FISH
"PESCE AZZURRO" (literally "bluefish")
Meaning fish of the anchovy, pilchard, sardine and mackerel varieties, is a wonderful food and gastronomic resource, wrongly underestimated and definitely not consumed enough. Apart from small sprats, it is hard to find in restaurants. What are the reasons for such deep-rooted hostility? The main reason is that this type of fish abounds on the market and does not cost a lot. People who identify good things with dear things stupidly tend to ignore it. Many people think it is fatty, hard to digest and, generally speaking, less healthy than other types. As tests have clearly shown however, it is ideal for people who suffer from cholesterol. The poly-unsaturated fats, which this kind of fish contains in abundance dissolve cholesterol. It is also a concentrate of phosphorus, which would do a lot of people good. So far as digestibility goes, it all depends on how it is cooked. This fish is tender and tasty and can be prepared in many different ways: raw, boiled, grilled, on the hotplate, oven baked, in the pot. It should be added that to all varieties of this fish correspond different traditional ways of cooking. The best way to cook mackerel and pilchards is over the barbecue. The horse mackerel is best boiled, while the needlefish should be marinated. Sprat is great oven baked, in the pot with tomato and in sauces for pasta. "Sardoni" (a larger sprat variety) are equally delicious fried or cooked on the hotplate, or skewed or "alla livornese". We have a heritage of thousand of regional recipes for this kind of fish, each one better than the other. Some are really refined. Filled sprats for example stem from a sophisticated Roman dish, the recipe for which has been passed on down to us by the great Apicius and envisages the use of baking foil. It is accompanied by a renown of being food for working folk and in fact it does not appear to have many friends in high-ranking positions. In the past, small fish in general, and "pesce azzurro" in particular, were the workday meal of fishermen, one of the poorest communities. Everyone else, if they could, was pleased to do without. This was a food to be eaten on fast days. The only public premises that cooked it were the osterias, instead of dried cod and tripe. Unlike other regions, in Romagna the "culture" of "pesce azzurro" (or, as it is locally known, "turchino") was weak. A dish that is still popular among the lower classes is "piada" filled with pilchards cooked over the grill, together with chicory and onion. It could well be that this "poor" food will soon find its way into top-class restaurants.
GRILLED FISH
Every summer, in the municipality of Rimini, 15 million meals are served. From all five continents, a flood of fresh and frozen food reaches the Riviera and here, whatever its origin, it is transformed into "traditional" Romagna delicacy. Like the famous grilled fish. Grilled fish only makes sense if the fish is locally caught, on the same day it is cooked. After being lightly dipped in breadcrumbs mixed with olive oil, without garlic and with very little parsley, or else nothing at all: so as to protect, that is, the fish from drying up without killing its natural flavour. Many people say that Adriatic fish is the best there is. The fact is that the "Amarissimo" (as D'Annunzio called the Adriatic), because it is saltier and more "grazed" than other seas, supplies very tasty fish; small fish, especially in the northern section, but very tasty. As it is served today, the "grigliata" was "invented" half a century ago by Bruno Barosi, the legendary manager of Rimini's "Al Giardino" restaurant, who made it his forte dish. Of course, fish has been barbecued for centuries. In a 16th-cent. operetta written by naturalist Costanzo Felici, mention is made of aromatic mullets with fennel seed and rubbed with apple juice. A mid 18th-century letter mentions barbecued red mullet, accompanied by fried "piadina". The fish used was normally of the poorer and smaller variety. The best fish went to the higher classes (who nevertheless preferred fresh-water fish) and was cooked using much more refined methods. A traditional fisherman's dish was the "rustìda", fish and cuttlefish skewers cooked over the open fire. The skewers. made from small tamarisk twigs, were stuck in the sand, all around the fire. This "stood-up" cooking method gave even the poorest fish great softness and fragrance. In a good mixed grill, a nice sole or turbot, a cod, a gilthead, a monkfish and a few red mullets, perfumed with rosemary, should never be missing. Naturally, the fish must be local and very very fresh. Let's also add a skewer of sprats and one of cuttlefish (better, much better than squid), but only if cooked over the open fire. Finally, let's also cook a few wholesome "mazzancolle" prawns. Without too much breadcrumb covering. Pour on top a small quantity of extra-virgin olive oil, possibly local. No lemon, except on the sprats.
THE FISH FRY | (top)
Fish has been fried since the beginning of time. Even the Romans fried fish (so says Apicius), and frying continued through the Middle-Ages, the Renaissance and down to the present day. It was custom however to accompany the fried fish with complicated sauces or to marinate it. In the Rimini area, notwithstanding the excellent olive oil produced, and which is still produced there, the art of frying was not all that common. To the extent that, in 1621, someone was "imported" from Ravenna together with six helpers, to fry the fish, marinate it and pack it in barrels. Today's mixed small fish fry is a home-invented fasting day dish, subsequently adopted by inns, "trattorias" and then restaurants. The main ingredient of a good fish fry is the fish, which must be very fresh, local and assorted. Some species are a must, others optional. No less important is the type of oil used. Obviously, you need to have frying experience - temperature, cooking time, suitable pans. The best oil is olive oil. Contrary to general opinion, the strong oil of the south is better for frying than the oils of central and northern Italy. This oil is fairly high flavoured and can, if preferred, be mixed with peanut oil. Watch out for generic seed oil as this produces toxic substances at high temperatures. The fish must be simply rolled in flour (no "batter") and thrown into plenty of boiling oil. No need to add that the oil should not be endlessly recycled, but used once only. The fish must be golden on the outside and soft and juicy inside. After frying, it must be quickly dried on absorbent paper and salted. Those who soak it in lemon juice are barbarians and don't know what they are missing. A good mixed fry should include the following species "zanchetti" and "pelosi", as well as the odd small "moletto", some red mullet, a couple of "baraccoline" and maybe the odd weever. Yes, exactly, the ones that sting people who paddle on the beach. Then of course, a handful of squid, cuttlefish and "ulèzni". Sprats are also nice, but best fried apart. Shellfish and prawns should not be used.
"BRODETTO" (Fish Soup of the Adriatic Sea) | (top)
Thoughts often go back to a number of unforgettable "brodetti" of two or perhaps three decades ago, up and down the Adriatic coast. To that enjoyed in a trattoria at Chioggia, underneath a pergola, at the back end of the summer. To those enjoyed in the now extinct trattorias of Cesenatico, during the misty autumn. To those once found in Rimini at "Lurido" (filthy) in the winter - a place that well lived up to its name - on wonky and greasy tables, with a "tablecloth" of yellow paper. And the legendary ones served by the "Moro" in Cattolica. And then, moving down the coast, those of Fano and down to San Benedetto; and to the opulent and very fragrant fish soup of "Davide" at Porto San Giorgio. But above all to that cooked by the fishermen of Rimini, strong in vinegar and black pepper, like that consumed on the boats. If there ever was a gastronomic WWF, it ought to be asked to save the "brodetto" of the "Amarissimo" from extinction. This sea, being saltier than its neighbours, is the home of tastier fish. At least that is what the fans of this coast say. The fact is that fish soup arouses a great deal of local jingoism, and from North to South, everyone is convinced they make the "brodetto" to beat them all. To the extent that each locality whispers its own mysterious ingredients and hidden formulas and rumours talk of improbable culinary espionage: like the restaurant manager of Numana who, dressed like a beggar, is supposed to have stolen the secret recipe of the "brodetto" master of Porto Recanati. And violent disputes surround the issues of what types of fish to put in the pot and which should not be used (the most authoritative sources suggest the scorpion fish, the stargazer, the gurnard, the dogfish, the mullet, the blenny and the sting-fish), whether "pesce azzurro" is really to be avoided like the pest, whether shellfish is alright, and whether tomato purée or plain tomatoes, wine or vinegar, pepper or chilli peppers are to be preferred, whether a pinch of saffron improves the flavour and whether the flame should be high or low. But quite apart from what the right ingredients are, the method to be used and cooking time, the secret of a good fish soup is one only - and not really a secret at all -, the fish must always be freshly caught.
top