Today’s recipe comes straight from the Western coast of Italy.
I remember eating it in Livorno and Isola d’Elba when I was growing up, the smell and the color of it (yes, the taste too) make me think about the old Medici Harbor…the noise of the fishing boats, the continuos mumbling (and hard core cursing) in dialect of the workers at the dock. My father used to keep a small boat there when I was growing up, and he used to drag me with him for “week-end-scheduled-mantainance-and-cleaning”…I used to ask myself: “Why is Mom staying home?”.
I eventually figured that out. However, the memories I have of those week ends are now worth a treasure in my heart: my first fishing experiences, the hours of cleaning under the scorching heat listening to The Beatles, my first Cecina (thin garbanzo bean flour bread)…my first beers!!!
Livorno is also very famous for another, even more traditional recipe, their Caciucco… an intense and memorable fish soup that deserves its own episode on this show…will do!