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Thick Stew of Mussels, Crabs, and 3 kinds of Fish

“The food was plain, but very good; there were loaves of crusty bread still warm from the ovens, crocks of fresh-churned butter, honey from the septry’s hives, and a thick stew of crabs, mussels, and at least three different kinds of fish.  Septon Meribald and Ser Hyle drank the mead the brothers made, and pronounced it excellent, whilst she and Podrick contented themselves with more sweet cider.” -A Feast for Crows


Modern Fish Chowder

Thoughts

For this dish I opted for a hearty New England style fish chowder.  I threw together a couple of different recipes, tweaked them to suit, and this is the incredibly tasty result!

One bite of this modern stew will make you forget the effort that went into creating it. This is the earthly realization of platonic fish chowder. We asked the guests at our dinner table to give their thoughts, but only received grunts of approval and moaned delight.  Imagine yourself eating this meal in a tranquil sept on an island, savoring the hearty broth in peace while chaos rages around you. Imagine that, because eating this stew can transport you out of your everyday life.  

Part of the challenge of food blogging is making the photos show just how delicious the dish is, and that’s often done with atmosphere. The building in the photo is a perfect stand-in for the Sept from the books. In reality, it’s a gutted and abandoned church near where my parents used to live, in West Boyleston, MA. I drove by the place once, and immediately knew I would have to use it for a photo. I must have been quite a sight as I made my way down the embankment, folding table, dishware, food, and camera all teetering precariously. But the photo made it all worth it, and I got a great picnic lunch, to boot! 

Modern Fish Stew Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz salt pork or thick cut bacon, diced
  • 1 lb potatoes (about 2 medium), chopped into 1/2″ cubes
  • 1 yellow onion, finely diced
  • 1.5 lb fish (we used salmon, haddock, and cod), about 2 fish or 4 fillets, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 2 c water
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 12 oz can evaporated milk
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • ~1/2-1 cup crab meat (imitation is fine, and cheaper!)
  • around a dozen mussels (ours were precooked)

Place 1/2 lb fish (about 1 fillet) in a pot with 2 c cold water. Bring to boil and boil 10 minutes.

While that is cooking, fry up the salt pork over medium heat. Once the bits are beginning to turn crispy and brown, add the diced potato. Cook 5 minutes over medium-high, stirring frequently. By now the fish broth should be done, so add it and the fish to the potato, then spread the remaining cubed fish atop this mess. Let this burble for about 10 minutes on medium-high.

At this point, if your pan won’t hold an additional 3 cups of liquid, transfer everything to a larger pot. Add heavy cream, evaporated milk, salt & pepper, crab meat, and whole mussels still in the shell. Bring to just under a boil, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer about an hour.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with additional pepper. To really round out the meal, serve it with the other original components from the book: crusty fresh bread with butter and honey, mead, and cider. 

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26 Responses

  1. Glenn Wainwright says
    June 11, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    Oh my, that sounds just fantastic. This one I have to try.

    Reply
  2. Basel Gill says
    June 12, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    This one sounds delicious. It looks very close to a fish chowder that my mother has had in her recipe file for many years, except without the mussels, and she uses shredded cheddar as well. I did notice there is only one kind of fish involved as opposed to the three in the book.

    Reply
  3. Jon says
    June 15, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Hey girls I am listening to you on A Podcast of Ice and Fire and I clicked on your link. This Old Stone Church is 2 miles from my house. I heard you guys are from Boston. What brought you out to West Boylston?

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      June 15, 2011 at 1:58 pm

      Great you spotted and recognized that! My parents live out in Bolton, MA, and I sometimes visit them and take advantage of the beautiful countryside and surroundings for some of the food pictures. As soon as I saw the Old Stone Church, I knew it was perfect for the sept on the Quiet Isle!

      Reply
      • Jon says
        June 15, 2011 at 2:10 pm

        Nice! I never thought of the church that way. Maybe next time you see George R. R. Martin you could recommend they shoot here. haha jk

        Anyway I am enjoying your podcast and of course your website. My mother makes a similar chowder at least once a year. I’ll have to point her here for recipes.

        Thanks!
        Jon

        Reply
  4. Ms D says
    June 15, 2011 at 6:20 pm

    I always thought that it would be more of a cataplana or bouillabaisse- ie. a tomato/broth-based stew rather than a chowder. But this version (minus the bacon for me!) does sound lovely!

    Reply
  5. ShiftlessBannerman says
    June 16, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    I made this tonight, came out quite excellent, was well enjoyed by all. I did notice you forgot to mention what you did with the onions in the recipe. I just tossed them in with the potatoes and it worked out great. I did one other small thing, and tossed a pat of butter into the bowl after serving. It’s a New-Englander thing. Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper!

    Reply
  6. Amy says
    July 2, 2011 at 10:46 am

    This looks great!

    Your ingredients call for evaporated milk, but the recipe calls for condensed milk. I assume you mean the not sweet product?

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      July 2, 2011 at 11:05 am

      True! No sweet! I’ve changed the instructions to reflect that. Thanks for catching it! :)

      Reply
  7. Rose says
    July 4, 2011 at 5:55 pm

    I tried this recipe today and would just like to say how absolutely delicious it is! Thanks so much for sharing this.

    Reply
  8. Marit says
    February 25, 2012 at 12:48 am

    This is one of the best recipes I’ve every attempted. No, the best. Thank you!

    Reply
  9. menunu says
    March 3, 2012 at 12:50 am

    How many does this serve? We are playing the GoT board game this weekend for my friend’s birthday party, and the south is her favorite! I want to make this for 6!

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      March 3, 2012 at 2:01 am

      I believe that I served 5 with this recipe, and had leftovers, so you should be all set! Enjoy!

      Reply
  10. Jawn Snow says
    April 4, 2012 at 12:33 am

    CAN NOT WAIT TO MAKE/TRY this!!!

    Reply
  11. Jawn Snow says
    April 5, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    do you peel the potato?

    Reply
    • Needs Mead says
      April 6, 2012 at 9:08 am

      You can, or leave the skins on. I think we did not peel them, as it’s the kind of setting where no amount of food would be wasted, no matter how trivial.

      Reply
  12. Brittany says
    June 5, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Oh my GOODNESS. I made this stew with my boyfriend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and made some of the crusty bread to go along with it. This was….absolutely fantastic. We couldn’t find any haddock, so we did cod and salmon, plus imitation crab, mussels and clams still in their shell. I have to say, this is easily the most decadent, fishy stew I’ve ever had. Rich and full of flavor, but very heavy. We’ve decided that next time we’ll cut out the salmon and crab, and just keep the cod, and maybe use regular cream instead. Regardless, that was one INCREDIBLE stew and one incredible anniversary dinner. Here are some pictures!!

    The whole meal: http://i.imgur.com/L8yxJ.jpg
    The stew: http://imgur.com/L8yxJ,juApX#1

    Reply
  13. Lauren says
    June 23, 2012 at 3:42 am

    Thankyou so much for this – I’ve made this dish about 5 times already and it’s now one of my favourite meals ever. Love this blog so much!

    Reply
  14. Dave says
    January 14, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    One word: YUM! :-)

    Reply
  15. Sarah K says
    May 23, 2013 at 5:30 pm

    I keep coming here for recipes, but I just keep making this stew. It’s SO. DARN. GOOD. I ended up going with just one type of fish, and added some more bacon, because… bacon.

    Reply
    • Chelsea M-C says
      May 23, 2013 at 10:12 pm

      That’s awesome! :D You might like this recipe too: http://www.foodthroughthepages.com/2012/08/13/try-pots-clam-chowder-moby-dick/ My housemate doesn’t want any other chowder besides this one, despite how crazy thick it is!

      Reply
  16. David says
    March 21, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    Making this for my family tonight!

    Reply
  17. Erin Blythe says
    April 10, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    This may be a dumb question but I just want to clarify — do you put the filets in the water raw or cooked?

    Reply
    • Chelsea M-C says
      April 11, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      They go in raw, and cook both while you make the broth, and when they’re added back into the stew.

      Reply
  18. Mikkel Stoumann Fosgrau says
    May 19, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    How many people is this recipe for?

    Reply
    • Chelsea M-C says
      June 2, 2016 at 4:30 pm

      It’s been a long while since I made it, but I’d say it was for at least four.

      Reply

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