Ciuppin — Ligurian Fish Soup

Ingredients

• For the soffritto
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• For the base fish (bony, gelatinous)
• 1 kg mixed small bony fish, scorpionfish, gurnard, sea robin, John Dory frames, or a combination; cleaned
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 400 g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped, or whole canned
• 1 pinch dried chilli (peperoncino)
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to finish
• For the final fish (presentable cuts)
• 600 g mixed fine fish fillets or steaks, sea bass, mullet, or grouper; cut into large pieces
• To serve
• 4 thick slices sourdough or country bread, toasted

Method

1. 1
   Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over a medium flame. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and parsley. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are fully softened and translucent but not coloured — the soffritto should smell sweet and yield completely to the spoon.
2. 2
   Add the white wine and raise the heat. Let the wine reduce by half; the sharp alcohol edge should give way to a clean, bright acidity. Add the tomatoes and the pinch of dried chilli. Stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to collapse.
3. 3
   Add all the bony base fish — whole or roughly broken — pressing them down into the liquid. Add just enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until every fish has entirely broken down and the pot is a uniform, collapsing mass of flesh, bones, and liquid: this is where the dish lives or dies. Nothing that resembles a piece of fish should remain; the bones must have given all their gelatin to the broth before it is passed.
4. 4
   Pass the entire contents of the pot through a food mill fitted with its finest disc, working in batches. Press firmly and repeatedly so that all flesh and gelatinous matter is extruded as a thick, purée-like broth; discard what remains in the mill — skin and bones only. The strained broth should coat the back of a spoon with visible body.
5. 5
   Return the strained broth to a clean pot and bring back to a gentle simmer. Season aggressively with salt — fish broth requires more than you expect. Taste: the broth should be deep, saline, and rounded.
6. 6
   Add the pieces of fine fish — sea bass, mullet, or grouper — to the simmering strained broth. Cook for 10 minutes only. The fish is done when the flesh is just opaque through to the centre and yields to the lightest pressure without flaking apart.
7. 7
   Place a slice of toasted bread in each bowl. Ladle the broth over, distributing the pieces of fine fish equally. Finish with a thread of raw extra-virgin olive oil if desired. Serve immediately while the broth is hot and the bread retains some resistance.