Corn chowder is a thick cream-based soup featuring corn as the main ingredient. It also may contain potatoes and other vegetables. In colonial times this dish was frequently made with whatever vegetables were available. The word chowder is thought to be derived from the Latin word calderia, originally meaning a place for warming things and later coming to mean cooking pot or cauldron. It is believed that people from English-speaking nations began referring to food stewed in a cauldron as chowder. However some historians believe chowder was adapted from the old English word jowter meaning fish peddler. Whatever the case, by the mid-1800s chowder was a staple in New England. The first printed recipe for corn chowder in the United States is found in The Boston Cook Book written by Mary Lincoln in 1884.
Recipe Servings: 6
Ingredients
- ½ lb bacon, diced
- 1½ lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups milk
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 3 cups corn kernels
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Heat a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add bacon and fry until crisp. Drain half the bacon fat.
- Add onion and bay leaves.
- Saute until onions turn translucent.
- Add potatoes, milk, and stock. Bring to a low boil over medium heat and simmer until potatoes are tender.
- Add all remaining ingredients and cook until corn is just done, about 10 minutes.
- Check seasoning and serve very hot.
Notes
One sweet potato, peeled and diced, can be added at the same time as the potato. One stalk of celery and ½ green pepper, chopped, can be sauteed with the onion.
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