Specific Soups and Stews: Chowders

Whether chowders were introduced into New England by French, Nova Scotian, or British fishermen is undocumented, but chowders had become important dishes by the beginning of the eighteenth century in America. The earliest known American recipe for chowder was published in Boston in 1751. Chowders were quite distinct from broths and soups. Chowders, originally stews, were composed of fish, seafood, and vegetables of various proportions. The object was to prepare a thick, highly seasoned dish without reducing the ingredients to the consistency of a puree. Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery, first published in America in 1805, includes a “chouder” recipe, which was adapted by Randolph in her Virginia House-wife. Subsequently, similar recipes appeared in other American cookery books, and their popularity expanded.