Name: La Chaudrée (Fish Chowder)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1 small bunch fresh parsley (about 1 ounce/30 g); 3 cups/750 ml. water, more if needed; 2 cups/500 ml. dry white wine; 5 garlic cloves, chopped; 2 whole cloves; 4 onions (about 1½ pounds/675 g total), quartered; 2 pounds/900 g mixed fish fillets, without skin; ½ cup/110 g butter; baked croûtes made with 1 baguette; salt and pepper; 1 large bouquet garni; 1 lemon

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Country Cooking of France

By Anne Willan

Published 2007

About

At sea in the old days, fishermen cooked their meals in a chaudière (casserole), hence the word chaudrée for fish stew. The term migrated with cod fishermen to the Grand Banks off Nova Scotia, and from there to the New World as chowder. Chaudrée was once as important on the Atlantic coast of France as Bouillabaisse along the Mediterranean. Like Bouillabaisse, it is a whole meal, with many versions. This simple recipe from the port of Fouras, near La Rochelle, contains plenty of onions, butt