🇮🇹 Italy · Livorno, Tuscany (a Viareggio version is also made on the Tuscan coast)

CacciuccoTuscan fish stew

Name: Cacciucco (Tuscan fish stew)
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 800 g (1.8 lb) octopus, cleaned, cut in pieces; 400 g (14 oz) cuttlefish or squid, cleaned, cut in rings or strips; 800 g (1.8 lb) rockfish for soup (scorpionfish, gurnard, weever or similar), scaled and gutted; heads and bones go into the broth; 500 g (1.1 lb) firm fish in steaks (monkfish, smooth-hound shark or conger), cut in thick pieces; 300 g (10.5 oz) prawns or mantis shrimp (canocchie), left in the shell; 300 g (10.5 oz) mussels, scrubbed and debearded; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, for the broth, left whole; 1 celery stalk, for the broth; 5 garlic cloves, 4 crushed, 1 whole for rubbing the bread; 2 dried chilli peppers, or to taste; 6 leaves sage; 80 ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish; 250 ml (1 cup) Tuscan red wine; 600 g (1.3 lb) ripe tomatoes or tomato passata, peeled if fresh; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 6 thick slices stale country bread (Tuscan if possible); salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional

Livorno's fish soup of several kinds of fish, cephalopods, shellfish and crustaceans cooked in a tomato, red wine, garlic, sage and chilli base and ladled over garlic-rubbed toasted bread.

Origin and history

Cacciucco is the fish soup of Livorno on the Tuscan coast. Its origin is not documented: the stories told about it (a lighthouse keeper, a poor family making soup from scraps, a Turkish fisherman from Smyrna) are legends, and the name is often tied to a Turkish word for 'small', for the small fish used, though the etymology is uncertain. Pellegrino Artusi gave a recipe for it in the late 19th century.

Make it at home

Makes: 6 servings
Total time: 2 h
Hands-on: 1 h

Ingredients

Metric US

800 g1.8 lb octopus, cleaned, cut in pieces
400 g14 oz cuttlefish or squid, cleaned, cut in rings or strips
800 g1.8 lb rockfish for soup (scorpionfish, gurnard, weever or similar), scaled and gutted; heads and bones go into the broth
500 g1.1 lb firm fish in steaks (monkfish, smooth-hound shark or conger), cut in thick pieces
300 g10.5 oz prawns or mantis shrimp (canocchie), left in the shell
300 g10.5 oz mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, for the broth, left whole
1 celery stalk, for the broth
5 garlic cloves, 4 crushed, 1 whole for rubbing the bread
2 dried chilli peppers, or to taste
6 leaves sage
80 ml1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish
250 ml1 cup Tuscan red wine
600 g1.3 lb ripe tomatoes or tomato passata, peeled if fresh
2 tbsp tomato paste
6 thick slices stale country bread (Tuscan if possible)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional

Method

1. Ask the fishmonger to clean the fish and keep the heads, bones and shells. Put them in a pot with the carrot, celery, a pinch of salt and 1.5 litres (6 cups) of water, simmer for 40 minutes, then strain twice through a fine sieve.
2. In a wide, heavy pot, warm the olive oil and fry the onion, the 4 crushed garlic cloves, the sage and the chillies for 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add the octopus and cuttlefish, stir for a few minutes, then pour in the wine and let it bubble until the sharp smell is gone.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and the tomato paste dissolved in a ladle of fish broth. Season with salt.
5. Add a cup of hot broth, partly cover and simmer very gently for 40 to 50 minutes, until the octopus is nearly tender. Top up with broth if it dries out.
6. Add the firm fish steaks and cook for 10 minutes, then the rockfish and cook 5 minutes more.
7. Add the prawns and mantis shrimp with another cup of broth, simmer 5 minutes, then add the mussels and cook until they open, about 5 minutes. Discard any that stay shut.
8. The cacciucco should be brothy rather than thick. Taste, add pepper, salt and the parsley, and turn off the heat.
9. Toast the bread in a 180 °C (350 °F) oven for a few minutes, then rub each slice with the whole garlic clove.
10. Put a slice of bread in each warm bowl, spoon the octopus and cuttlefish over it, then the fish, then the shellfish, and finish with broth, a trickle of olive oil and pepper.

Notes

Tradition asks for at least five kinds of fish and shellfish, one for each C in the name, and a mix of cephalopods, shellfish, soup fish and firm fish. Use whatever is freshest; the exact species matter less than the variety.
Livorno's cacciucco cooks the octopus and cuttlefish first because they take longest, then adds the fish by order of firmness. Do not stir hard once the fish go in; shake the pot instead.
Red wine and a tomato base are the Livorno signature. The Viareggio version is described as lighter, with less garlic, no soffritto and fish already filleted and boned; it is treated here as a regional style.
Serve with red Tuscan wine such as Chianti, as is the custom locally.
It tastes better the next day, but add the bread only at the table.

Adapted from Visit Italy, Come cucinare il cacciucco alla livornese and Dissapore, Cacciucco: la ricetta perfetta (following the livornese disciplinare).