Market Meals: A Feast From the Sea

Photo by María Helena Carey

While racking my brain trying to think of a meal/vendor combo to suggest for this week’s Market Meals, inspiration struck.

Okay, well, more like hunger struck.  I became intensely hungry thanks to a wicked barbecue-themed conversation earlier in the day, and I started thinking of one of my favorite things to eat, ever: cioppino.

It’s okay to stare there, glassy-eyed and confused at the screen, East Coasters, because cioppino is a West Coast delicacy.  It originated back in the 19th century in San Francisco, when Italian fishermen would make a tomato-based stew with a mix of leftover catch-of-the-day fish and other seafood.  Having a proper bowl of cioppino is an experience that I hope everyone — except those who are highly allergic to shellfish — is able to have at least once in their lifetime, because it’s a sight to behold.  The redness of the tomatoes highlights the chunks of white fish, lobster tails, crab legs, clam shells, or whatever kind of assorted fancy or plain seafood goes into the version of the soup you are getting.  You must eat it with a good, crusty sourdough bread and a good glass (or two) of white wine — preferably the same kind you used to mix into the cioppino broth.

To me, few things are as good.  And while I may lament that I am three thousand miles away from the best cioppino ever (please play a tiny fiddle for me), I can still attempt to recreate a local version of it and eat it and be merry; and maybe you would like to do so, too.

The first thing you need to know is that this is a white fish soup that comes together best when you have very fresh ingredients, such as the wonderful fish and seafood you can get at Eastern Market’s Southern Maryland Seafood — the earliest versions of cioppino were made in the boat, actually.  The second thing is that anything goes: if you want to add mostly shellfish, do so.  If you want to add mostly fish, go for it.  If you just want to have spicy tomato soup with crusty bread — and I just have to ask you to go to Trader Joe’s for some sourdough, and you can thank me later for that — that is fine too (hello, vegetarians!).  Just remember to have fun and ask the folks at Southern Maryland which is their freshest white fish for making soup on the day you visit (as of today, they had tons of fresh flounder, sole and haddock, as well as clams, mussels and tiny little octopi for those who are a little more adventurous).  Here are a few recipes from Simply Recipes (a favorite online recipe box), Epicurious, and from Food Network, to give you an idea of how easy it can be to put together.

What are you waiting for?  If I have to come over to your house to make it, I’m eating it too, you know.