Brodetto all'Anconetana — Adriatic Fish Stew

Ingredients

• 400 g scorpionfish, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 300 g gurnard, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 300 g John Dory, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 300 g sea bass, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 300 g sea bream, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 200 g grey or red mullet, cleaned and cut into pieces
• 200 g sole, cleaned, left whole or halved
• 300 g cuttlefish, cleaned, ink sac reserved, cut into rings and pieces
• 300 g squid, cleaned, cut into rings
• 300 g clams, scrubbed
• 300 g mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 300 g raw shrimp, shell on
• 300 g seasonal Adriatic fish (e.g. weever, wrasse, or skate), cleaned and cut into pieces — the thirteenth species, chosen by the market
• For the base
• 120 ml extra-virgin olive oil, good Marche or central-Italian oil
• 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed, peeled
• 600 g ripe fresh tomatoes or good passata, fresh tomatoes peeled and roughly chopped in season; passata out of season
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, to season; adjust at the end
• To serve
• 8 slices of coarse country bread, toasted and rubbed with a cut garlic clove

Method

1. 1
   Set a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and add the crushed garlic. Warm gently until the garlic is softened and fragrant but takes no colour — the oil should smell sweet and clean, not sharp.
2. 2
   Add the tomatoes or passata. Cook over medium heat, pressing the tomatoes down, until the base has collapsed into a dense, dark-red sauce with no pooling water — roughly 12 to 15 minutes. The oil should begin to separate at the edges, signalling that the water has driven off.
3. 3
   Add the cuttlefish (with its reserved ink) and the squid. Shake the pot to distribute; do not stir. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes. The cephalopods are ready when they have turned from translucent to an opaque, matte white and the liquid they release has thickened perceptibly — this cephalopod broth is the flavour base on which the entire dish is built, and this is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient time here and the broth will be thin; excessive heat and the cuttlefish will tighten and never soften.
4. 4
   Add the firm white fish — scorpionfish, gurnard, John Dory, sea bass, sea bream, and the thirteenth species if firm. Shake the pot to settle the pieces into the broth. Cover and cook for 8 minutes. The flesh should just begin to yield at its thickest point when pressed with a fingertip through the lid-lifted steam — it will finish in the residual heat.
5. 5
   Add the delicate fish — sole and mullet — along with the clams, mussels, and shrimp. Shake the pot once more. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. The stew is ready when the clam and mussel shells have opened fully and the shrimp have turned uniformly coral-pink. Discard any shells that have not opened.
6. 6
   Taste the broth and correct the salt. The broth should be dense, gelatinous at the lip, and carry the mineral depth of all thirteen species without any single fish dominating. Place a slice of garlic-rubbed toast in each warmed bowl. Bring the pot to the table and ladle directly from it, ensuring each portion receives a representative selection of the thirteen fish.