Blackfish

The blackfish (Tautoga onitis), which feeds on shellfish and crabs, is known by the names black trout, black ruff, tautog, black porgy, oysterfish, and chowderfish. It is most plentiful from Chesapeake Bay north to Cape Cod, but it has a range from Nova Scotia to South Carolina. Native Americans used the fish, and it was the object of inshore fisheries in earlier times. Amelia Simmons mentions blackfish in the first American cookbook, American Cookery (1796), though she does not comment on an ideal way of preparing the fish. The name “chowderfish,” however, is consistent with the tautog’s reputation for firm flesh, though the fish can also be grilled and baked.