Cacciucco - Fish soup from Viareggio
When the fishing boats came home from the sea, they would anchor their boats in the Porto of Viareggio (a small seaside city 20 Km west of Lucca, now has become a very fancy and mundane town). They sold their catch right from their boats, and the unsold fish they would bring home to feed their families. The good parsimonious wives would make a tasty dish from the mixture of fish. Today this dish has become a very expensive dish in the restaurants all over Italy. There are many versions of this dish, depending on the Region of Italy you live in.
In Tuscany there are two versions, one from Livorno and the other from Viareggio, the one we love to make is a mixture of both and an invention of my husband Guglielmo who loves to spend his time at the fish market, choosing the fish and bargaining over the price. I`m never allowed to make this myself because he tells me I´m a meat person, so this is his recipe. To be fair I have to add that he has made this dish while spending some time in Fort Lauderdale with some friends, the fish we used was all from the Atlantic and I have to admit that the best result for this dish you will get if you have the fish that is caught in the Mediterranian or Tirrenian sea, Guglielmo says that the salinity of the water has something to do with it. You will need a variety of fish to make this dish, I cannot guarantee that you will find all you need in a fresh fish market so you may resort to buying some frozen:
For 4-6 people:
- ½ kg of mussels
- ¼ kg of clams
- ¾ kg of octopus
- 7 or 8 in number of nephrops or prawns
- ¾ kg of squid
- ¾ kg of sepia or cuttlefish
- 12 in number of shrimps
- 12 in number of squill
- ½ kg of filbert fish
- ¼ young fop
- 3-4 fresh garlic cloves
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1 cup beef broth or 1 beef bouillon
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound canned chopped tomato, salt and red pepper (peperoncino, red pepper) as needed.
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 slice of toasted Italian bread per person, flavoured with fresh garlic
Cooking time 1 hour
Boil the octopus for 40-50 minutes in abundant water until tender, do not overcook;
while the octopus is cooking start preparing, in a deep pot: olive oil and the vegetables (sliced in small parts) med. heat.
Slice the sepia in small chunks and add to the pot,
slice the cooked octopus and add to the pot stirring often,
add the wine and some broth from the octopus.
Stir in the remaining fish except the muscles and the filbert, these you will add the last 10 minutes.
Stir often and taste for salt and peperoncino.
The consistency of the soup is adjusted to your liking by adding the broth left over from the octopus while the soup is cooking.
Serve with the slice of bread dipped in each dish.
Any white wine will go well with this dish, we usually use a sparkling one from the hills of Montecarlo near Lucca.
