The palest and, by tradition, the oldest of the four historic Marche brodetti, set apart by carrying no tomato at all. Its broth is dyed a deep gold by the wild safflower of Monte Conero — the fishermen's 'zafferanella', used as a cheap stand-in for saffron — a colour dialect calls 'occhiu de gallu', rooster's eye. At least ten fish go in over onion sweated in olive oil, floured and laid toughest-to-most-delicate, moistened with hot water and dry white wine, the pan moved only by its handles. It was carried from boat to table by the chalet-keeper Giovanni Velluti in the early 1900s and is now codified by the Accademia del Brodetto.
Porto Recanati's is held to be the oldest of the Marche's four brodetti — with Fano, Ancona and San Benedetto del Tronto — and the proof its cooks offer is the absence of tomato, a New World fruit that reached Adriatic fish cookery only later; a brodetto without it keeps an older, 'white' form. The yellow comes instead from the wild safflower of Monte Conero, the cheap saffron-substitute the fishermen called 'zafferanella', and the gold was read as a Christian emblem of sanctity. The dish was brought from the fishing boats to the table by Giovanni Velluti, keeper of the 'Il Grottino' beach chalet, in the early 1900s, and by 1923 a Touring Club Italiano guide already recorded a 'Brodetto Bianco' made south of Monte Conero and shipped, already cooked, as far as Milan. It is codified today by the Accademia del Brodetto.
A clean, golden broth tasting of the sea and of sweet onion, faintly grassy-bitter from the safflower and lifted by white wine. The floured fish are soft and only just holding together, the cuttlefish springy; the whole is lighter and sweeter on the tongue than the red, vinegar-sharp brodetti to its north and south.
With no tomato to lend acidity or colour, both rest elsewhere: on the safflower's water-soluble yellow pigments, which bleed into the hot broth much as saffron's crocin would, and on the Maillard sweetness of onion sweated slowly in olive oil. Dredging the fish in flour before layering does double duty — the starch gelatinises in the liquid and lightly thickens the thin broth, while the coat helps the delicate fillets keep their shape. Laying the toughest fish first (the cuttlefish, which needs the longest) and the tender fish last matches cook time to texture, and moving the pan only by its handles keeps a spoon from breaking the fish apart.
Variations
Restaurant versions sometimes swap in, or reinforce with, true saffron pistils. Cooks argue over the roster, but cuttlefish, monkfish, scorpionfish, weever, stargazer and skate recur; the bread beneath may be plain or fried. It is distinct from the tomato-and-vinegar Fano brodetto and the wine-and-tomato Anconetana, and a dry Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is the usual glass alongside.
On the Palate
Where Brodetto di Porto Recanati sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min
- 122 min
Clean and gut the fish: cuttlefish in large pieces, firm fish (monkfish, scorpionfish, skate) in thick chunks, small fish whole; rinse, pat dry, and dust each piece lightly with flour.
- 25 min
Steep the safflower (or a pinch of saffron) in a little warm water or fish broth to release its colour.
- 38 min
In a wide, shallow pan, sweat the sliced onion in a generous pour of olive oil over low heat until soft and sweet but not coloured.
Watch outSweat the onion low and slow until soft and sweet with no color — any browning turns the pale golden broth muddy and bitter.
- 45 min
Add the cuttlefish and cook it slowly for several minutes, then pour in the coloured safflower broth.
- 54 min
Lay in the remaining fish toughest-to-most-delicate in a single layer, the tender small fish on top.
- 63 min
Add hot water and dry white wine in roughly equal parts to a shallow depth, and season with salt.
- 716 min
Cook 15–18 minutes over moderate heat, moving the pan by its handles only and never stirring, until all the fish is just done.
Watch outMove the pan by its handles and never stir — the flour-dusted fish holds shape only if left undisturbed; stirring breaks the fillets and clouds the broth.
- 82 min
Ladle the golden broth and fish over slices of toasted or fried bread and serve at once.
