Evening star., 1932-10-14
CHOWDER TRIUMPH
At SUMMER CAMP.
New England Cap'ns Learn
Something of Fascinating
Breton Custom.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
BOSTON. October IA (N.AN.A).-
Ever eat C5ney Island clam chSwder?
You won't bslieve it. but they put in
tomatoes! And there are such dishes
as tripe chowder and radish chowder
Boston. the home of number of IA
nous table delicacies, has, CT course,
many choWder chefs. One Of them got
his Gordon blue. with diploma attached.
In one phrase, down on Cape Cod.
Two cap'ns-uitlanders refer to them
morning renewing the shingles on a
cunning camp for one Of the Summer
people,
Cap'n Siah cooked his eye at the
weather, along about 1880, and Cap'n
Williams scratched his head.
Better quit, guess" said he. quite
piece to the village" -
1t was the first word that had been
spoken for nearly two hours. A stranger
would have thought there was gloomy
feud on.
The owner of the camp stuck his
head out at the door. Don't mind to
go up town." said he. I'm making a
chowder"
AS reluctantly and slowly as the turn
ing Of tide, the two cap'ns, by silence,
agreed and took up their shingling
hatchets again. The gloom on the roof
was thicker than ever
A pleasant smell of frying onions
swelled up through the roof to them,
and in due time the owner OF the camp
called out, Come and get IL"
Convinced by Taste.
The cap'nS lowered themselves de-
nberately to the ground and came in
silence to take their places at table.
Bowls were brought.
Cap'n Siah was the first to taste, He
pleW ludlciously across his first spoon
ful, tried it warily. and then engulfed It.
An expression almost Of alarm, certainly
OF amazement, changed his whole face.
BY gosh!" said he. "'Tis good!"
Now that was the accolade. the
diploma. the blue ribbon, by virtue of
which the camp owner now poses as a
true chowder chef. And this is what
he has to say about 1t:
You fry out your diced pork and
take out the scraps and lay them to
one side, and fry your onions golden
brown. After that you can put in
Whatever you like and have a chowder
Many people think that a chowder
IS chowder because it has milk In it.
That Is not true: the milk is put In
because the color of a fish or clam
chowder without milk is not so agree
able to some folk
Fish and fish stock. clam and clam
juice, chopped small quahaugs-not
ground in a meat machine, which will
shred them-and quahaug stock; po-
tatoes In any one Of the three, and,
OF course, the onions and the favored
fat. Then, the old-fashioned way was
to put ships biscuits in the pot and
they would fluff out In the cooking.
You can't get them nowadays, but you
can put in hard crackers"
Chowder-which is also "chouder"-
Is word apparently Of French origin,
from "chaudiere," which means a cop
per, or boiler, or big kettle or pot.
In the fishing villages Of Brittany, ac-
cording to writer in Notes and
Queries. "faire la chaudiere" means to
cook a caularonful of mess of fish
and biscuit, a hodgs-podge contributed
by the fishermen, each Of whom in re-
turn receives his share Of the prepared
dish. The Breton fishermen probably
long famous for its cnowder, whence
it has spread to Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and New England.
1886 Chowder Picnic.
Another writer says: II have heard
some of the old inhabitants (of New
foundland) speak of Commodore John
Elliot'a chowder picnic in 1876. which
was given in honor of H. r. H. Prince
William Henry CWilliam IV) in COM
mand Of H. M. S. Pegasus, upon the
Newfoundland station"
Bartlett, whoever he Is, says 1t was
"a dish made with fresh fish, espe-
cially cod or clans, stewed with slices
Of poyk or bacon, onions and biscuit.
Cider and champagne are sometimes
added" And In the Naval Chronicle a
recipe, dated 1909, Is given that says
"a fish, skinned, cut up and put into
rashers Of salt pork or beef, and some
broken pices Of biscuit; then the whole
Is covered with water and boiled about
10 minutes"
OF course, that isn't chowder; 1t is
what is called muddle.
Hawthorne, in 1.-THE House of Seven
Cables" says "a Goldfish of 60 pounds,
caught In the bay, had been dissolved
into the rich liquid Of a chowder."
! Bushnell is the first to mention putting
potatoes into the chowder, in 1859. He
then one Of pilot bread and potatoes
and onions; another of fish; little
dash Of lard; milk, pepper and salt.
= Daniel Webster used to take parties
OF his friends out in the pilot boats;
and Daniel, 1t is said, always made the
chowders.
For a clam chowder, the Gordon
blues method is to begin by steaming
bunch Of clans lightly, saving the wa
ter Of course, for stock. Then the
clans are shucked, the heads are cut
of and the bellies are simmered with
the clam water. 1t is well to bale the
clam water, leaving the sand in the
kettle.
The necks and side strips-not the
black heads-are chopped in an old
fashioned bowl with a chopper. They
are not put through meat grinder.
Now, with the necessary pork fat and
onions, the chowder is built, hard
crackers being put in. Milk is used If
one likes it, but it is not necessary;
some people put piece Of butter on
the hot plate when serving and pour
the rich chowGer over 1t.
Potatoes belong in clam chowder,
Of course.
Copyright, 1892. by North American News
paper Alliance, 1nc.)