How to cook Livorno-style cacciucco: the the king of fish soups

We do not know which is the true story behind the Livorno-style cacciucco but there exist at least 3 legends to explain the origin of this fish soup made with tomatoes and a great variety of fishes. The first one tells that cacciucco was created by a lighthouse keeper who was not able to use the oil of a lantern, therefore he cooked the fish with salse of tomatoes and without frying it. The second legend is about a poor family with small kids who, after the loss of their father, went to the port asking some food for the dinner; with waste fishes collected by the kids, their mother cooked a tasty fish soup with some slices of dry bread. The third one tells about a Turkish fisherman who arrived in Livorno port with his ship and asked at the market small unsold fishes to cook at his tavern a soup learned by his mother in Smirne.

Regardless of the real story behind cacciucco, it is true that the name comes from the Turkish word küçüklü which means "small size" with reference to the small part of fishes that together form the soup. In addition, the Accademia della Crusca - the Italian Institution for the Italian Language - has officially confirmed that the word cacciucco must be written with 5 C (putting an end to the version with only 4, “caciucco”), an original word cacciucco for a dialect - the Tuscan - which is famous to have a particular way to pronounce the consonant C.

To be sure to make a tasty Livorno-style cacciucco, this fish soup must have as ingredients a great variety of fishes. The original recipe written by Pellegrino Artusi at the end of the XIX century included at least 13 different kinds of fish, nowadays the cacciucco made in Livorno is usually cooked with 6 or 7 varieties of fish, possibly catch of the day. The recipe must respect the balance between the varieties of fishes and it must include at least one fish species of each of the following groups: cephalopod molluscs, shellfishes, soup fish and fish slices with fish bone and crustaceans.

Let's see with us the ingredients and the main proceeding to make an original tasty Livorno-style cacciucco.

600 g octopus

500 g mussels

400 g tomato sauce

300 g scorpion fish

300 g gurnard

300 g dogfish

250 g octopus

250 g priest fish

200 g weever fish

200 g mantis shrimp

180 g monkfish fillet

160 g cuttlefish

160 g prawns

150 g squid

4 slices of bread

1 onion

1 celery stalk

1 carrot

sage tomato paste

chilli pepper

garlic

extra virgin olive oil

Tuscan red wine

salt

pepper

First of all, scale and gull the fishes, then with the heads of weever, priest fish, scorpion fish and gurnard make a broth adding water, a drizzle of oil, 1 clove of garlic and a few sage leaves. Clean and cut into pieces the weever, priest, scorpion fish and gurnard. Clean the octopus, cuttlefish and squid and wash and clean the mussels. Leave the shrimps and mantis shrimps whole and cut the monkfish and dogfish into large pieces. Filter the broth removing the heads.

Chop celery, carrot and onion and fry them with 1 clove of garlic, 2 sage leaves and chili pepper. Moisten with 1/2 glass of red wine, then add the tomato puree and the broth. Bring to the boil and add in this broth the octopus and cooking it for 20 minutes, then add the squid, cuttlefish and baby octopus and cook them for another 10-15 minutes. Add the weever, priest, scorpion fish and gurnard, together with the monkfish and dogfish. Add salt, pepper and cook all of the fishes for another 10 minutes. Finally, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, the shrimps, mantis shrimps and mussels and cook them for 4-5 minutes. Toast the slices of bread, rub them with garlic, arrange them on plates and put the cacciucco over them.