The US State With The Best Clam Chowder May Not Even Be In New England

New Englanders swear by their clam chowder. The first day they detect a nip in the air, natives from New Haven to Bar Harbor start craving a bowl of softened potatoes and spongy shellfish. There's something about that creamy broth, that subtle savory flavor, the way steam curls above it on a cool day, that makes a Bostonian salivate. You can order chowder as an appetizer before a big dinner, or a bowl can serve as its own entree. Real fans can ladle chowder into a paper cup and gulp it down while driving a car, no spoon required. Toss oyster crackers into the mix for a healthy crunch, or dip slices of baguette; there's no wrong way to eat chowder.

But this hearty soup has a rival, and some gourmands will argue that the "best" New England clam chowder isn't even made in New England. This may sound sacrilegious, especially given how many tourists visit the northeastern states just to sample the seafood. This is the land of lobster rolls and clam strips, buttered scallops and raw oysters, most of it freshly harvested from the North Atlantic. Seafood lovers take this coastal road trip for a tasty slice of heaven. Who would dare question the quality of its boiled fish milk?

Florida, it turns out. About 1,300 miles south of the fishing capital of New Bedford, Massachusetts, a little eatery called Tony's Chowder House beat New England at its own recipe. Located in Mt. Dora, Florida, the staff of Tony's won "best clam chowder" at the Knorr Great Chowder Cook-Off in 2009 and 2010. The kicker: they took gold in the New Englanders' home turf, in Newport, Rhode Island.

If you didn't grow up near the ocean, all chowders might seem similar. But in fact, there are many distinct recipes, which are about as different from each other as bivalve-based soups can get. Manhattan clam chowder, for example, incorporates a tomato base and chopped vegetables, resulting in a more colorful presentation than the pale-looking New England version. Rhode Island-style chowder is relatively clear, looking more like chicken soup than cream of mushroom. And down in St. Augustine, Florida, chefs specialize in Minorcan clam chowder, a spicy, fragrant blend brought over from the Spanish island of Minorca in the late 18th century.

But Tony's Chowder House is a small restaurant located in Mt. Dora, Florida, and they specialize in your classic New England chowder, the same you'd enjoy in a Gloucester pub on a frigid December evening. When they entered their chowder at the Knorr Cook-Off, their recipe was similar to any other competitor's.

While you might expect Tony's Chowder House to be next to a busy fishing port, the town of Dora is actually located smack-dab in the middle of Florida, about 35 miles northwest of Orlando. It's also one of Florida's most walkable destinations and often called "festival city," thanks to its dozens of major yearly events. Mt. Dora has an impressive culinary scene, especially for such a humble community, but Tony's is a real standout; this kitchen will ship canned versions of its signature dish right to your doorstep.

Unless they're bickering about the Dolphins and Patriots, Florida and New England don't have much of a rivalry, so Tony's chowder win shouldn't have ruffled many feathers. New England snowbirds love to spend their winters in the Sunshine State, and plenty of Floridians head to New England to attend college or take a road trip.

Even the seafood scenes are different in character; many dishes overlap, like fresh shellfish, but there are divergences. Maine lobster doesn't look or taste like the "spiny" Florida lobster, for example, and fishermen in the Gulf chase red snapper and tarpon more than the haddock and Atlantic cod of northern waters. If you're down south and hope to catch one yourself, this coastal Florida city is a great destination for fishing adventures.

As for chowder: Seafood lovers obviously have their own preferences — and regional biases — and even a cutthroat taste-test in a major seaport can't decide which recipe is the "best" (even if Tony's did win two years in a row.) Interestingly, clam chowder may have made its American debut at the Union Oyster House in Boston, way back in the 1830s. If you're visiting Boston, you can still visit this particular establishment, widely considered the country's oldest restaurant. Is it best? You'll have to taste it and decide.