The schedule is packed with activities sure to keep your mouth watering, from our annual Crab Cake Cook-Off to a new Chef's Seafood Chowder Challenge. According to Doris Hicks, Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service seafood technology specialist, chowders are chunky, hearty soups that are so full of good things that they sometimes are more like stews than soups.
Many chowders are simply cream soups or soups that are left chunky rather than pured.
Like other specialty regional soups, chowders resist being categorized, Hicks says. However, most of them are based on fish or shellfish and vegetables, and most contain potatoes and milk or cream. This event is a friendly challenge between the First State Chef's Association and the Delmarva Chefs and Cooks Association to come up with the best seafood chowder recipe as voted upon by visitors to Coast Day, Hicks explains. Clams, which have been donated by Sea Watch International, will be the featured seafood for this first year's challenge. Hicks says the public will sample 2-ounce portions of the chowders before casting their votes.