Cioppino A San Francisco Classic

Cioppino defines the City By The Bay better than sourdough loaves. This Italian classic fish stew  has been identified  for over a century and if done right a great memento of time there. There's something about a blend of tomato sauce married to a variety of seafood all cooked together.

Regular contributor and cookbook author Tejal Rao wrote about this flavorful fish stew in today's New York Times Food section. This delicious dish is considered a cliche because it's  so often associated with San Francisco. May restaurants in the Bay area have fumbled with the recipe , relying on nostalgia and tradition  rather than innovation. This makes for a so-so stew. The dish is so charged with seafood kitsch that one eatery, the Ferry Building Hog Island Oyster Company doesn't even use the word.The dish  was already deemed as worn out by food critic Elizabeth Riely in the Times back in 1988. Another , Michael Bauer, of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that it was a shadow if itself. However one chef, RoseAnn Grimm, owner of Sotto Mare gives her grandfather's recipe from Amalfi a modern twist. She adds one half cup of Bloody Mary mix and star anise to his recipe to spike it. Some take this spin on Ligurian fish stew, brought with the Ligurian fishermen who settled in the area and add different types of seafood. There is the Lazy Man's version made with canned crab instead of crab legs. 

You can easily make cioppino at home thanks to the recipe from Chef Grimm. Keep in mind that it is labor intensive but it's a great summer meal. The sauce is a classic marinara with the addition of the Bloody Mary mix. The star anise is the first thing toasted until fragrant. The sauce is classic marinara with a mix of   canned tomatoes and sauce along with the usual herbs of basil thyme and oregano.  The fish used are Dungeness crab clusters,, mussels, littleneck clams  and mussels. Use a firm fish like cod along with four large peeled tail on shrimp.  Everything is cooked in a Dutch oven for five minutes. The clams are then added , followed by the mussels . Put the pot's cover back and on let cook for a few minutes. Add the fish when the clams open The dish is always served with slices of toasted ciambatta bread spread with a garlic butter. This is also added to the stew. It's an easy cook of  roasting a big bulbs of Gilroy garlic  drizzled with olive oil and roasted for an hour in a 375 degree oven, Once cooled , discard the skins , mash in a food processor and add butter. The shrimp and more of this butter is added last and steamed . Serve in a deep bowl with a side of the garlic bread.

Cioppino is one of the flavors of San Francisco. Anyone can have this taste and enjoy the rich flavor of seafood and marinara sauce. It is a wonderful marriage of land and sea.

The Restaurant And The Sea

There's no doubt that locavore restaurants are affected by their surroundings. If the bounty is abundant , then the eateries thrive. If not, they have to become creative and look  to other locally sourced ingredients. It becomes an incredible task if the source is environmentally challenged.

This is the case of San Francisco eatery, Angler, which was the subject of Tejal Rao's Critic's Notebook in yesterday's New York Times Food section. she interviewed chef Joshua Skenes, who opened this local restaurant in the waterfront Embarcadero area of San Francisco. Chef Skenes is redefining  the San Francisco fish house, thanks to a tightly edited menu. He has pointed out  he isn't the only one in the area. Many seafood lovers are being redirected to lesser known but just as delicious seafood options.Why is this? Blame it on climate change and the ocean's temperature changing because of it.In a published study from just last week researchers found ocean temps had broken record highs in the last few years. This changes everything, from the water's acidity to  breeds of fish heading towards colder waters.This is happening all over , especially off the New York City coast. The Dungeness crab, that lives in Northern California waters, has been infected with domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by ocean warmed algae.The levels are so high in the shellfish that there's a delay in catching them.

What's a seafood restaurant to do? Get creative  with other ocean bounty.It's not just chef Skenes who's exploring other catches from the sea but also chef James Syhabout of Commis in Oakland. The last serves seaweed rather than big ticket fish.Other eateries,like The Perennial ,owned by Karen
Lebowicz and Anthony Myint serves farmed sturgeon and trout, raised on vegan feed. As for Chef Skenes, he's getting into purple sea urchins at the Los Angeles branch of Angler as well as at the original. Purple sea urchins are multiplying at an eye opening rate, invading and decimating vital underwater kelp forests. There are enough of them to  satisfy customer's growing love of them. Their flavor is that of a sweet and salty custard when pureed and returned to their shells. Chef Skenes is also cooking petrale sole, that was once favored by Bay City locals. It's an ugly  flatfish with eyes on one side of its' head . That doesn't matter to him.He turns it into a filet of beauty, with almost jellied meat firmed up over a fire and lacquered with butter.  Jellyfish is also being served diced and raw with a dipping sauce.He also does amazing magic with a roasted beet and tuna tartare along with a radicchio with a dressing that sloppy and almost bloody looking. These dishes make diners forget about what's not on the menu, like the Dungeness crab.

Unfortunately, all seafood restaurants will be affected by climate change. Let's hope their chefs can become creative with everything the sea has to offer and not just favorites. This will definitely be the standard if we don't amend the damage we've done to our world.

Catches Of The Day

Homemade seafood dishes are always tricky to make. They can come out too oily or too dry. The meat is sometimes too tender and can turn to mush thanks to the wrong recipe. Luckily yesterday's New York Times Dining section helps with this situation. The two sections, City Kitchen and A Good Appetite tackle a crab salad and roasted fish. Thanks to these two gems, seafood novices can create perfect and delicious dishes.

Dave Tanis conquers crab salad in his City Kitchen column. Crab salad, is one of those throwbacks to Mid Century American cooking where it was made with huge dollops of mayo and lemon.It was then served on a bland leaf of iceberg lettuce with either a tomato or lemon wedge as decoration. Mr. Tanis updates it for the 21st Century. He first starts with Dungeness crab, perfect because it is the season for them on their native California coast. Instead of the traditional mayonnaise he starts with a double boiled dressing ,made with cream , egg yolks and lemon juice. He then adds olive oil and Dijon mustard for more flavor. This goes over a  salad of fresh lump crab along with the nontraditional Belgian endive, chicory , radicchio and arugula. The salad  is a perfect Sunday brunch dish or a Saturday luncheon with the girls one.

The next is from Melissa Clark, In her  A Good Appetite  column, she tackles roasted sea bass. She adds a spicy and fiery twist with lime salsa verde. Ms. Clark does offer very good advice on picking a good fish.Look it in the eye .If the eyes are cloudy and sunken, don't buy it .If they're clear and bright, it means the fish is a fresh catch and perfect for cooking. Also, although this sounds clicheish, the smell, is another important  factor  in purchasing it. Newly caught does not have an odor.There should be some kind of one however it should  be clean and saline smelling  and not fishy. Another good tip she offers is having the fishmonger lop off  the head if you or your guests are squeamish about dinner staring up at you. Each fish should weigh up to one and a half pounds as well. A  fish such as a sea bass should be roasted at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes tops.don;t over cook, because it'll result in a platter of dried. splintered meat.

Fish dishes are not difficult. In fact , they are easy to prepare and cook. Don't be afraid to try them and miss out on some truly delicious dining.