fresh clams were not available. In some places the ingredients were modified based upon other locally available foods such as salmon, corn and chicken.

Commercial varieties

Mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...

, canned varieties of chowder are manufactured and purveyed to consumers, such as

Campbell's Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become ...

and Progresso's New England Clam Chowder, among other brands.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Linda Stradley. What's Cooking America. 2004. {{authority control American soups American stews Cream soups English soups Fish stews French soups New Zealand soups Independence Day (United States) foods