Born as a poor dish of Adriatic fishermen who used fish that were difficult to sell due to low quality or too small in size and who, to give flavor to the dish, used rock stones with seaweed and molluscs attached to them, the brodetto today it is one of the most representative dishes of the Adriatic cuisine. Even two regions are competing for its paternity, the Romagna and Marche. From this derive two real schools of thought: in Romagna there is no soup without the gurnard, usually called “mazzolina” in the Romagna region, which in the Marche is replaced with San Pietro. And as always, every town in the Adriatic has its own little variation that doesn't substantially alter the basic recipe.
Indisputably its characteristic is the use of many qualities of fish, at least nine ten: cuttlefish, red mullet, sole, dogfish, toad, panicles (in Romagna “canocchie”), scorpion fish, cod, seafood, squid, rays, gurnards, San Pietro, clams, crabs, mussels and weever.
And for 20 years now it has been celebrated in grand style with the Festival of Italian cuisine, genuine flavors and excellent food and wine enhanced by the passion and skilful experience in the kitchen of starred chefs under the banner of BrodettoFest, one of the most important and well-known gastronomic events on the Italian and international scene. For the 20th edition, scheduled for 9, 10 and 11 September at Lido di Fano, fans of this culinary specialty will have three days available for meetings, tastings, cooking shows with big names in show business and starred chefs who have made the history of Italian cuisine.
Today it is even restrictive to restrict the area of brodetto to the Marches and Romagna. Because the streets of the Brodetto are… endless.
There is the Brodetto of Chioggia (broeto in Venetian), the Brodetto from Romagna (Brudèt ad pès in Romagna), the Brodetto alla Fano (el brudèt in Fano), the Brodetto all'anconetana, Broth of Porto Recanati (el brudettu in Porto Recanatese), the Brodetto of Civitanova, Brodetto of Porto San Giorgio, Sambenedette style broth (lu vrëdètte in Sambenedettese), the Giulia-style broth (lu vredòtte in Giulianova's dialect), il Pescara fish stew (lu brudett in Pescara), Il Brodetto alla Sanvitese, Brodetto alla Vastese (lu vrudàtte in Vasto dialect), the Brodetto alla Termoli (u' bredette in Termoli). And it could go on for a long time.
Mondo Food offers its readers the original recipe by chef Nicola Fossaceca, Michelin star of the Al Metrò restaurant in San Salvo Marina. 39 years old, proudly from Abruzzo, fish cooking is in his blood. His first cooking experiences were in the family pastry shop alongside his mother Antonietta and father Domenico. But the call of the sea was stronger than that of the pastry art and Nicola, when he finished the hotel management school, had no hesitation in turning the bar towards the intense and ready flavors of his sea. And he chose as great masters Niko Romito first and then Mauro ulassi e Moreno Cedroni, two Dioscuri who directed him towards haute cuisine of seafood and Mediterranean quality, as then happened and confirmed by the conquest of the Michelin star in 2013.
Nicola's cuisine is an immersion in the flavors of Abruzzo: from fish from the Adriatic to all the other local products, with local traditions that themselves become the raw material for a modern cuisine, full of rhythm, intuition and great technique . A cuisine that knows how to look at contemporary gastronomic culture starting from a deep territorial root.
His "Brodetto in the style of San Salvo“, is his memory dish, the memory of that perfume he smelled on the stairs, when as a child he came home after school, and mother Antonietta's soup cooked in the large earthenware pot. While respecting tradition with the rigorous use of fish from the stretch of the Adriatic between San Salvo and Ortona, his recipe calls for the fish to be cooked and served already boned, so that it can be eaten without thinning out, with the subsequent cooling as needed for the pinning, the intense aromas and flavors of the cooking, a cooking of course with times reduced to the bare minimum to keep the fragrances of the rich basket of fish and shellfish from the Adriatic unaltered.
The calendar of the Brodetto Festival
The 20th edition will raise the curtain on Friday 9 September, at 19 pm and will kick off meetings, tastings, cooking shows with big names in show business and chefs who have made the history of Italian cuisine.
The stars of the kitchen at the Palabrodetto
The Palabrodetto will shine with TV and social star chefs and Michelin stars: it starts on Friday 9 at 20 with the show in the kitchen of the Chef Davide Di Fabio of the Alla Gioconda restaurant in Gabicce Monte with its dish with an authentic flavor, but with deep roots in the imagination: Bowl of pasta and fish from the Adriatic.
Saturday 10, at 13, they arrive Richard Abou Zaki & Pierpaolo Ferracuti of the Retroscena restaurant, Porto San Giorgio – 1 Michelin Star with the recipe: Pancotto passatello, super concentration of brodetto and Parmigiano Reggiano crusts.
At 20 spotlights on the cooking show of Max Mariola, YouTube star, face of numerous Sky programs broadcast on Gambero Rosso, and one of the most loved and followed chefs in Italy with the recipe: Max Yum Soup.
Guest of various television programs - from 'La prova del cook' to 'Masterchef Magazine' - judge of 'Cuochi d'Italia', on Sunday 11, at 13, it will be the turn of Christian Tomei (1 Michelin star) from the restaurant L'Imbuto in Lucca with the recipe Bro-said. Ruben Bondi of 'Cucina con Ruben', will bring his brilliant sympathy in the kitchen to the last cooking show on Sunday (20pm) for the recipe: Redfish, red mullet and tomato soup. A true star on social media, with her format in which she cooks from the balcony of her house near Trastevere, she has won millions of followers.
The Palabrodetto kitchen brigade is coordinated by the Chef Antonio Bedini. Dish-wine pairing by the Vignaioli d'Autore, a project that brings together 9 historic cellars of the Bianchello del Metauro Doc.
The Palabrodetto will host on Friday and Saturday at 22.00 pm, BrodettoLab – Long Life of the Brodetto – Visual, tactile and taste-olfactory analysis in combination with the seafood creations of Antonio Scarantino, chef of AlMare, inspired by the brodetto (Fri 9, 22pm) ea Luca Cervo Dalla Vecchia Zia Ada's Pizza Chef (Sat 10am, 22pm). (cost: 10 euros). With David Eusebi e Othello Renzi.
The cooking show 'La Fideuà di Gandia' will be held on Saturday 10 September at 17 pm in collaboration with the Fideuà Festival of Gandia (Spain).
Sunday 11 at 18 presents itself Gastronomic Fano, the project promoted by the Municipality of Fano, Department of Tourism, with which 'The Road of Restaurants by the Sea of Fano' was born, through which the aim is to promote the sustainability of the short and zero mile supply chain.
The fishermen's kitchen
Debut for the twentieth edition Space Bro – The Fishermen's Kitchen for a taste of Brodetto alla Fanese, prepared in large pots, a recipe that highlights the combination of fish and tomato for one of the best fish soups in Italy. In collaboration with Antonio Gaudenzi.
Brodetto Time
He will be the film, television and theater actor Gianmarco Tognazzi the first guest to take the central stage for the appointment with the Brodetto Time talk show.
Saturday 10 September (21.30 pm), Raffaele Di Placido, marine biologist with a passion for dissemination, will host the space, taken from his program 'Some like it Green': he interviews some virtuous Italian witnesses of ecology and the environment, re-proposing some stages of his fascinating trip to Italy, broadcast on SkyTv , in search of green realities and hidden human beauties. The essayist and science popularizer will be with him to comment on these stories, Alessandro Cecchi Pavone.
Brodetto Boat
Boat trips are back to discover the wonders of the sea with BRODETTOBOAT – All a Molluschi with a delicious novelty thanks to the typical tastings on board. Saturday and Sunday, at 9 and 11.30, we will discover the Adriatic mussel farms and clam fishing together with the professor Corrado Piccinetti, director of the Fano Marine Biology Laboratory aboard Queen Elisabeth. Online reservations on place (cost 10 euros).
Brodetto Tour
For visits and excursions during the three days of the event, TuQui Tour organizes Friday 9 September: a journey through the wonders of the city of the Goddess Fortuna told by an expert guide and a surprise ending! – Guided tour of Fano and final aperitif. Departure: 18:00 / Return 20:00 (18 euros). Saturday 10 September: Brodetto school, From the fish market to the home table in an authentic and convivial atmosphere. Let's learn together how to cook Brodetto! – Tour of the fish market in Fano to buy fish.
The recipe for Nicola Fossaceca's Brodetto in the San Salvo fashion
Ingredients for 2 people:
– 500 g Pomodoro Mezzo Tempo (autochthonous tomato from the Vasto area)
– 12 Clams (sea lupins)
– 2 weevers
– 2 Crock fish (sea gurnards)
– 2 lamps
– 2 sole
– 2 cuttlefish
– 2 cod
– 2 mullet
– 2 sea cicadas
– 1 Race
– 1 clove of red garlic from Sulmona
– 1 green croissant pepper
– Parsley stems and leaves to taste
– Extra virgin olive oil to taste
Procedure:
Fillet the fish and keep the bones aside.
Pour the oil, the clove of garlic cut in half, the cut pepper into the earthenware pan and start cooking over a moderate flame. After a few minutes, add the peeled Mezzo Tempo tomatoes and the parsley, heat well and bring to the boil, covering with a lid.
Add the fish bones and continue cooking for 15 minutes over high heat, adding salt to taste. Remove the fish bones and add the various fish fillets and clams, from the thickest to the softest. The cooking of the fillets will take about 3-4 minutes. Finally, add the cuttlefish and shelled cicadas.
Introduction
Just before serving, add freshly cut parsley, a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some croutons.
Why cuttlefish in the end if they have longer cooking times than fish?