Fish Chowder Recipe, Boston Style

3 to 4 pounds of fish. 3 cups of milk. 1/4 pound of salt pork (scant). 1/4 cup of butter. 1 small onion. Pepper. 1 quart of sliced potatoes. 10 or 12 hard water-crackers. 1 tablespoonful of salt. 1/3 cup of flour, if desired.

The fish needs be very fresh; cod, haddock, or lake fish may be used. Skin the fish and remove the flesh in two long fillets; cut these in two-inch pieces and set aside; cover the head, body bones and trimmings with cold water, let come slowly to the boiling point, then simmer half an hour. Cut the pork into bits and cook out the fat slowly, to avoid discoloring; in this sauté the sliced onion without browning, add fat and onion to the saucepan in which the head is simmering and strain the whole over the fish. Add the potatoes, that have been parboiled five minutes and drained, the salt, and pepper, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about ten minutes, then add the milk scalded, the crackers split and spread with butter, and the rest of the butter. Serve in soup plates from the tureen. If a thicker consistency be desired, cream together the flour and an equal measure of butter and cook fifteen minutes in the scalded milk, then add to the other ingredients.

Fish Chowder Recipe, Coney Island Style

Use three or four cups of strained tomatoes in the place of the milk and two thirds cup of cracker crumbs instead of the split crackers. Season with a teaspoonful of mixed thyme and summer savory, six cloves, half a bay leaf, and a sprig of parsley.

Fish Chowder Recipe, English Style

Use a generous cup of rather coarse, soft bread crumbs instead of the crackers, and sprinkle each plate of chowder before passing with a tablespoonful of small, irregular-shaped croutons.