What is a chowder? Almost everyone understands that this is some kind of liquid food, reminiscent of a regular soup. But how exactly it should look and prepare is a mystery. After all, in fact, there are a great many variations of this dish. And not only in traditional Russian cuisine, but also in world culinary. What is a chowder? In order to understand this, you need to go a little deeper into history.
Origin of the word
Soups are widespread in our country, as in no other region of the world. Often they are not only a light first course, but also replace a full meal. After all, soups today can flavor a good portion of meat or fish, vegetables, dressings. In addition, they are traditionally served with freshly baked black or white bread, crackers.
But initially, such a thing as soup did not exist in Russia. There was the word "bread" or "stew." So called any liquid food that you had to eat with a spoon, regardless of its composition and degree of density.
What is a chowder? Apparently, this is just a synonym for the word "soup." The last term took root in our country during the time of Peter I. So called liquid dishes of foreign origin. And then the dishes of different countries became traditional for Russians, and therefore both terms are used.
But the word "soup" is more everyday, everyday. A "stew" gives real Russian roots. It is assumed that this should be called soups, which are prepared according to old Russian recipes.
In old times
Russian stew is not some independent dish with a well-tuned recipe. In the old days, “shti”, “bread”, “brew” and “stew” were cooked from what was available. After all, these dishes were prepared initially in poor peasant families, therefore, they often consisted of simple seasonal vegetables.
For example, historians believe that the first Russian stew was cooked from turnips long before the appearance of potatoes in our country. It is difficult to say how it was prepared and what the dish tasted like.
If possible, the food was flavored with everything possible. They used butter, a flour mash, a large amount of greens. If possible, the vegetables were cooked in a strong vegetable or meat broth.
Some recipes were later ennobled, and dishes became decorations on the tables of rich people. For example, fish soup was cooked on a transparent broth from the freshest fish. Still very popular is hookah on cucumber pickle. So there were a lot of options for this dish in the old days, in modern culinary there are also a lot of them.
Modern interpretation
What is a stew from the point of view of a modern culinary specialist? Most people believe that this can be called a group of light vegetable soups. In fact, such a dish is a decoction where one ingredient dominates, for example, potatoes, beans, lentils, cabbage, sorrel, etc. These soups are named after the main component, respectively, potato stew, lentil stew, etc.
The remaining ingredients of the dish should help emphasize the outstanding taste of the main product, but not interrupt it. In order for the stew to be tasty, it is not cooked for long. The products are immediately immersed in boiling water and boiled for about 30 minutes. Some chefs believe that pottage cannot be cooked in fish or meat broth, otherwise the very meaning of the dish is lost. But a large amount of greens, such as dill, parsley and celery, is welcome. An example of a stew from another national cuisine is the famous French onion soup.
Chowder Variations
So what is chowder? In fact, some culinary experts are not so strict in defining this dish. They believe that stew is a vegetable soup cooked on any broth. That is, it is permissible to add any meat, fish, smoked meats and mushrooms that improve the taste of the dish. At the same time, the stew can be of any density, both light with a minimum of vegetables, and thick, slightly thinner than stew.
Traditional Vegetable Stew: Recipe
A chowder can be prepared very quickly. To prepare it, you will need the following products:
- Breast or loin with layers of fat - 140 gr.
- Small potatoes - 3-4 pcs.
- Medium sized onion turnip - 1 pc.
- Carrots slightly less than average - 1 pc.
- Garlic - two medium cloves.
- Caraway seeds - ¼ teaspoon.
- Fresh or dried greens (dill, parsley, celery) - in any quantity, to taste.
- A mixture of allspice and black peas in peas - to taste.
- Water - 1.7 liters.
- Salt to taste.
Quick chowder is prepared as follows:
- Chop the potatoes on a special coarse grater or cut into small cubes.
- Grind carrots on a coarse grater. But it’s better to cut into strips.
- Chop the onion turnips in half rings.
- Grind the garlic until mashed or pass through a crush.
- Cut the breast into small oblong slices.
- In a well-heated pan, fry the brisket bars until golden on both sides.
- Add onions and carrots to the pan. Vegetables and smoked meats need to be constantly stirred. When the vegetables are ready, you need to add cumin and pepper to them. Light roasting will help to fully reveal their taste.
- Heat the water in a pan to boiling water and dip the potatoes into it. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the mixture to the pan from the pan, mix, boil over medium heat for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the chowder from the heat, add greens, salt.
- Stir and let it stand under the lid for 10-15 minutes. Such a dish can be prepared in 35-40 minutes.
The secrets of cooking a good dish
Soup and chowder are almost synonymous. But most culinary experts believe that chowder is still a light vegetable soup. And when preparing it, you need to follow a few simple tips:
- When choosing foods, fast-boiling vegetables should be preferred. Do not cook such a dish based on beets, sauerkraut or beans.
- A required component of the stew is onion. The remaining seasonings are selected individually. Most often take pepper, dill and parsley.
- Salt must be carefully, taking into account the characteristics of vegetables. In almost all pottage, salt is added in the middle of the process.
- Vegetables are always dipped in boiling water, and not in cold water.
- Do not digest the stew, otherwise the broth will become cloudy.
- In most cases, stews are boiled without fat and oil. However, when served, they can be seasoned with sour cream.