You might think that in New England, with its rich and storied relationship to the sea, there would be a deeper connection to local seafood than in most places. Eating with the Ecosystem, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood, set out to find out. In […]

Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) are the seafood version of the increasingly popular Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in which members of a community pay a one time upfront fee for a weekly share in a local farms’ seasonal output of fruits and vegetables. Similarly, in a CSF, community members pay upfront for a weekly or […]

A New England-style scallop stew is basically in the style of a traditional oyster stew. These old time New England shellfish “stews” are not really stews but rather brothy soups made with a combination of broth and milk or cream. Oyster stew is by far the most famous because in the late 19th and early […]

With all due respect to gumbo, cioppino is America’s most popular native seafood stew. Cioppino originated in San Francisco in the late 19th century with Italian immigrant fisherman who adapted similar native dishes, such as zuppa di pesce, into a unique tomato-based seafood medley. It has ventured far beyond its humble beginnings to become a […]

You know when you taste something from another country that is so incredible that it makes you contemplate, for a brief second, going straight to the airport and flying to that country just so you can eat it EVERY DAY?  That’s zarzuela. A stupendously delicious Spanish seafood stew that is THAT good. Now this shouldn’t […]

There are times when the beauty in this life stops you dead in your tracks. A misty mountain vista with shades of blue and purple, a fiery orange sunset that lights up the sky, an uplifting piece of music. The same could be said of a New England bouillabaisse. When it’s done right, it’s like […]

Zuppa di pesce, a tomato-based Italian fish soup, probably has as many variations as there are stars in the galaxy. Though it’s called a soup it’s more like a stew and usually also includes a variety of shellfish. My guess is that zuppa di pesce was the precursor to cioppino, the famous Italian-American seafood stew […]

People who like clams generally speaking you’ll fall into one of two categories: clam lovers and clam likers. Clam lovers can be summarized in four words: the brinier the better. They love raw clams on the half shell, steamers dipped in clam broth and the clammiest clam dishes you can possibly make. If that describes […]

The first time I made this recipe I made it the way everyone makes a mussel bisque. That is, you steam the mussels, strain the broth, remove the mussel meats from the shells and set them aside. Then you make the bisque. The reserved mussel meats are added whole at the end. Well, I didn’t […]

A scallop bisque is a rarity in the bisque world. You don’t see it much, if ever, on restaurant menus, do you? Let’s face it, 99% of all bisques made in restaurants are lobster bisque. I’ll take an educated guess and say you’ve never tried a scallop bisque before. Me either until I made this […]

Ever have a salmon bisque? Of course not! Neither did I until I made it myself. A true bisque is typically made with shellfish because the shells make a deeply flavored stock. It’s the shellfish stock, not the meat, that’s truly the key to making a great tasting bisque. Fish stock, wonderful as it is […]

Welcome to Fearless Eating’s Ultimate Guide to New England Chowder! This is the most comprehensive post available online about New England’s most iconic meal. It includes not just 12 chowder recipes but also information on the history of chowder, essential ingredients, regional styles, and lots lots more. If you’re here just for the recipes, you […]