Chowder

ARTICLE

PORK/ALCOHOL(?)
	Chowders are traditionally prepared with salt pork or bacon. Some canned products contain alcohol. View our halal recipe for Authentic Seafood Chowder. A bowl of New England Style Clam Chowder

Spotlight Halal is a collection of food and ingredient articles on IsItHaram.com.

WHAT IS IT?

Chowder is a type of soup popular in New England and Atlantic Canada. Although the word chowder commonly refers to clam chowder, it can be any variety of the rich, chunky and usually creamy soup. Common chowders include corn chowder, seafood chowder and fish chowder. Of the clam chowders, thick and creamy New England Clam Chowder is the most popular variety. Other varieties of clam chowder include the brothy Rhode Island Clam Chowder, milky Maine Clam Chowder and tomato-based Manhattan Clam Chowder.

The word "chowder" was introduced to New England by French-speaking Breton fishermen from Newfoundland, Canada. The fishermen would throw portions of the day's catch and other available foods into a large pot, called a 'chaudron' (a cauldron). In New England, Manhattan clam chowder is considered inferior to the creamy and clear varieties. The tomato-based chowder was a contribution from Portuguese immigrants in Rhode Island. Scornful New Englanders called this modified version "Manhattan-style" clam chowder because in New England calling someone a New Yorker is considered to be an insult.

How is it made?

Chowder is made by first frying onions and diced potatoes in salt pork or bacon and then cooking these further in a fish or seafood broth or clam juice. Sometimes corn or celery is added. Towards the end of cooking, milk, evaporated milk or cream is added, and then finally fresh chopped clams or other seafood.

Salt pork is the salted, preserved belly fat of pigs. It is used to flavor many traditional American dishes including chowders and Boston baked beans. Salt pork is similar to bacon, but unsmoked and much fattier and saltier. Unlike with bacon, it is the fat of salt pork that is used as a flavoring, but the small amount of attached pork meat is not. Some modern recipes call for bacon to impart a mildly smokey flavor. Butter can be used in place of either.

-- See the SPOTLIGHT HALAL recipe for halal Authentic New England Style Seafood Chowder. --

WARNING LEVEL: HIGH

Clam Chowder is a very popular soup with Muslims who order seafood dishes to avoid eating meat. Because salt pork is a fat, not a meat, it is impossible to see it in the chowder. Salt pork is almost never listed as an ingredient on restaurant menus. Chowders containing bacon are easier to detect. These chowders have small pink bits floating in the soup.

Some canned varieties of chowder may not contain pork, but will list an alcoholic beverage like sherry, brandy or a wine like chablis in its ingredients.

AMNA RECOMMENDS

No matter what kind of chowder you're buying—clam, fish, corn or chicken, Manhattan or New England style—check the ingredients. If the chowder contains 'bacon', 'salt pork', 'sherry', 'brandy' or 'chablis', skip it. When eating out, ask your waiter if that restaurant uses salt pork or bacon in their clam chowder recipe.

A big pot of tasty, satisfying New England clam chowder is easy to make at home for under $15. Try our authentic New England recipe . If that doesn't work for you, see our SPOTLIGHT REVIEW of popular chowder brands .

SPECIAL NOTE: ARE CLAMS HALAL?

Sunni: Clams are halal food in the Malaki, Hanbali and Shafa'i Schools. Within the Hanafi School, there are varying opinions. Shi'a: Jafaris do not consider clams to be halal .

A n d   t h e   t w o   s e a s   a r e   n o t   a l i k e ― t h e   o n e   p a l a t a b l e ,   s w e e t ,   a n d   p l e a s a n t   
t o   d r i n k ,   a n d   t h e   o t h e r   s a l t y   a n d   b i t t e r .     Y e t   f r o m   e a c h   ( k i n d   o f   w a t e r )  
d o   y e   e a t   f l e s h   f r e s h   a n d   t e n d e r   a n d   y e   e x t r a c t   o r n a m e n t s   t o   w e a r ;  
a n d   t h o u   s e e s t   t h e   s h i p s   t h e r e i n   t h a t   p l o u g h   t h e   w a v e s ,   t h a t   y e   m a y   s e e k   
( t h u s )   o f   t h e   B o u n t y   o f   A l l a h   t h a t   y e   m a y   b e   g r a t e f u l .
—The Qur'an. Suratu Faatir: 12

CAN MUSLIMS USE KOSHER SYMBOLS TO KNOW IF CHOWDER IS HALAL?

NO. Clams, shrimp and other mollusks and cephalopods (squid, octopus, etc.) are not kosher. ^[2] Chicken chowder can not be kosher because it goes against the halachic prohibition against mixing meat and dairy (milk, cream, etc.) in the same meal. This means that you won't find a kosher symbol on a can of clam, seafood or chicken chowder even if it doesn't contain a pig product like pork fat or bacon. You need to turn the can around to look at the ingredients list.

SPECIAL NOTE: ALCOHOL AND COOKING

AMNA classifies any food that has been made with an alcoholic product as ALCOHOL , even if it has been sautéed, simmered, baked or set on fire. The conventional wisdom accepted by just about everyone is that all the alcohol you add to a dish evaporates during cooking. It’s wrong.

In fact, according to a study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Laboratory, you have to cook something for a good three hours to remove virtually all traces of alcohol. After it has simmered for 15 minutes, 40% of the alcohol remains in the canned chowder.

-- Learn more about Alcohol cook-off times on our web site at --

WHAT DOES [PORK/ALCOHOL(?)] MEAN?

PORK / ALCOHOL (?) is the rating that we give to any food that commonly, but not always, contains a pig derived product and/or alcohol.

AMNA Muslim Food Advisor, a service of IsItHaram.com, rates Chowder as PORK/ALCOHOL(?) because chowder is traditionally and commonly made with salt pork (salted preserved pig belly fat) and some canned chowders contain an alcoholic beverage.

Other ratings....

	PORK is the rating that we give to any food that always contains pork or a pig-derived product.
	ALCOHOL is the rating that we give to any food that always contains alcohol, even if it has been cooked .
	HALAL(?) is the rating that we give to food that commonly contains meat from a halal animal that may not have been zabiha- slaughtered. Also, to food containing cheese possibly made with animal rennet .
	HALAL is the rating that we give to food that is always halal . In line with the Quran and Sunna, IsItHaram.com and SPOTLIGHT HALAL includes all seafood in this rating.

At IsItHaram.com, our Guiding Principle is to help you make informed decisions about the foods you eat by providing you with practical information from an Islamic perspective. We don’t say a food is haram or halal ; we say: "This food is made with alcohol and pork," or, "That food normally contains chicken." Whether or not you observe zabihah , our flexible approach allows you to make informed decisions about the foods you eat.

REFERENCES:

[1] The Legal Seafood Cookbook. Legal Seafoods Clam Chowder.
[2] Torah. Leviticus 11: 9-12

LEGAL
All brands described in this article are registered trademarks of their owners. Bar Harbor ^® is a registered trademark of Bar Harbor Foods, Inc.; Campbell's ^® is a registered trademark of Campbell Soup Company; Kettle Cuisine ^® is a registered trademark of Kettle Cuisine; Natural Sea ^® is a trademark of Natural Sea; New England Country Soup ^® is a registered trademark of New England Country Foods, LLC; Phillips ^® is a registered trademark of Phillips Seafood Restaurants; Progresso ^® is a registered trademark of Betty Crocker, a General Mills company; Taste Adventure ^® is a registered trademark of Will-Pak Foods, Inc.; Wolfgang Puck's ^® is a registered trademark of Country Gourmet Foods, LLC; Legal Sea Foods ^® is a registered trademark of Legal Sea Foods; Friendly's ^® is a registered trademark of Friendly Ice Cream Corporation; Phillips ^® is a registered trademark of Phillips Seafood Restaurants.