Brudet
A simple recipe that can me made faster than most stews. Do not be fooled by recipes that add saffron as a high cuisine resource. The origins of Brudet are modest Dalmatian fishing villages and common cooking where anything goes and the result is invariably called Brudet.
It is also notable how similar it is with other Mediterranean stews like Cataplana from Portugal, or closer still, Buridda and Cacciucco from Italy.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 8 medium tomatoes de-seeded and diced
- half a liter of fish stock
- 3 or 4 steaks of any firm white fish, in 5cm to 10cm chunks
- 1 cup white wine
- A generous amount of shellfish (crab, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Chop up the tomatoes and set them aside, de-seeding them is optional but very common. Set the tomatoes aside and continue with wit onions and garlic.
Set a large stew pot with a heavy lid to high, and add the olive oil until it is hot and add the onions turning it down to medium. When they have turned golden add the garlic, and a few minutes later the tomatoes.
Stir adding the wine until the tomatoes have turned into a sauce. Next add the fish broth and wait for it to boil. Add a little salt and pepper but not too much as the shellfish will probably add a little extra later. Test your broth until its just they way you want it.
When your base stew is boiling, add the fish chunks spreading them as evenly as possible. Do not stir or otherwise touch the fish from now on, if the fish is not completely submerged you can add a little extra broth.
After about 10 to 15 minutes, add the shellfish on top also making sure it is at least partially submerged. And let it boil with the lid on for another 15 to 20 minutes.
When the shellfish is done you can serve, next to polenta, or thick slices of bread with olive oil to soak up the stew.
This stew will serve 4 hungry stew lovers.