Here are today’s five thing to know about Clam Chowder:
- An old French word chaudière, pronounced “chowda”, is a large pot for cooking. This is the likely origin of the word.
- New England clam chowder is a milk- or cream-based chowder, commonly made with potatoes, onion, and clams. Including tomatoes is shunned; a 1939 bill making tomatoes in clam chowder illegal was introduced in the Maine legislature.
- New England clam chowder is usually accompanied with oyster crackers.
- Clam chowder is often served in restaurants on Fridays in order to provide a seafood option for those who abstain from meat every Friday, which used to be a requirement for Catholics before liturgical changes in Vatican II.
- Though the period of strict abstinence from meat on Fridays was reduced to Lent, the year-round tradition of serving clam chowder on Fridays remains.
Today’s Pinterest Board : Foodimentary
Today’s Food History
- 1338 Charles V of France was born. He commissioned Taillevent to write what is considered the first professional “cookery” book in French, ‘Le Viandier’.
- 1937 BBC first aired the Cook’s Night Out with Marcel Boulestin, the first television cook
- 1908 New York City NY regulation makes it illegal for a woman to smoke or drink in public
- 1912 Konrad (Emil) Bloch was born. Nobel prize winner for his work on cholesterol & fatty acids. Discovering that high levels of cholesterol may lead to an increased risk of heart attacks.
- 1942 Bronx magistrate rules all pinball machines in bars and eating establishments illegal
- 1985 James Beard, American culinary expert & cookbook author, died at age 81.

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