Top 8 American Chowders

One of the earliest and quintessential American dishes, New England-style clam chowder is a creamy stew made with briny clams, chunks of salt pork, sweet onions, potatoes, and milk. The dish was invented by the Pilgrims who had landed near Plymouth Rock in 1620. Hungry and with nothing to eat, they turned to delicious clams that are commonly found on New England's shores and cooked them in pots filled with water over an open flame. As for the word chowder, some claim it stems from the French chaudiére, denoting an iron cooking pot, while others claim it stems from chaudeau, meaning hot water. The creamy version we all know and love today started to become popular at the beginning of the 19th century, and by the end of it, there were also some regional versions of the dish. Some of them added crushed crackers, butter, or chopped fish to the already flavourful broth. Aromatic and sea-flavored, it is almost a sacred dish in New England, regularly celebrated with various competitions, festivals, chowder lovers societies, and boat races. Today, there are many versions of clam chowder in Manhattan, Rhode Island, Long Island, Minorcan, Hatteras, Delaware, and New Jersey.Expand

Following in the footsteps of the classic New England-style clam chowder, Californian clam chowder is a creamy stew containing clams, potatoes, and onions. The key to making it Californian-style is to carefully tuck the chowder inside a sourdough bread bowl, which is the Californian way to enjoy this iconic American dish. Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is believed to have originated in 1849, in the San Francisco restaurant called Boudin, and has since become the signature dish of the city.Expand

Vermont corn chowder is a traditional dish made with a milk-based broth, corn, and other vegetables such as onions, peas, potatoes, and cabbage. The dish is usually enriched with strips of bacon and thickened with flour or Vermont cheddar cheese. Chowder can be traced back to the 16th century, when it was considered a poor man's meal. The word chowder is derived from the French word chaudiere, referring to a vessel used by the French fisherman who made hearty fish stews by cooking fish with vegetables and milk. Vermont corn chowder is praised as an ideal dish for late summer evenings when locally grown corn is at its peak.Expand

Although New England clam chowder boasts with its salt pork, mollusk, potato, and onion mixture, New Yorkers have their own Manhattan variety of the dish, a light tomato stew similar to minestrone, filled with carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, and lots of large, chopped chowder clams accompanied by aromatic herbs such as thyme, oregano, and pepper. It is said that the flavor significantly improves after a day, so if making it at home, it's best to let it sit and reheat it the next day. As for its origins, some claim that it was invented in Rhode Island regardless of Manhattan in its name and that the original recipe was inspired by immigrants from Italy or Portugal. Since the dish has tomatoes in it, and they were thought to be suspicious, if not poisonous in New England until the mid-1800s, Manhattan clam chowder would have to date back from at least the period after those years. It differs from the New England version as it doesn't have any milk in it, and the New England version doesn't contain tomatoes, so the dish is sometimes called red chowder, while the New England version is called white chowder. The rivalry between the two is so great that in 1939, a bill was introduced in the state of Maine in order to make it illegal to add tomatoes to the dish. Regardless of the dispute, Manhattan clam chowder is a unique and special stew that must be tried, and it's never bad to have two different versions of a universally loved dish.Expand

Minorcan clam chowder is a Floridian dish hailing from St. Augustine. This Manhattan-style, tomato-based chowder is made with a combination of onions, bacon, green bell peppers, clams with their juice, crushed tomatoes, celery, thyme, bay leaves, potatoes, and datil chili pepper, which is grown in the St. Augustine area. The chowder is cooked until the potatoes are fully cooked. If the broth is too thick, it's recommended to dilute it with water or tomato juice. However, the consistency should remain on the thick and chunky side. Some claim that Minorcan clam chowder is even better if reheated the next day. The dish was brought over by the Minorcans to St. Augustine in 1777.Expand

Red conch chowder is a Caribbean dish that's especially popular in The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and the Florida Keys. The conch is pounded with a hammer in order to make it tender, and it's then chopped and combined with onions, celery, green onions, hot peppers, tomatoes and tomato paste, potatoes, beans, and herbs and spices. The combination is boiled for a few hours until all the flavors blend together. This red-colored chowder is light and brothy when first prepared, but if it's left overnight and eaten the next day, its consistency slightly thickens due to the starches coming from the potatoes. Red conch chowder is always served hot, and it's recommended to add a few dashes of pepper sherry on top before serving.Expand

This clam chowder is a traditional dish hailing from Delaware. The dish is usually made with a combination of pre-fried salt pork, potatoes, quahog clams, butter, onions, and salt water. The ingredients are cooked until soft, and the chowder is then served while still warm. This clam chowder variety was especially popular during the early and mid-20th century. It's often compared with the New England clam chowder, with which it shares some common traits. Sometimes, white wine, cream, and corn are added to Delaware clam chowder, giving the broth a slightly yellowish hue.Expand

Long Island clam chowder is a traditional chowder originating from Long Island. Just like the geographical positioning of Long Island, between Manhattan and New England, the chowder is a blend between the dairy-based white New England chowder and the tomato-based red Manhattan chowder. The Long Island clam chowder has a pink color as a result. Fresh whole clams are mixed with canned tomatoes, heavy cream or full-fat milk, and often potatoes and other vegetables in order to create this hybrid of a chowder, which has proven to be very popular in Long Island's chowder bars and restaurants.Expand