James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [17]
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup butter
1 onion, finely minced
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 large minced sweet red peppers or pimientos, cut in fine julienne
1 pound potatoes, peeled and sliced or quartered
2 pounds fish (haddock, sea perch, sea bass, red snapper)
6 to 8 soft-shelled crabs or 2 hard-shelled crabs broken into pieces
2 to 3 dozen mussels
1/3 cup flour
Sauce aïoli (pages 33–34)
Place the olive oil and butter in the bottom of the pan (the Rousillon natives like rancid lard, but the flavor is not pleasant to our palates); add to this the onion and garlic, the peppers or pimientos, potatoes, and fish cut into small serving-sized pieces, Top this with the crabs and mussels and sprinkle with flour. Cover the fish completely with water. Bring it to a boil and boil for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.
Thicken the sauce with aïoli as in the preceding recipe. (The traditional way to make the sauce and thickening for this dish is to pound the liver of the fish with garlic, oil and egg yolks; however, we seldom get fish livers in this country and the method I give you is far simpler.)
This recipe will serve 6 to 8 people.
ZUPPA DI PESCE
This is an Italian version of the dishes above.
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
Herbs (bay leaf, fennel, parsley)
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds fish (eel, sea bass, skate, red snapper, or cod, with lobster, clams, or mussels)
2 quarts boiling water
6 to 12 slices of stale bread fried in olive oil
Chopped parsley
Garlic, finely minced
Heat the olive oil in a deep kettle; add the onion and herbs and let them cook for a few minutes. Add the wine, salt, and pepper and let it all blend thoroughly.
Cut all the fish into pieces for serving and cut the live lobster into sections. Wash the clams and wash and clean the mussels. Add the heavier fish to the hot olive oil mixture and cook for just a minute. Add boiling water and cook for 4 minutes. Add the lighter fish and the shellfish and cook for 5 to 6 minutes more. Taste for seasoning.
Meanwhile, brown 6 to 12 pieces of stale bread in olive oil until crisp. Remove the cooked fish to a tureen. Let the broth cook down for a few minutes and pour it over the fish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, a little garlic, and a dusting of black pepper. Serve on top of the fried bread in soup bowls.
CIOPPINO
This is a California dish with a noble history that is now tarnished by commercialism. It was originally made by the Portuguese fishermen along the coastal counties of California; much care went into its preparation. In recent years, a bastardized version has become standard fare in many seafood restaurants — one of those “specialties of the house” resting for hours on a steam table.
1 sea bass or striped bass
1 pound shrimp
1 quart clams or mussels
1/4 pound dried mushrooms (Italian variety)
1 West Coast crab or lobster
3 or 4 tomatoes
1 green pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 pint red wine
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cut the raw fish into serving-sized pieces. Shell the shrimp, leaving the tails intact. Clean and steam the mussels or clams and save the liquid. Soak the mushrooms in cold water. Break the crab apart, or if you use lobster, cut it in pieces. Peel and chop the tomatoes and chop the green pepper.
Place the olive oil in a deep pot; when it is hot add the onion, garlic, parsley, mushrooms, and green pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Next add the tomatoes and the paste, the wine, and the liquid from the mussels or clams. Salt and pepper to taste, cover, and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Add the cut-up fish, the shrimp and the crab or lobster, and cook until done. Serve with plenty of red wine and garlic bread.
VARIATION
Helen Evans