Tampa's Own Fish Chowder*

Florida chowder does not look like New England chowder, and this Tampa-style version is the proof. The base starts traditional enough with bacon, onion, and garlic, plus diced potatoes, carrots, and celery. Then the spice rack opens up: cumin, ground ginger, and dill go in together. Three seasonings you would never find together in a clam shack up north. The combination reflects Tampa’s deep Cuban-Caribbean food heritage.

The other twist is that diced cooked chicken joins the fish in the pot. Two proteins might sound like overkill, but the result is a more substantial chowder that eats like a complete meal in a bowl. Half-and-half goes in at the end, off the heat, to make the base silky without curdling. A splash of white wine right before the cream is optional but worth doing for an extra layer of brightness.

Pro Tips

• Crisp the bacon well, then remove and use the drippings to soften the aromatics. Save the crisp bacon for crumbling over the bowls at serving.
• Dice the potatoes uniformly. Mixed sizes mean some are mushy while others are still firm at the center.
• Add the fish near the end of cooking. It cooks in just a few minutes and overcooks fast into mealy chunks.
• Add the half-and-half off the heat or on a very low simmer. A hard boil curdles dairy and breaks the chowder.
• Taste before salting at the end. Bacon, bouillon, and seafood all add their own sodium first.

Variations

• Swap the fish for shrimp, scallops, or a mix for a more luxurious seafood chowder.
• Skip the chicken if you want a more traditional fish-only chowder.
• Add a can of corn kernels and a chopped poblano pepper for a corn-poblano-fish chowder version.