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At this time of year, when mornings turn cold and autumn is truly upon us, soup is again on the country's culinary horizon.

But on Prince Edward Island, soup is more than sustenance for cold days. After two days of slurping through the "qualifying heats" last weekend as a judge for the Milk International Chowder Championship in Charlottetown, it's clear that bowls of steaming soup can make or break the professional chefs who have slaved over portable stoves to achieve the perfect potage.

The 28 entrants began with the same basic task - to create a milk-based chowder containing the local island bounty, namely haddock, mussels, scallops, crab, lobster and the PEI spud.

But the competitors took the basic bowl of creamy seafood soup to new frontiers. There were thick chowders and thin ones, peppery chowders, chowders infused with tarragon and drizzled lobster reductions and basil oil. Some arrived decorated with handfuls of dulse, sprinkled with chunky bits of bacon, brimming with the famed island blue mussels, and other exotic and odd garnishes.

On one entry, a miniature seagull perched on a fried-potato cliff. On another, whole lobster claws, seared scallops and edible flowers floated above the broth in an artful still life.

Some were thick with fresh crab just pulled from the shell, others used thin slivers of heirloom fingerlings or mashed potato for texture.

As we spooned through them all in search of the best bowl, looking for distinct flavours and just the right balance and consistency, it was clear this was not Mom's basic supper soup.

In fact, it was Duncan Smith's "Just Like Dad's Seafood Chowder" - a chunky bowl of tender fish, scallops and creamy broth with a secret shot of Triple Sec and a crisp lobster ravioli perched over it all - that took the top prize.

"It was Dad's job to cook the seafood chowder at home," the young chef from Charlottetown's Claddagh Oyster House explained. "Dad cooked it at home, and it's just like Dad's, except for a few twists."

This year was the first time in the history of the 12-year-old PEI International Shellfish Festival that a native-born chef has won the chowder competition.

"I'm just shocked - we've never had first, second or even third," said Liam Dolan, festival founder and owner of the popular downtown restaurant where Mr. Smith is a sous-chef.

Second place went to chef David LeFevre of Water Grill in Los Angeles for his sophisticated bowl of seafood soup, infused with lemon zest and topped with steamed shellfish. Chef Luis Clavel of Salty's in Halifax placed third with his "Two Seafood Guys Chowder," using plenty of crab meat and local L'Acadie Blanc wine.

The three-day event, held in a massive tent next to Charlottetown's historic waterfront, is billed as "one big kitchen party" featuring fiddlers and step dancers onstage and freshly shucked Malpeque oysters and quahogs offered at five for $4. The public also gets a chance to taste the competing chowders, and there are contests for chefs and oyster shuckers.Mr. Dolan, the personable Irish-born chef and publican who dreamed up the annual event in 1996 to help extend the island's tourist season, is a chowder hound and former chowder competition champion himself.

While the winning recipe was not his own, it will certainly end up on the menu in his restaurant - along with the bragging rights to the best chowder in PEI.

***The winning recipe

What you need

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

½ cup each diced celery, diced carrots, diced red peppers

1 pound diced PEI potatoes (preferably russets)

4 tablespoons flour

4 cups (1 litre) lobster stock

12 cups (3 litres) cream

½ cup (4 oz.) orange brandy

(like Triple Sec)

3 pounds chowder fish (including halibut, haddock, salmon, scallops, lobster, crab, mussels, oysters), cut into ½-inch cubes

¼ cup chopped chives

Salt & pepper to taste

What you do

In a large pot, melt butter and add the onion, celery, carrot, red peppers. Cover and sweat over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Add the flour and stir to combine, creating a roux to thicken the chowder.

Slowly add the lobster stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and simmer over medium-low heat until the potatoes are cooked, about five minutes longer.

In another pot, combine the cream and Triple Sec and bring to a low simmer. Poach the fish in the cream for about 5 minutes over low heat.

Add the cream and fish mixture to the soup, along with salt and pepper. Heat through.

Remove from heat, and stir in the chives. Serves 8.