Chowder
From the Chowder Files:
The “Mite Society,” which flourished in every religious denomination, held its fund-raising gatherings at various times in the year, but especially in cool weather when men and women from distant points would travel across the miles with horse and buggy because they knew that the principal dish to be served would be chicken chowder — one that would, old-timers said, “set a bone” or “shingle a barn.” The chowder was well filled with chicken and seasoned by experts, and the rule at the Mite Society was “10 cents a plate and as many plates as you can handle.”
Of chowder there are stories
And traditions by the mile,
Of who began to serve up food
In this peculiar style.
The searching of the records
To the center of their heart
Will indicate the “choudre”
Of the Breton was the start.
But Vineyard ingenuity
Gets credit, as they say,
For serving up spring chicken
In this most peculiar way!
Yes, Vineyard chicken chowder
As they serve it from the pot
Is never found, folks tell us,
In another earthly spot.
But here, upon the Vineyard,
Have the generations fed,
Upon this dish as common
As the people’s daily bread.
For parties, for the “social,”
So it figures in research,
When womenfolks were planning
To raise money for the church.
Of course, ’twas chicken chowder,
And if their supply ran low,
A little milk was added,
Just to piece things out, you know.
And in spite of rule insistent
That the bird be young and sweet,
The heavy Shanghai rooster
Would produce more broth
and meat.
And stewed on split-wood fires
As the daylight hours passed,
Was tenderized by evening
When the hungry diners massed!
Let those who will choose dishes
That were served to kings of old
Of recipes close-guarded
As a miser hoards his gold.
Let them, if they prefer it,
Dine on venison or squab,
But Vineyard chicken chowder
Does an even better job!
One 4 to 5 pound fowl, cut up; one medium onion or more if desired; a quart sliced potatoes; 1 quart milk; seasonings. Stew the fowl the day before. When done, remove from liquid and set both aside to cool. There should be about a quart of liquid. Next day skim fat from broth and reserve. Cut up meat into chunks.
Fry onion in chicken fat until slightly browned. Put onions, potatoes and chicken meat into kettle. Add chicken broth. Cook until potatoes are done. Add milk. heat, season to taste and thicken slightly. This is better if made early and allowed to stand to blend flavors.
Readers of the Things Insular column must have noticed the reprinting, with comment, of a characteristically urban and modern recipe for “quick” chowder. What is said here will be limited to the “quickness,” which is one of the falsest gods of these profane times.
No matter how quickly chowder is made, it will still take the earth its approximate 365 days to travel once around the sun, the pulsebeat of the human animal will remain the same, there will be no acceleration of the enzymes in the digestive tract or of the taste buds which begin to drool when the proper kind of slowly-perfected chowder is smelled or anticipated.
Chowder, as all the real authorities know — and it is amazing how few of them live in New York — is by nature slow.
Chicken chowder if accumulated and built with due respect for both clock and calendar, improves with age. In many recipes one encounters the phrase “remove to the back of the stove,” and there is a great deal of eloquence there. On the back of the stove is where much of the perfection comes in.
We would say, at a venture, that one of the grave faults of the present generation is that it has nothing on the back of the stove.
Compiled by Cynthia Meisner
Comments
Comment policy »