We feasted on as many menu items as we could afford at the Union Oyster House and the No Name Restaurant, and $5/lb lobsters I would buy from the Italian fish monger across the street from where I lived in the North End. One dish I could never get enough of was “chowdah”. Clam chowder, fish chowder, seafood chowder, whatever, I loved it. The word chowder is thought to come from the French “chaudiere”, which is basically a large pot or cauldron used to cook stews like this. There are many regional varieties of chowder. New England style chowder is white, with cream and potatoes. Traditional New England recipes call for starting out rendering fat from salt pork and then making a roux with flour. Other recipes skip the salt pork, but use a lot of butter. Most recipes called for a highly flavorful fish stock. For this particular fish chowder, which we all agreed turned out exceptionally well, we are using extra virgin olive oil and butter instead of bacon or salt pork. We are skipping the flour and are instead using cream and the starch from the potatoes to thicken the stew. In place of fish stock, we are using flavorful clam juice instead. Add the wine, if using, and turn up the heat, cook, uncovered until the wine reduces by half. (If not using wine, add a 1/4 cup of water with the clam juice in the next step.) Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and cook, covered, until the potatoes are almost done, about 10-15 minutes. Keep your eye on the heat! If you are using straight heavy cream you should be more easily able to avoid curdling, even if the soup starts to boil. But if you are substituting light cream, half and half, or milk, the mixture will likely curdle if it gets near boiling point (one of the reasons I like using straight heavy cream). Keep the temperature so that it barely gets steamy, but not simmering. When the fish is just cooked through, remove from heat. Mix in the parsley. The flavors will improve if the soup rests 30 minutes before serving. Serve with crusty bread or oyster crackers (not for gluten-free version). Origins of Chowder great article with recipes from the 1700s and 1800s, from The Old Foodie New England Chowder Compendium - online archive of historical chowder recipes dating back to the 1700s
