The chowder mandate for marriage

Fish chowder

“Every New England girl who lived within the sound of the sea, four or five generations ago, counted a chowder kettle as an essential part of her “setting out.’’ When a bride left the family homestead, she carried with her a huge iron pot in which to make the hearty dish of fish, swimming in rich broth flavored with salt pork and onions.’’ 

-- Ella Shannon Bowles and Dorothy S. Towle, in their Secrets of New England Cooking (1947)