The Super Bowl matchup between New England and New York has played itself out on dinner tables for years.

The contest doesn't involve touchdowns or a halftime show, but it can get pretty contentious, as the two sides go head-to-head over one question: Who can claim the best namesake chowder — New England (white) or Manhattan (red)?

For that matter, who can say with certainty which came first or how it was created? Theories abound; facts are often in dispute.

With milk or cream, pork and potatoes, New England clam chowder is considered to be the national standard, dating back to at least the early 19th century, says cookbook author Brooke Dojny, whose books include "The New England Clam Shack Cookbook."

Clams were abundant there, as well as in what are now the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and became a base for a hearty soup, according to "The Oxford Companion to Food."

Different regions created different kind of chowder, featuring lobster or subtracting the potatoes, for example, but many were creamy and included clams or fish.

The "Oxford Companion" puts the origins of Manhattan clam chowder not in New York but in Rhode Island, where cooks added tomatoes. The account says there is no obvious reason why the "Manhattan" moniker came about.

Dojny gave another explanation for the soup's birth: "There is the theory that people decided to throw some clams into vegetable soup and call it Manhattan chowder, even though it didn't resemble chowder in most other ways," says Dojny.

Whatever the origin, those who liked New England-style chowder were not impressed.

"That is only a vegetable soup, and not to be confused with New England Clam Chowder, nor spoken of in the same breath," wrote Eleanor Early of this "terrible pink mixture" in a 1940 book called "New England Sampler," according to the Oxford Companion.

To further confuse things, a broth-based chowder known as Rhode Island clam chowder usually omits both cream and tomatoes.

Dojny says Manhattan-style chowder, with its tomatoes, garlic and celery, can overpower the clam taste.

Those who prefer Manhattan-style may point out that their version is a little lighter and healthier — no cream, though many versions keep the pork.

The debate over what constitutes true clam chowder flares up on culinary Web sites from time to time. Unlike the football game, the ongoing chowder war is not going to produce a winner anytime soon.

"I think it's a matter of what you personally enjoy," says Cheryl Jamison, who wrote "American Home Cooking" with her husband, Bill. "You can make a wonderful chowder with a variety of ingredients."