Pesce Stocco all'Ammoglio Calabrese
Mammola, Calabria
Calabria's dried stockfish (stoccafisso, called 'pesce stocco' in dialect) slow-braised in a sauce of tomato, olive oil, black olives, capers, potatoes, and chilli — the 'ammoglio' sauce found across Calabria for preserved fish. The Mammola preparation is most celebrated: stockfish braised for 3 hours with potatoes, pine nuts, and sultanas in a rich tomato-olive oil base. The potatoes absorb the fish gelatin and the oil while becoming infused with the tomato-brined flavour of the stockfish. Unlike the Vicentine version, Calabrian pesce stocco is braised in tomato and olive oil rather than milk.