Massachusetts Food Trail: Chowder

By Amy Traverso

Apr 18 2011

Photo Credit : Laish, James

As long as there have been fishing and cooking, there has been chowder. In one form or another, over many centuries, coastal cooks have served up some variation of local seafood simmered in a thick liquid—a dish more stew than soup. On the northwest coast of France, 17th-century fishermen cooked their concoctions in large cauldrons called chaudières, and some say this is the origin of the word “chowder.” Others say the word comes from jowter, a 16th-century Cornish term for “fishmonger.”

But no matter. Chowder is ours now, an object of fierce loyalty, and a creamy clam stew—thickened with potatoes and milk, seasoned with bacon and onions and brine, and served with common crackers—holds a particular place of honor in Massachusetts. Maybe it’s because the waters off Cape Cod are prime breeding grounds for the quahogs that are its central ingredient; maybe it’s because Bay Staters take pride in panning the clear-broth chowder of neighboring Rhode Island. All that matters is that they love it enough to produce some noteworthy renditions all over the state.

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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