A chowder is a creamy, rich flavored soup, which is similar to a stew because of the chunky ingredients it contains. Vegetables, seafood, and cream are typical chowder ingredients. Chowder traditionally has a bacon base and is thickened with broken crackers. There are lots of different types of chowders today, with poultry, seafood, or meat as their base.

Chowders were first created by local fishermen, who would throw samples of the fish they caught into big pots and simmer them with potatoes and vegetables. Americans adopted this type of seafood stew from the French settlers in the northern colonies. The stewpot was called a chaudiere, and this word eventually became "chowder."

Chowder recipes were written down as early as in the late eighteenth century, although the British were making fish stews and chowders before they became popular in the United States.

Types of Chowders

Clam chowder and corn chowder are very popular types of chowder recipes. There are two different types of clam chowder. A Manhattan style clam chowder uses pureed tomatoes as a base. A New England style clam chowder uses cream as a base. Clam chowder dates back to the early nineteenth century and clams were used because they were abundant in the new colonies. Cooks experimented with the basic recipe by adding cream and other ingredients.

A chowder does not have to include seafood and it is thought that many chowder recipes were invented because cooks were using whichever ingredients happened to need using up in the kitchen. A bisque is a pureed form of a chowder.

Recipe for Cheesy Cod Chowder with Pumpkin

The following recipe combines fresh fish with milk, cheese, pumpkin, potatoes, onion, and seasonings, for a really tasty chowder. If you do not have cod, you can use haddock fillets instead. This cod chowder recipe makes enough to serve six to eight people, and it is a really hearty and warming dish.

What you will need:

• 1 lb cod fillets
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
• 1 cup peeled, diced pumpkin
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 cup butter
• 5 1/2 cups milk

Put the cod in a big skillet and add the celery, 1 1/2 cups of the milk, the thyme, and bay leaf. Cover the skillet and simmer the fish for about 15 minutes, then take it out of the skillet. Remove the bones, skin from the fish, and cut it into 1/2 inch pieces. Keep the liquid you cooked the fish in.

Melt the butter in a pot and saute the onions in it. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper and remove the mixture from the heat. Add the liquid from the fish, the rest of the milk and the potatoes. Cook the chowder uncovered for 5 minutes.

Add the pumpkin and cook it for another 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Stir in the cheddar and cook until it melts. Add the fish to the chowder, warm it through and serve.