Turns out you don’t need
to make a trip to New England to get some of their tasty clam chowder.
It was a warm February Sunday in Central Florida. Obviously, it was chowder time.
“It’s a good way to get people together,” said Shirley Stamper of John and Shirley’s Catering. “It’s warm, it’s like a comfort food, it’s got potatoes in it — but not a lot of potatoes — it’s creamy, it’s just a yummy thing that not a lot of restaurants sell. So you have to come out and try a lot of peoples’ chowder.
More than a thousand miles from the rocky coast of New England, good old fashioned chowder is making inroads in sunsoaked Florida.
On Sunday, hundreds of chowderheads descended on Maitland for the annual Orlando Chowder Festival at Mercedes-Benz of Orlando, where tents offering creamy concoctions popped up near rows of luxury sedans.
“Up in the Northeast, we have a lot of events like this,” said Anthony DiNova of Winter Park, a native of Troy, N.Y.
“I decided to bring that kind of event down here,” DiNova added.
Over at the John and Shirley’s Catering tent, Shirley Stamper was shelling out some of her Shirley’s Famous Swamp Salsa along with the chowder.
“I’m from Kentucky, so that’s where the black-eyed peas [in the salsa] come from,” Stamper explained.
Besides the Johnny Kabobs Rubbin’ It Raw Kickin’ Chicken Chowder, the tent also parceled out portions of the Johnny Kabob clam chowder.
“His family is from Maine, and they ship the clams in from Old Orchard Beach,” Stamper said.
At the table for the Navy League of the United States, Central Florida Council, “We decided to go veggie this year,” explained Howard Babine of Maitland.
The promise of their chowder, made by Nina’s Catering: “Take away the kitchen sink, and everything else in there.”
“We’ve got all kinds of vegeta- bles — potatoes, carrots, peas,” Babine said. “And the spices are secret.”
Crisper’s Catering, meanwhile, went with the crab chowder.
“It’s good and spicy and a little peppery,” said Emily Gibson of Orlando.
Her favorite, though, was the lobster chowder.
“It’s different from traditional lobster bisque,” Gibson said. “There’s definitely a bit more flavor in it, definitely more potatoes in it.”
Brianna Ochoa of Altamonte Springs had an easy answer to which chowder she preferred: “All of them.”
“I like the chicken and clam [chowders],” Ochoa said.
“The chicken is delicious,” added Chet Tilles. “And the lobster’s good, too.”
Florida is slowly becoming chowder country, DiNova said.
Just last year, he said, chowder from Captain Curt’s Crab & Oyster bar in Siesta Key won a chowder festival in Maine.
His favorite, though? The classic.
“New England Clam Chowder,” he said.