Brodetto di Porto San Giorgio Marchigiano

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1–2 dried red chilli, crumbled
• 120 ml white wine vinegar, not white wine
• Fish — firm (first addition)
• 300 g scorpionfish, cleaned, gutted
• 300 g cuttlefish, cleaned, cut into pieces
• Fish — second addition
• 200 g squid, cleaned, cut into rings and tentacles
• 200 g mantis shrimp, whole, rinsed
• 200 g sole, cleaned, portioned
• Fish — delicate (final addition)
• 300 g clams, purged in cold salted water
• 300 g mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
• 600 g assorted local Adriatic fish, remaining species to reach 13 types total, cleaned and portioned by firmness
• To finish
• 1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn, not chopped
• 1 handful fresh basil, torn at service
• To serve
• 4 thick slices country bread, grilled and brushed with olive oil

Method

1. 1
   Select the widest, flattest cooking vessel available — a large terracotta or heavy steel pan of at least 36 cm diameter. Warm the olive oil over a medium flame. Add the garlic and chilli and cook gently until the garlic is pale gold and fragrant but not brown.
2. 2
   Pour in the white wine vinegar. Raise the heat to medium-high and allow it to reduce by half. The sharp acidic vapour softens and the liquid coats the base of the pan with a thin, glossy film — this is the defining base of the Porto San Giorgio brodetto, distinct from every neighbouring version.
3. 3
   Arrange the scorpionfish and cuttlefish in the pan in separate, clearly demarcated sections. Do not stir, now or at any later point. Cook over a moderate flame for 15 minutes. The cuttlefish will firm and turn opaque; the scorpionfish flesh will begin to lift from the bone at its thickest part. The broth released by these two fish forms the flavour base in which all subsequent fish will cook — do not rush this stage.
4. 4
   Add the squid, mantis shrimp, and sole, each in its own clearly defined section of the pan, working around the fish already present. Cover and cook without disturbing. The squid rings will turn opaque and just tender; the sole flesh will be white through to the centre. This is where the dish lives or dies: every fish type must retain its individual identity — a single act of stirring collapses the structure of the dish into an undifferentiated mass.
5. 5
   Arrange the clams, mussels, and the remaining fish varieties — the most delicate species last — into whatever sections remain in the pan. Cover again and cook until the clam and mussel shells have opened fully and the flesh of the most delicate fish is just set. Discard any bivalves that have not opened.
6. 6
   Remove from the heat. Scatter the torn parsley and basil over the surface without folding them in — the herbs are not cooked. Serve immediately from the pan, placing grilled bread in each bowl to absorb the broth.