Broth and clams are contained in the several types of chowders and in making clam chowder you will need the basics like onions and potatoes occasionally sautéed from salt pork drippings. You will need very few types of vegetables such as small carrot strips which are primarily used for color. Celery is also frequently used. For garnish and flavoring, sometimes bay leaves are used.

In the olden days the reason why clams were used was because they were readily available and they were easy to collect. From what used to be a year round requirement for Catholics, making clam chowder was usually done on Fridays in restaurants purposely as an option for sea foods especially for people not taking meat during lent. In England for example, clam chowder was made using bacon or salt pork, hardtack or flour, onion, clams and potatoes.

A 1939 bill in England made it illegal to add tomato in clam chowder. In Manhattan it was a different affair since tomato was used for flavor and for the red color. It was referred to as New York clam chowder in the 1890s. It was later in the 1900s that the name Manhattan clam chowder was adopted from people in Maine. Making chowder has been done since the 18th century, the origin being in England.

Being a traditional of their cuisine, it is said that the idea of adding tomatoes in place of milk was introduced by the Portuguese who had migrated from the Rhodes Island. There are many types of chowders depending on the making clam chowder style that you prefer to use. There are restaurants which are known to have their own unique chowders that do not imitate any type of chowder from any country. Read the rest of this entry »