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When we were in Tasmania in February, one of the highlights was a dinner that we had at The Drunken Admiral on the waterfront in Hobart. This place had been recommended to us, but in particular I was told that we must try the seafood chowder. And to be fair, it was a great recommendation. It was so delicious and I almost wished that we hadn't have ordered it as a starter, but rather just had the chowder as a main.
The seafood chowder was so good that we knew that we wanted to try and make our own at the first opportunity we got, and the opportunity came up this week. Firstly we had to have the right weather, and this week it was much cooler than it has been and so it was soup weather. Secondly, it had to be when my son was not going to be around for dinner because he does not eat seafood. This week, he is in the US for one of his college friend's wedding so this was our opportunity.
We went and found a recipe, shopped for the all the ingredients and then.....voila. Except, not so much.
The chowder that we had in Tassie was thick and luxurious and creamy. The one that we made had quite a thin soup and then the recipe said to put whole pieces of seafood into the soup. The recipe called for marinara mix, so there were small prawns, chunks of fish, calamari rings and mussels, and it was fine, but it wasn't the same. We have already said if we were going to make it again, we would choose what the seafood that was going to be included was.
I am therefore asking my fellow Weekend Cooking participants a very important question. Do you have a go to seafood chowder recipe that we could try the next time that the stars align? Or should we just jump on a plane and go back to Tassie for dinner every few weeks? Or perhaps we should go further afield and head to San Francisco for clam chowder. I'd be happy with either really.
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So sorry I don't have a go-to seafood chowder recipe. Hope someone here pulls through.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like they have BFR!
DeleteI live far from the sea, so I usually make chowder from canned clams, but I thicken it with flour, and use lots of potatoes which also make the broth thick. Have you looked for classic New England recipes? They make it quite thick too. There’s also a San Francisco version based on Italian cuisine, and called cioppino.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I dont think that we can get canned clams here Me!
DeleteI don’t have a linkup this week but I can give you links to chowders we have made. We have access to fresh seafood.
ReplyDeleteThis is one we liked which uses any white fish:
https://tinaculbertson.blogspot.com/2017/11/fish-chowder-to-warm-your-bones.html?m=1
This isn’t a seafood one as you asked, but I wanted you to see this book. It’s all about chowders! I’ve made several from this book.
https://tinaculbertson.blogspot.com/2018/06/vineyard-chicken-and-corn-chowder.html?m=1
And THIS one is made from leftover grilled Cobia which gave a great smoky taste to the chowder.
https://tinaculbertson.blogspot.com/2019/09/fish-chowder-with-cobia-and-peas-fried.html?m=1
I would head back to Tasmania & try the one you like as that sounded like a fabulous trip!
Thanks, Tina, I just borrowed that book Chowderland from the library. I'm off to browse through it right now!
DeleteI am surprised that my library has the ebook version of this so I am going to take a look.
DeleteWe live about as far as you can get from the sea, so I'm not a good one to ask. I'm glad that Tina has some great suggestions for you!
ReplyDeleteWe don't eat chowder out anymore as John is celiac and most use flour to thicken. Most chowders over here are clams based. I started with making a clam chowder but it has evolved into a fish chowder. It is never quite as thick as I would like but I am working on that by making a thicker roux (GF flour).
ReplyDeletehttps://junkboattravels.blogspot.com/2018/10/my-recipe-box-clam-chowder.html
Thanks for the link! I am going to check it out.
DeleteI say get on a plane and go back. While I have always lived close to the sea before moving to Montana, we always made our chowder with canned minced clams. It is the only chowder I know and I have made it so many times it is a dump and go recipe. I'm not even certain it is written down...We have been busy here with a fallen tree, a kitchen refresh and snow, still more snow. Have a wonderful week ahead!
ReplyDeleteThat does seem like a busy week!
Deleteooh yes head to tassie often! chowder? mmm mashed up potato to thicken it, and plenty of fish chunks like salmon and snapper or barramundi. A few scallops would be great. lots of herbs and seasoning. and a huge dash of cream.
ReplyDeleteHeading to Tassie regularly does seem to be a sensible choice right!!
Deletehmm, thought I commented.
ReplyDeleteYou need to come to Prince Edward Island because we take our chowder seriously! Lots of seafood chowder everywhere. I like a thinner chowder, but the chowder on the ferry to NS is thick and it's one of my favourites. My sister made Chef Michael Smith's chowder after Christmas and it was delicious, if quite rich. (https://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/michael-smith-s-favourite-maritime-seafood-chowder) We made it withour clams but used scallops instead.
And this one from PEI Tourism (https://www.tourismpei.com/recipes/seafood/seafood-chowder) looks like what I make. You could add a roux to thicken it.
Here's another PEI recipe that looks involved (make your own stock from lobster bodies) but she is a good traditional cook and I follow her blog. This one looks thicker, and delicious.
Ooh, I'm wanting some seafood chowder now. (I never eat clam chowder, maybe corn chowder but chowder has to have lobster and scallops, imo)
Thanks for the links to the Canadian version of chowder! I am definitely going to take a look at them.
DeleteI sadly don't have a good seafood chowder either, but I'm interested in finding one!
ReplyDeleteThere's several links here to try Laura!
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