Cioppino in a seafood stew well known in northern California. Borne from the home cooking of Italian immigrant kitchens, it's flavor is both mediterranean and new world. I ate cioppino for the first time in northern California. I was surprised that despite the load of tomatoes and garlic, the broth was very light. This may be due to the use of white wine and dungeness crab rather than the frutti di mare found in Italian seafood dishes.
There are native mediterranean crabs species. However, they are not often available at market. Recently, because of migrations across ocean currents, Atlantic blue crabs have taken up residence in Middle Eastern waters.
I was a bit unsure about making my cioppino with blue, rather than dungeness crabs but when I saw them at the shuk, I couldn't resist. I needn't have worried. The crabs were sweet and in fact, a little easier to handle than the big guys from the Pacific.
BT's Tel Aviv Cioppino
Ingredients:
2 medium blue crabs
2.2 pounds (1 kilo) fresh tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red chili
1 head garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dry oregano
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
3 cups (720 ml) water
1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
zest and juice of 1 lemon
Directions:
In a large soup pot or cocotte add olive oil and place on medium heat
Chop tomatoes into quarters or eighths (large bite size)
Add tomatoes to pot
Sauté until tomatoes begin to break down
Chop chili
Peel and crush whole head of garlic
Add garlic and chili to tomatoes
Add oregano and salt
Cook 2 minutes
Add wine, sugar and water
Bring to boil
Add crabs and cover
Cook for 8 minutes
Remove crabs
Remove legs and return to sauce
Open shell body and remove mustard (yellow innards)
Remove gray gills
Return rest of crab to sauce
Add lemon juice and zest
Add parsley
Serve with grilled bread or pasta.
Enjoy! !בתיאבון
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