Is It Soup Yet?

     New Englanders certainly do love their chowder!  The cook-off was packed with folks eager to sample all the varieties being offered by the competing organizations.  But as I tasted the nearly two dozen different chowders I wondered to myself, what goes into making a really great chowder?

     It seems that chowder is to New Englanders what gumbo is to folks along the bayou.  There are some basics, but creativity is really the main ingredient.  And everyone there cooking had some sort of individual twist to their concoction.  I peeked behind the scenes of one booth and spoke with the head chef who was patiently stirring his chowder in a large make-shift double boiler.  He told me that is the only way to heat the mixture without burning it with the dry heat of the open flame.  Others had secret ingredients, like smoked alligator meat, or brie cheese.  And another didn't use clams at all, but a combination of oysters and lobster meat.

     I came away with a sense of freedom with regard to my own cooking after sampling all the different chowders.  Cook what you like and like what you cook I guess is the mantra of the Great Chowder Cook-Off.  That worked for them and it works for me!