The Seafood chowder is a traditional dish very popular in Ireland and England, but also in New Zealand where mixed ready-to-use fish is called “seafood marinara”, “marinara mix” or simply “marinara”.
The term Chowder refers to a thick soup prepared with milk and cream, a roux and seafood or vegetables.
New England clam chowder is usually made with chopped clams and diced potatoes, in a base of mixed cream and milk, often with a small amount of butter.
Other common soups include seafood chowder, which often consists of fish, clams, and other types of shellfish.
Or lamb or veal chowder made with barley; corn chowder, which uses corn instead of clams; fish chowder and potatoes chowder, which is often made with cheese.
Fish chowder was brought to North America by immigrants from England and France and by sailors over 250 years ago.
There are various hypotheses about the origin of the word: the Portuguese, Brazilian, Galician, and Basque fish and seafood stew known as caldeirada seems to have a similar etymology.
Or it could derive from a French dish called chaudrée which is a thick fish soup from coastal regions, and from the French word chaudron, meaning cauldron, the type of stove for cooking or heating on which the first soups were probably cooked.
This is the one tasted during our trip to Cornwall in January 2025.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4People
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: British
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- to taste mussels and/or clams (with shell – cleaned)
- 9 oz fish (monkfish, snapper, tarakihi, hapuku, cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces)
- 9 oz shrimp
- 7 oz smoked fish (or salmon)
- 2 oz butter
- 1 leek (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2.5 cups milk
- 2.5 cups fish stock
- 150 ml cream
- 1/2 lemon
- to taste parsley
- to taste chives
- 2 oz flour
- to taste salt and pepper
Steps
Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the leek and garlic with a pinch of salt for a few minutes or until they become soft.
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute.
Then about ½ cup of milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Gradually add the rest of the milk, then the stock and cream. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until slightly thickened.
Add the seafood (if using shellfish, add them first and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the other seafood) and continue to simmer for a few minutes.Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Add the parsley.
Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with chives.
You can cook it in an enameled cast-iron pot.
