For San Franciscans, cioppino (pronounced choh-PEEN-oh)is closely identified with Fisherman's Wharf. According to one local tradition, the name of this seafood stew resulted from immigrant Italian and Portuguese fishermen who would gather on the wharf to swap fishing stories and add something from their day's catch to a communal stew kettle set over a fire started to take the edge off the evening's chill. If you wanted to share in the stew you had to “chip in.”
Many of San Francisco's Italian population emigrated from Genoa, so more likely is that the stew's name and basic recipe derived from the Genoese fish stew called "cioppin" in the Ligurian dialect. If not the name, San Francisco might still claim that their cioppino improves on it's Genoese forbearer (and other Zuppe di Pesce) by the addition of clams, shrimp, Dungeness crab and other shellfish.
Incidentally, "cioppino" is also a slang word in Italian for young men who are a little drunk. Maybe not so different from American slang when we say someone is “stewed.”
There is no single definitive recipe for cioppino because it depends on what seafood is fresh that day. Freshness is key. If you're not fortunate enough to be able to buy it off the pier, make sure you trust your fishmonger. Ask when the fish was caught.
Traditionally, this is served with the shellfish shells on. The shells add greatly to the flavor, but can make the meal a bit messy. Be sure to have a bowl for the shells and encourage donning napkins bib-style, especially for anyone wearing hard-to clean garments.
Don't be put off by the number of ingredients. Once you have them all assembled, the process is very simple. Even easier, the soup base can be made in advance and frozen. That way you explore what's fresh at the seafood counter, reheat the soup base and you can have cioppino in a ten minutes. This is a true one-dish meal. It only wants a good loaf of crusty bread to sop up the scrumptious broth.
Cioppino to Die For
Yield: 6 servings
Soup Base Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (2 ounce) tin anchovies
- 3 ribs celery
- ½ tsp each: dried basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp fennel seed, ground (optional)
- 1 small bulb fennel, chopped (optional)
- 1 red or green bell pepper, cored and chopped (optional)
- 1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 bottle clam juice
- 2 Tbsp Pernod (optional)
- 1 (26 ounce) box Pomi brand chopped tomatoes (or the equivalent of good fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded) (See note, below.)
- 1 (14 ounce) can tomato paste
Soup Base Method:
- In a large soup kettle over medium-high flame, add olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and mash in the anchovies with a fork and sauté for just another minute.
- Stir in the celery, dry herbs and any of the optional aromatic vegetables you choose to use. Sauté 2-3 minutes more.
- Pour in all of the liquids and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and turn the flame down to allow the soup base to simmer at least half an hour. It should be soupy. If it thickens too much, add more wine.(At this point the soup base may be split into meal-size amounts and frozen for up to 3 months. Be sure to reheat to a healthy simmer before adding the fish.)
Possible Seafood Ingredients (the more the better so long as they're fresh):
- 2 pounds firm-fleshed fish (snapper, halibut, cod, catfish or monkfish) cut in bite-size chunks
- 2 dozen steamer clams and/or mussels (See Clam/Mussel Note, below)
- ½ pound de-veined fresh or cooked shrimp (See Shrimp Note, below)
- 1 Dungeness crab (See Crab Note, below)
- ½ cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
- ¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (accept no substitute!)
Seafood Method:
- Add the fresh fish to the soup base and cook for two minutes once the soup returns to a simmer.
- Add the shellfish and cover. Let it return to a simmer for 3-4 minutes and begin checking. The shellfish is ready when the shrimp is bright pink and the clams or mussels have opened. Do not over cook.
- Remove and discard any clams or mussels that did not open.
- Ladle into bowls making sure each serving gets some of each of the seafood. Sprinkle each serving with parsley and Parmigiano Reggiano. Pass the bread.
Tomato Note: Processed at the peak of flavor, canned tomatoes are always a better choice than poor-quality fresh tomatoes. This recommended brand of canned tomatoes actually comes in a box
Clam/Mussel Note: Refer to How to Buy, Store, Clean and De-Beard Mussels. The same applies to clams except the de-bearding.
Crab Note: If using crab, removed the crab legs from the body and use a nut cracker to crack the shells so that the meat can be easily removed once it is served (leave the meat in the shell). Break the body in half, and then cut each half again into either halves or thirds.
Shrimp Note: Split the shrimp shells down the back and remove the black vein. The easiest way to do this, without removing the shell, is to lay the shrimp on its side and insert a small knife into the large end of the shrimp, with the blade pointing outward from the back (away from the shrimp and your hands). Once you have split the shrimp shells, you can turn the knife toward the shrimp, and cut in a little to find the black vein. Pull out the vein as much as you can. (See how to peel and de-vein shrimp.)
Here are some more ideas if you have a hankering for Soups or Stews, including
- Cowboy Chili with Steak
- Belgian Beef Stew
- Boeuf Bourguignon - Beef Burgundy
- African Chicken and Peanut Soup
- Cheddar and Ale Soup
- Hoppin' John Chili with Black-Eyed Peas
- Pumpkin Apple Soup
- Broccoli and Toasted Hazelnut Soup au Gratin
- Bavarian Pilsner-Onion Soup
- Turkey Minestra (from leftover roast turkey)
- Cream of Chicken with Wild Mushrooms (from leftover cooked chicken)
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