Chowder is as old as New England, nourishing us with coastal bounty since the first settlers. With regional variations, personal preferences, and creative innovations, no two chowders are alike. This Sunday at the New England ChowdaFest, on Sherwood Island State Park, forty area restaurants will put their best foot forward to claim honors for the champion chowder.

Restaurants will compete in three chowder categories: Classic New England – cream, potatoes, and clams; Traditional – Rhode Island, Manhattan and the like; and Creative Chowder – anything goes.

Classic chowder is pretty straightforward, but it can be gussied up. You can use leeks instead of onions, add thyme, or dash in some hot sauce for a spicy kick. But the question is, should you? In California they serve a classic style in a hollowed out loaf of sourdough bread. The addition of celery or carrots can be controversial. But the really big issue is the consistency – thick or thin. Sometimes examples just coat the spoon; others are so thick they seem to pile up in the bowl. Straightforward indeed! Chowder has many variations, each with its own supporters.

Chowder was originally thickened with hardtack, a staple of seafaring life. This was bread too hard to spoil that softened in the cooking pot, adding body to the chowder. Landlubbers and coastal fisherman added potatoes to thicken the chowder.

Nowadays, chowder is more likely to be eaten in restaurants than to be whipped up at home. The demands of restaurant production require that the chowder be thickened with a roux (flour and butter cooked together) to keep the cream from breaking. There can be barely a hint of thickening or so much that a spoon stands up in it. It’s all a matter of preference. I like to make it for Sunday supper without roux (not practical for restaurants), slightly thickened by the potatoes and the milk or cream. Served with a salad, a slice of good bread, and those traditional Westminster oyster crackers on top, it’s an easy and satisfying meal. Find my recipe at FranksFeast.com.

Forty restaurants will be competing at the ChowdaFest. For a complete list go to www.chowdafest.org. I spoke to a few of the competitors to get the inside info on the making of a winning chowder.

Ingredients drive the classic chowder-making at Stamford’s Sign of the Whale. Chef Brian Murphy starts with whole chowder clams (those big guys sometimes called quahogs), steams them for a delicious broth, and uses the clams – chopped and whole – as the flavorful foundation of his classic chowder. He lightly thickens to just coat the back of a spoon.

On the dock at the Restaurant at Rowayton Seafood the chowder is traditional. Described by Chef Chris Diest as, “the essence of the shore,” potatoes, clams, and a roux are the building blocks for his recipe. “Everyone has their vision,” he said about the many variations of traditional chowder.

Chef Rigo Lino carried top honors in the Classic category for two years when he was the Chef at Westport’s Mansion Clam House. This year, he’s competing for the newly opened Crave 52 in Fairfield, bringing his experience and confidence back to the tasting tables. High quality fresh clams – whole belly and chopped – and a few secret ingredients along with “love and passion” make Crave 52 a serious contender.

Sedona Taphouse chowder

Jeff Hardy, owner of the Sedona Taphouse, has high hopes for his classic chowder’s chances. “Made with passion, it’s chocked full of bacon, onion, celery and carrots, with secret seasonings for some kick, and finished with fresh basil.” Ten restaurants will participate in the Classic category – each one traditional, yet distinctive and unique.

Chef Jamie Pantanella at SoNo’s Blind Rhino is competing in the Creative chowder

Blind Rhino partners and chowder collaborators Jamie, Matt, and Casey

category, where restless chefs riff on chowder from their own perspective. He sent me this description of his version: “The chowder is a cream and potato based chowder loaded with fresh cracked lobster, chorizo, fresh herbs, cognac and sherry. Instead of using the traditional fresh parsley, we use fresh basil to compliment the lobster and fresh cilantro to compliment the chorizo. It’s our play on the classic Portuguese dish, clams with chorizo.”

Oktoberfest beer with malty flavor and balanced hops is great with chowder. At Sedona the German Hacker-Pschorr is on tap and delicious with their hearty chowder.

Sherwood Island State Park is the site for the ChowdaFest on Sunday, October 2, from 11:00 to 3:00. The $15.00 admission gets you a spoon, a ballot, and access to 40 chowders in all styles presented by some of Fairfield County’s best restaurants. Maxed out on chowder? There’s a ChowdaMex area for salsa and chips, a beverage bog for juices and drinks, icecream, cheese and a kids play area.

If all that chowder isn’t enticement enough, you should know that the restaurants all donate their time and soup to ChowdaFest for the benefit of Community Plates. Last year the festival raised enough to fund over 400,000 meals to feed the hungry. This year their goal, with your help, is 500,000 meals.

If you like chowder, and who doesn’t, and if you want to help feed the hungry then the ChowdaFest is the place to be on Sunday. Maybe I’ll see you there!