Venetian Seafood Soup/Stew

Some call the general recipe for this dish a "soup," while others use the word "stew." Fish and seafood are generally not cheap, so this is a rather costly dish to make, or if you're visiting Venice, it will likely cost you a "pretty euro" in a Venetian restaurant, but give yourself a treat, if possible, and make it at home. It is not all that common in the U.S. to leave shells on shrimp in soups or stews, but it IS common in many other cultures; so, use your own preference.

 

Ingredients (3 to 4 servings):

 

1 cup carrot, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/3 cup fennel, chopped

5 whole cloves of garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 pound cod or pollock, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 pound tilapia or haddock, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 pound squid rings (you can include cut up tentacles)

8 large shrimp, heads and shells removed (or you can leave the shells on)

3 1/2 cups clam juice or seafood stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup parsley, chopped 

rustic bread, thickly sliced, lightly toasted

garlic for seasoning the bread

extra virgin olive oil for drizzling over the bread

 

In a pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the chopped carrot, onion and fennel. Saute for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute a further 2 minutes. Add the bay leaf and red pepper flakes, then pour in the clam juice or seafood stock. Bring everything to a simmer and adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add the squid rings and cover the pot. After 20 minutes, add the white wine, cover the pot again and let it simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the squid pieces are tender. Add the black pepper and all of the fish pieces and the shrimp and cook until the fish pieces and shrimp are tender, add the salt and chopped parsley and stir. Lightly toast the bread and then rub each slice with some garlic. Place a bread slice into each bowl and drizzle each with olive oil. Put a couple ladles of the soup/stew into each bowl.    

You can even see some of the steam rising from the bowl. The small white pieces are fish, or in some cases, squid.

WORD HISTORY:

Spumoni-This word for a type of Italian ice cream is distantly related to "foam," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and to "pumice," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French (likely primarily Anglo-French). It goes back to the Indo European root "(s)poih-," seemingly meaning "froth, foam." This gave Latin "spuma," with the same meaning, which passed to Italian in the same form, which later produced "spumone" (ice cream type; creamy, foamy dessert) and its plural form "spumoni." English borrowed the word (plural form generally used as singular) in the mid 1920s with the meaning of "ice cream with layers of different fruit and nut ice creams."