Recipe Roundup kind of snuck up on me this month. The theme is "recipes unique either to the part of the world or country you live or where you’re from originally."
That's a little tricky. There are recipes unique to the area of the country that I'm from, but they're a little hard to reproduce. The most unique thing I can think of is Southern Illinois Chowder, which, surprisingly enough, has scored its own Wikipedia article. From the article:
Chowder is usually cooked outside in large black kettles or cauldrons, ranging in size from 20 to 70 gallons. The various ingredients used in making chowder are added to the boiling water, according to their time for cooking, so that all of the ingredients become ready at the same time. Chowder is usually finished when the ingredients have cooked up into a fairly thick soup usually four or more hours. The kettles must be stirred almost continuously while cooking so that the chowder does not scorch. The stirring is accomplished with the use of a wooden blade from eighteen to twenty-four inches long and six to eight inches wide that has several holes bored in it. To the blade is attached a handle at right angles near the end of it. The stirring device is commonly referred as a "paddle."We made this at my grandparents farm every fall, and now my sister and brother-in-law do it at their house. If I would have planned better, I probably could have come up with some pictures. We use a black kettle and a fire and everything.
"Chowders" are held all over Southeastern Illinois in the fall. Communities hold Chowders, schools have them as fundraisers, and families, like mine, get together and make it, to. I hope it's a tradition that doesn't end up falling by the wayside.
I have a recipe somewhere, but it's a recipe for a crowd, so the amounts are measured in pounds. If I spend any more time looking for it I'm going to be late for work. Southern Illinois chowder is like a thick, tomato-based vegetable soup, with a lot of beef and chicken. It's very good.
So it's not so much a recipe, but a little slice of culture.
|