In pre-contact Boston, the women of the Massachusett tribe fed their community as farmers and by gathering shellfish. Excavation for the subway system in the early 20th century uncovered a fishweir and revealed that the Boston Common was once the shoreline of the bay where the Massachusett tribe could spear or fish. Boston continues to eat one of the dishes introduced by the Massachusett tribe: clam chowder. The indigenous dish “Quahog Chowder” is made with quahog clams, corn, and beans in a clear broth. Upon settlement in New England in the 1620s, settlers were introduced to this dish, cream became a part of it and the dish went on the become a culinary legacy.
