Fish Soup

FISH SOUP (brodetto alla marchiagiana)
Every region of Italy has its own fish soup. They come under different names – zuppa di pesce, brodo di pesce, ciuppin, brodeto, broeto, cacciuco, burrida, sburita. The difference lies in the varieties of fish and shellfish used (in Trieste they put in crabs, in Sardinia, lobster) and in the use or not, of onions or garlic, or vinegar or white wine, and tomatoes. Tuscan cacciucco has ginger, in Romagna they put in a large amount of garlic, in the Abruzzi and the south, plenty of chilli. Occasionally you find a few mashed anchovies, or pieces of potato or a bell pepper. Here is a list of fish and seafood that are used: sole, flounder, turbot, red mullet, sea bass, sea bream, monkfish, John Dory, hake, sardines, anchovy, eel, cuttlefish, squid, baby octopus, mussels, clams, prawns or lobster. Scorfano, a rockfish, is often included to give flavour to the liquor and then removed. The traditional way is to use whole fish and the make stock with the heads. It is more dramatic to have whole fish in the soup but more practical to have fillets and no bones. If you don’t have a big enough pan or casserole make it in two and put the contents together in a big baking dish to continue cooking or to heat through in the oven, covered with foil. Here is a basic recipe for a wonderful soup with just 3 types of fish (I like monkfish, bream and red mullet) and king prawns.

Serves 6-8