Dining and Cooking
Sweet Corn Chowder (1896)
In American Recipes

Sweet Corn Chowder (1896)

We’re finally getting closer to soup season, so let’s make a sweet corn chowder from 1896. Welcome back to Eats History. Today, I’m cooking and rating a sweet corn chowder from Fanny Farmer’s 1896 cookbook, and it’s also found in my 30 delicious fall recipes out now. Corn chowder, as we know it today, has its deep roots in New England colonial cookery. By the 19th century, corn, milk, potatoes, and pork weren’t just common ingredients, but true staples in the Yankee kitchen. One of the earliest written records of this soup appears in Fanny Merritt Farmer’s 1896 landmark publication, The Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Fanny Farmer revolutionized cooking in the United States by popularizing exact quantities and standardized methods into her cookbook. And her recipe for this chowder is surprisingly simple. Salt pork or bacon gives it a savory backbone and onions brings out a little sweetness and potatoes in the milk adds a body to the soup. And you can’t forget to use some fresh sweet corn. Corn has always been a backbone of American cooking. It was one of the iconic threeister crops of the Irakcoy Confederacy of the Northeast. And when European colonist arrived, it became indispensable for survival. This chowder is rustic yet so comforting. You get this savory base from the milky soup, but the late season sweet corn just cuts right through it. It’s delicious. If you’re thinking about soup season as we get closer to fall, add this one to the list. I’m giving it a 9 out of 10. You can pick this recipe up in my new e cookbook and follow for more historical cooking.

38 Comments

  4. @calebleland8390

    My mom grew up in New England, so corn chowder was something that she made that nobody else here in my corner of Iowa ever heard of. It's so good, and I haven't had it since before she died. I'm going to have to make this soon.

  5. @goodman4966

    Man I remember back in my middle school where one of the rewards for having great attendance was getting to go to this seafood restaurant and one of the appetizer was actually this

  6. @timv8035

    Absolutely. Gonna be making this using your cookbook either this weekend or the next. Bet!

  19. @neoanimegirl

    I'm Ramapo, one of the tribes from north New Jersey. Yea, definitely grew up eating this. I like to add some chicken sometimes

  21. @micahcoover6351

    My family also likes to add chopped hard-boiled eggs. Sounds weird, but it's really good, especially with lots of pepper!

  23. @DocOverlord

    Was this cookbook one of the first examples when actual measurements and such were included in recipes? I always loved how old cookbooks mostly just list ingredients and leave out details because they assume everyone already knows them.

  34. @dlbm_industries

    Чаудер с кукурузой и крекерами просто разьебалово 😮🤤 ещё бульон если использовать от крабовой или креветочной шелухи вообще 10/10

  36. @force1253

    I just now started watching this and I have to say THERE BETTER BE AMERICAN BACON SOMEWHERE IN THIS!