It's about that time of year for the Annual Clam Chowder Cook Off at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. (Tomorrow, the 26th of February, rain or shine!) Anyone can enter the contest. You bring your own food, cookware, and burners. The Boardwalk provides a table, water, and other stuff. Last year, when my husband and I went to photograph the event, they provided cream (or actually, the dairy company provided it, I think) and french bread.
You're allowed to set up your table fairly early in the morning and do all your prep work, like chopping up vegetables, but you can't actually start cooking until a specific time. Then, at another designated time, visitors (your judges), are allowed to start tasting your chowder(s). For $8.00, visitors can get a tasting kit that includes a bowl, a spoon, 5 tasting tickets and 2 "People’s Choice" ballots. At the end of the day, the votes are counted and the winners are announced.
The fun part is looking at all the different displays around each table. Contestants can decorate any way that they want and provide a "theme" to help "sell" their chowder.
Two varieties of clam chowder are featured: The "Red Chowder" (Manhattan) and the "White Chowder" (New England), one being tomato based and the other being milk or cream based, respectively.
Last year, after taking pictures and watching the event from start to finish, I decided to try making my own vegetarian style recipes for red and white chowders. Instead of clams, I used whole oat groats, which turned out pretty good!
See also:
Boston Non-Clam Chowder
Manhattan Non-Clam Chowder
Santa Cruz Non-Clam Chowder
