The most typical Ligurian fish soup is dutifully interpreted by Mauro Colagreco, stationed just across the border. His is a quick, fragrant, and fresh recipe that brings to the table the sea breezes of the fishing boats on which it was prepared.
The dish
It took an Argentine globetrotter stationed in France to bring new luster to the specialties of Ligurian cuisine. Transiting this way and that was also ciuppin, a typical fish soup that Mauro Colagreco interpreted for The World's 50 Best's first e-book, entitled Home Comforts, which in 2020 collected "simple lockdown recipes" and signature cocktails.
This is how Colagreco recounts its genesis: "For many years we worked with a local fisherman, Lionel, and his wife Manuela. The last ones in Menton with a fishing boat, called Le Prosper. During the lockdown unfortunately they could not sell their daily catch. As an act of generosity and friendship, they gave us lots of fish and I decided to create a special dish. I revisited the traditional recipe for bouillabaisse, a fish soup from Marseille, adding a personal touch. This new take on the original, directly inspired by the Mediterranean Sea, gave us some comfort in difficult times."
He calls it "cioppino" and not "ciuppin," after the recipe prepared from time immemorial on boats by Ligurian fishermen with unsalvageable pesciacci, later renamed by Genoese emigrants to San Francisco in the late 1800s. At that time the "cioppino" (lexically hybridized with the lemma to chip in, to contribute) became a genuine ritual, according to which those who failed to catch fish received a gift of it from their luckier colleagues.
Mauro Colagreco's cioppino recipe
Ingredients for 6 people
- 1.5 kg rock crab
- 450 g small or medium-sized clams
- 450 g mussels
- 230 g skinned monkfish tail
- 200 g of sea almonds
- 6 shrimps
- 4 salted anchovies
- 65 g confit tomatoes
- 40 g of tomato sauce
- 120 ml white wine
- 2 l fish stock
- 1 large shallot
- 2 spring onions
- 2 lemons
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 pinch of chili powder
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tuft of parsley
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
In a large saucepan, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the crab, cover, and let simmer for 12 minutes. Allow to cool. Collect the liquid and the inside of the crab in a bowl. Peel off the legs and scoop out the flesh.
Clean and slice the shallot. Rinse anchovies and cut them in half lengthwise. Rinse clams and mussels, removing the latter from the byssus. Cut the monkfish into cubes with a side length of 2.5 cm. Chop the spring onions and cut the lemons into wedges.
Heat a base of oil in a large skillet over a medium flame, add the shallots with chopped garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add anchovies and break them up with wooden spoon, then pour in confit tomatoes and chili pepper. After 2 minutes, incorporate clams, mussels, sea almonds, shrimp, and monkfish.
Stir. Wet with tomato sauce and white wine. Add thyme, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil. Hose down with the fish stock. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the shells open. Add crabmeat, remove from heat, sprinkle with chopped parsley and spring onion.
Season with salt and pepper, add lemon wedges, a drizzle of oil, and serve hot.
