Chowders belong to a class of soups or perhaps stews often designated "hodgepodge." They are supposed to have been first made by the fisher-folk of Brittany. Each brought his offering to the chaudière, or caldron, in which was cooked the fish, biscuits and savory, condiments, and received in return his share, when the dish was completed.

The early colonists in this country had learned from the French how to make the dish, and a knowledge of the savory chowders made in those early days of the country, both in Newfoundland and on the coast farther south, is a matter of history. The basis of a good chowder is a fish stock of more or less richness.