Eleanor Roberts, who was married to Horace Roberts* from 1964 to 1971, learned how to make Florida fish chowder from the local fishermen, but she had been making a pretty good fish bisque out of ‘crawdaddies’ for a long time before she left Kansas City. Eleanor is a fabulous cook. – DW
There really is no recipe for chowder. My method evolved from the way I was taught by Captain Pippinger and other fishermen. Sometimes ‘Coz’ Kendall and Buddy Gilkes would have a big pot of chowder cooking at old ‘Coz’ Kendall’s bait house on the corner of Twenty-first Avenue. They used grouper throats. After they had dressed the fish from a big grouper haul, they would cut the throats off the head and throw them in the pot with potatoes and onions and sometimes carrots and a little barley–whatever they had or whatever anyone wanted to contribute.
Grouper is the best fish to use but frozen sea perch doesn’t do too badly. Horace said never to use mackerel in chowder; I’m not sure why. You do want to use firm-fleshed fish. You can use canned minced clams. The rest of the seafood is optional. You use whatever you have.
– Grouper
– Clams
– Shrimp
– Scallops
– Blue Crab
– Oysters
– Chicken Soup Base
– Potatoes
– Green Onion and Tops
– Celery
– Canned Milk
– Sauterne
Cook the fish. The best way is to steam your fish and flake it. I cook my vegetables separately in chicken stock. I like the green onion and I use the tops. That adds a little color. I generally have about the same amount of vegetables as I have fish. After they’ve cooked, I put them together and add canned milk. I don’t dilute it too much. The chicken stock supplies some of the liquid. Add oysters and scallops, if used, at the last minute. I add only enough sauterne to get the right flavor. I don’t want the chowder to taste like wine.
Recipe by Eleanor Roberts
* Horace Roberts was a fisherman of legend. He was married three times. He is believed to have started the booming stone crab population around Pine and Cabbage Keys, a feat the State had deemed impossible and then illegal. Horace passed in 1977.
** Sauterne is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves
section in Bordeaux.
This story is part of Pass-a-Grille, A Patchwork Collection of Memories available for sale at the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum on 10th Avenue in Pass-A-Grille.
Have CHOWDER with your community at the CHOWDER CHALLENGE. Find out more HERE!
Date: October 2013