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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Boston
Creamy seafood soup with potato, onion and salt pork, thickened with milk or cream. It’s the dish most associated with Boston and the New England coast, and it’s usually served with small salted crackers.
Traditional dish from Boston, Massachusetts
Also known as: Boston clam chowder, clam chowder, chowder
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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New England clam chowder — Boston, the United States
New England clam chowder, also called Boston clam chowder, is a thick, light-colored soup made with chopped hard-shell clams, diced potato, onion and salt pork cooked in a broth with milk or cream. It’s the white version of chowder, different from Manhattan clam chowder, which includes tomato, and from Rhode Island’s chowder, which has a clear broth.
Chowder came to the American coast with fishermen and settlers from England, France and Nova Scotia, who made fish stews with milk aboard ship and in port. In New England, fish was often replaced by the region’s abundant clams, such as the quahog, a name of Indigenous origin. Chowder recipes have circulated since the 18th century, and Boston, the region’s largest city and main port, became linked to the dish.
In Boston, chowder appears in waterfront seafood restaurants, in oyster houses in the historic center and at market counters. It’s served in a bowl or mug, sometimes inside a hollowed round bread, with small salted crackers, the oyster crackers, to crumble on top. Thickness varies: older recipes were thinner, while today’s versions tend to be quite hearty.
Tomato in the recipe is a matter of debate in the region: for many locals, chowder with tomato is not New England chowder. The dish is eaten year‑round as an appetizer or light meal, and is especially popular in cold months.
Boston , Massachusetts
Dish most associated with Boston, the main port of New England, where milk‑based clam chowder became established.
Chopped hard‑shell clams (quahogs) and their broth, potato, onion, salt pork or bacon, milk or cream, butter.
Hot, in a bowl or mug, sometimes served in a hollowed round loaf; with crumbled oyster crackers on top.
Year‑round, as an appetizer or light meal; ordered more often in cold months.
Your questions
New England’s is white, made with milk or cream. Manhattan’s has a red broth with tomato. There’s also Rhode Island’s chowder, which has a clear broth without milk or tomato.
They are small, round salted crackers that accompany chowder. They are usually crumbled over the soup or eaten alongside it.
In the New England version, no. For many locals in the region, tomato is precisely what separates their chowder from Manhattan’s.
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