P
Italian · Pesaro
Brodetto di Pesce alla Pesarese
Fish stew from Pesaro on the Adriatic coast of Marche — one of Italy's most distinctive regional brodetti. The Pesarese version is characterised by its use of white wine vinegar (not wine) as the souring agent, and the inclusion of mantis shrimp (canocchie/cicale di mare), cuttlefish, and at least four or five different Adriatic fish. The base is a simple tomato and onion soffritto; the different fish are added in a precise sequence based on cooking time. The broth should be thin and clean — not thickened or pureed — with an assertive vinegar sharpness.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
400 g
cuttlefish
cleaned; ink sac reserved separately if making the black version
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
400 g
mantis shrimp (canocchie / cicale di mare)
scored along the underside; left in shell
Your own market
300 g
monkfish
cut into portions
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
300 g
skate
cut into portions
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
250 g
sole
whole or filleted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
250 g
whiting
whole or filleted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the soffritto and broth
1 large
white onion
finely sliced
Your own market
400 g
80 ml
white wine vinegar
added to the soffritto during cooking, not at the end
Your own market
60 ml
extra-virgin olive oil
plus extra raw oil for service
Your own market
1 tsp
fine sea salt
Your own market
500 ml
water
or light fish stock; the broth must remain thin and clear
Your own market
To serve
4 thick slices
Pesarese bread
toasted and rubbed with a raw garlic clove
Your own market
1 clove
garlic
halved, for rubbing the toast
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over a medium flame. Add the sliced onion and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until it is fully softened and translucent — it must not colour. Pour in the white wine vinegar and allow it to cook into the onion base for two to three minutes, until its sharpness softens but its character remains. Add the tomatoes. Cook the soffritto for a further five minutes until the tomatoes collapse into the onion. The base should smell sharp, sweet, and savoury simultaneously — this is the correct moment to proceed.
2
Add the cuttlefish and mantis shrimp to the soffritto. Pour in the water or light fish stock. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for fifteen minutes, uncovered. The broth should be thin, tomato-tinged, and visibly clear — not opaque or thickened. If using the ink sac, break it into the broth now and stir to dissolve. The cuttlefish is ready for the next stage when it yields slightly to a spoon's pressure but is not yet fully tender.
3
Add the monkfish and skate. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: each fish must enter the pot in strict order of density and cooking time — firm fish now, delicate fish later — because simultaneous addition guarantees some are overcooked and the broth becomes muddied with broken proteins. Maintain a gentle, not rolling, simmer. Cook for eight minutes. The flesh of the monkfish should be just beginning to flake at its thickest point when pressed.
4
Lay the sole and whiting into the broth. Cook for five minutes only. The delicate fish are done when the flesh turns from translucent to opaque throughout and separates easily along its natural grain at the lightest touch — do not wait for it to flake free entirely, as carry-over heat in the broth will finish the cooking.
5
Taste the broth and adjust salt. It should be assertively sharp from the vinegar, clean, and thin — not viscous. Place a slice of toasted, garlic-rubbed Pesarese bread in the base of each wide bowl. Ladle fish and broth over the bread generously. Finish each bowl with a drizzle of raw extra-virgin olive oil. The bread will begin to absorb the broth immediately — serve without delay.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Same-day Adriatic catch — canocchie alive or just-killed, cuttlefish with the ink sac intact, skate and sole still in rigor. The broth will be bright, sweet, and oceanically alive. The ink version (brodetto nero) is only possible at this level of freshness.
02
Estate — Day-boat fish from a trusted fishmonger, bought the morning of cooking. The vinegar sharpness will carry the broth cleanly. The bread-and-broth experience remains fully intact.
03
Market — Good supermarket fish, verified fresh by clear eyes and firm flesh. The soffritto and vinegar will compensate for some loss of sweetness. The brodetto remains coherent, though the broth will be less vivid.
04
House — Frozen fish is explicitly contrary to the Pesarese tradition — it produces a watery, flat broth. If only frozen is available, reduce the water quantity and increase the vinegar slightly to compensate for dilution, but expect a materially different result.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. The soffritto smells sharp from the vinegar, sweet from the onion, and savoury from the tomato — all three are present at once before the fish enters
◇Sight. The broth remains thin, tomato-tinged, and clear throughout cooking — any opacity or viscosity signals thickening and a departure from the Pesarese style
◇Touch. The cuttlefish yields slightly under a spoon's pressure after fifteen minutes — not rubbery, not falling apart
◇Touch. The monkfish just begins to flake at its thickest point when pressed after eight minutes in the broth
◇Sight. The sole and whiting turn fully opaque throughout, separating along the grain at the lightest touch — remove from heat at this exact point
◇Taste. The finished broth is assertively sharp, clean, and thin — neither flat nor harsh, with the vinegar's acidity integrated rather than raw
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies on the strict sequential addition of fish in order of density: add everything together and some will be overcooked, the broth muddied, and the defining clean clarity of the Pesarese brodetto lost.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
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