Italian · Adriatic coast

Brodetto di Pesce

Brodetto di pesce is the Adriatic coast's great fish stew—a vibrant, saffron-tinted or tomato-based preparation of mixed local fish served in a generous broth that varies dramatically from town to town along the coast from Rimini down to Vasto, with each port fiercely defending the superiority of its own version. The Marche's brodetto tradition, centred on the fishing ports of Fano, Ancona, Porto Recanati, and San Benedetto del Tronto, uses the catch of the day's trawl—scorpionfish, gurnard, sole, mullet, cuttlefish, mantis shrimp (canocchie), mussels, and clams—cooked together in a sequence determined by each fish's cooking time. The base typically begins with olive oil, garlic, and onion, to which white wine vinegar (a defining Adriatic touch, absent from Tyrrhenian fish stews) is added, followed by tomato (in the southern Marche versions) or saffron (in northern versions, closer to the Romagna tradition). The fish are added in stages—cuttlefish first, firm fish next, delicate fish and shellfish last—and the stew cooks gently for 15-20 minutes, during which the fish release their juices into the broth. The finished brodetto is a vibrant, slightly tangy, deeply oceanic stew served over slices of toasted bread or polenta, the various fish still identifiable despite having shared their flavours with the broth. The vinegar is the distinctive element—it provides an acidity that lifts the heavy richness of the fish stew and gives Adriatic brodetto its particular bright, clean character. Every coastal town has its version, and the rivalries between them are the stuff of local legend—particularly the ancient feud between Fano (vinegar-based, no tomato) and Porto Recanati (saffron-tinted).

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ServesFour portions

Total45 minutes

Sourced1of 15 in BC

Cook

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The Market List

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80 ml

extra-virgin olive oil

Your own market

garlic cloves

Your own market

white onion

finely sliced

Your own market

60 ml

white wine vinegar

plus a further splash to finish

Your own market

400 g

canned whole peeled tomatoes

crushed by hand (southern Marche version)

Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →

1 pinch

saffron

steeped in 2 tbsp warm water (northern version, substitute for tomato)

Your own market

The fish — added in stages

250 g

cuttlefish

cleaned, cut into strips

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

scorpionfish

gutted and scaled, left on the bone

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

gurnard

gutted and scaled, left on the bone

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

grey mullet

gutted and scaled, left on the bone

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

sole

whole, gutted

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

mantis shrimp (canocchie)

whole, shells on

Your own market

200 g

mussels

scrubbed and debearded

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

200 g

clams

purged in cold salted water

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

To serve

8 slices

coarse country bread

well toasted

Your own market

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

The Method

Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pan over a medium flame. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is soft and translucent but without colour — the base should smell sweet and gentle, not sharp.

Pour in the white wine vinegar. Allow it to reduce by half, then add the tomato (southern version) or saffron water (northern version). Stir once to combine and cook the base for five minutes until it tightens slightly and the raw acidity mellows — the broth should smell bright and oceanic, not harsh.

Add the cuttlefish strips. They require the longest cooking and must go in first — this is where the dish lives or dies: each fish variety enters the pan in strict order of its required cooking time, and any deviation collapses the stew into ruin. Cuttlefish cook for eight to ten minutes, until they have begun to yield and the broth has taken on some of their ink and body.

Add the scorpionfish and gurnard. These firm-fleshed fish require five to seven minutes. Add a ladleful of water if the broth seems tight. Do not stir — tilt and swirl the pan only. The flesh should just begin to pull from the bone at the thickest point.

Add the mullet and sole. After three to four minutes, add the mantis shrimp, mussels, and clams. Cover the pan. Cook for a further three to four minutes until the mussel and clam shells have opened fully and the delicate fish flesh is opaque to the bone — discard any shells that remain closed.

Remove from the heat. Add a final splash of white wine vinegar directly into the broth. Taste: the broth should be deeply oceanic, slightly tangy, and clean-finishing. Each fish variety should remain identifiable — not a purée, not a collapse.

Place two slices of well-toasted country bread in each wide bowl. Ladle the brodetto over the bread, ensuring each portion receives a representative selection of fish. The toast should absorb the broth at the base while its surface remains firm enough to support the fish — if it dissolves immediately, it was not toasted enough.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — A trawl-fresh mixed catch sourced directly from the Adriatic ports of Fano, Ancona, or San Benedetto del Tronto, including live canocchie and wild scorpionfish. The mantis shrimp shells alone transform the broth.

Estate — Day-boat fish from a known local harbour, with at least five distinct varieties present. Farmed clams acceptable if wild are unavailable; scorpionfish and gurnard should remain wild.

Market — Good fishmonger mixed fish, bought whole rather than filleted. Sole may be replaced by another flatfish; mantis shrimp by good-quality shell-on prawns. Four varieties is the workable minimum.

House — Fewer than four varieties, pre-filleted, shellfish from a tin. The broth will be flatter and the defining oceanic depth of the dish substantially reduced; the vinegar and careful sequencing remain essential regardless.

Sensory Tests

◇Smell. After the vinegar reduces, the base smells bright and clean, not pungently acidic — the rawness of the vinegar has cooked off.

◇Touch. Cuttlefish yields when pressed with a spoon but does not collapse — it has body without resistance.

◇Sight. All mussel and clam shells have opened fully; the flesh of the firm fish pulls cleanly from the bone at the thickest point.

◇Sight. Each fish variety remains visually distinct in the finished stew — scorpionfish, sole, mullet, and shellfish are all identifiable, not merged.

◇Touch. The toasted bread placed beneath the stew holds its form under the first ladleful rather than disintegrating immediately.

◇Where it lives or dies. The fish must enter the pan in strict sequence by cooking time — cuttlefish first, firm fish next, delicate fish and shellfish last — because adding them together reduces every variety to the same ruined texture.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

French bouillabaisse — the Mediterranean counterpart, similarly multi-fish, but Provençal in base and flavour, without vinegar's acidity Livornese cacciucco — the Tyrrhenian cousin, deeper and more wine-forward, chilli-lifted, absent the defining Adriatic vinegar Croatian brudet — the immediate Adriatic relative across the water, sharing the vinegar touch and coastal simplicity Spanish zarzuela — the western Mediterranean parallel, tomato-based and similarly dependent on the layered addition of mixed seafood

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What to Pour

The pairing

Bushmills Malt 10 Year Old

Old Bushmills Distillery · County Antrim — Bushmills Distillery

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Whisky

From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

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The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Brodetto di pesce is the working dish of the Adriatic fishing ports, documented in Paolo Petroni's Il Libro della Vera Cucina Italiana and recorded by the Slow Food Foundation as a presidium of the Marche coast. Its lineage runs from the daily trawl catch of Fano, Ancona, Porto Recanati, and San Benedetto del Tronto. The white wine vinegar base — absent from Tyrrhenian fish stews — is the defining Adriatic signature, separating the brodetto tradition entirely from its Mediterranean cousins. Northern Marche versions, closer to the Romagna, favour saffron; southern versions favour tomato. The rivalry between towns, particularly between Fano and Porto Recanati, is a recorded feature of the dish's cultural identity along the coast.

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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.

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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods

Vancouver · canned whole peeled tomatoes

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