Lake Trasimeno, Perugia province, Umbria. The lake's fishing tradition is documented from Roman sources — the Battle of Lake Trasimeno (217 BCE) took place on its shores, and the area has been inhabited continuously since antiquity. The tegamaccio preparation is specifically Trasimeno.
Umbria is a landlocked region, but Lake Trasimeno (the fourth largest lake in Italy) provides a freshwater fish tradition that has no parallel elsewhere in Italian cooking. Tegamaccio is the traditional mixed lake fish stew: a combination of the lake's characteristic species — tench (tinca), perch (persico), carp (carpa), eel (anguilla), and pike (luccio) — braised in white wine, tomato, wild fennel, and olive oil in a clay pot (tegame). It is the freshwater counterpart of the coastal brodetto preparations, using the same technique of adding different fish in sequence according to their cooking time.
Tegamaccio has a flavour unlike any sea fish stew — the freshwater species (particularly tench and eel) have a slightly earthier, muddier quality that the wine, fennel, and tomato mediate but don't eliminate. It is a complex, slightly rustic preparation that rewards attention. With grilled Umbrian bread rubbed with garlic, it is a complete lake-country meal.
Build the base: soffritto of onion and garlic in olive oil. Add dry white wine (Orvieto Classico is traditional — the local white), tomato (passata or crushed), wild fennel fronds, and chilli. Bring to a simmer. Add the fish in sequence: firm-fleshed fish first (pike, eel, carp — these need 15-20 minutes), then medium-firm (tench, perch — 8-10 minutes). Shake the pot rather than stirring to prevent the fish from breaking up. Season with salt only after tasting (some lake fish are naturally seasoned). Serve in the clay pot with grilled bread rubbed with garlic.
The clay pot (tegame di terracotta) is traditional and produces the most even heat distribution. If only one or two lake fish species are available, tench (the most characteristically Trasimeno fish) and eel make the best minimum combination. Wild fennel fronds rather than fennel seed are traditional and give a fresher, more anise-forward flavour.
Stirring the stew — freshwater fish is delicate and breaks easily; shake the pot rather than stirring. Adding all fish at once — the different textures require different cooking times. Overcooking the delicate perch — it becomes flaky and dissolves if added with the firm fish.
Slow Food Editore, Umbria in Cucina; Elizabeth David, Italian Food