Comfort Fish Chowder from Portugal

You’re right, Max. It’s always interesting to run across a recipe you think is your own that turns up in a culture far removed from yours. Stuffed Green Peppers were a summer Sunday dinner in my great-grandmother’s house. As soon as freezers came along, my family put up dozens of packages of the stuffed peppers so we could enjoy them all winter long too.

You know my dislike of fish in general, so when I recommend a fish recipe, you know it must be exceptional. This one is.

This dish was a staple of a neighbor back in Chicago. Her family were Portuguese fishermen who worked the ocean off Cape Cod and she said that this dish appeared often on the table. Her mother used whatever fish didn’t sell off the boat. I suppose it is the dill seed, bay leaf and cloves that make this Portuguese. Juana said the vermouth was often whatever was in the house, and the baking time and temperature depended on what her mother was doing at the time. Like most soup/stews, the longer and slower it cooks, the better.

Portuguese Oven Fish Chowder:

2 pounds haddock or cod fillets
4 potatoes
1 bay leaf
2 ½ teaspoons salt
2 cups boiling water
4 whole cloves
3 onions
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill seed
½ cup butter
½ cup vermouth or dry white wine
2 cups light cream

Peel and slice the potatoes and onions. Into a large, heavy casserole, place the fish, potatoes, onions, bay leaf, salt, cloves, pepper, dill seed, butter, wine and boiling water. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for about one hour. Break up the fish into large chunks. Heat the cream to scalding and add to chowder just before serving.