Fish soup typical of the city of Livorno and only Italian word with 5 “C”.
The word derives from the turkish kuzuk, meaning “small”, and was to indicate the smallness of the fish that were used.
Its origins go as far as the Renaissance, at the time when Livorno it was not yet Livorno, the fishermen had to fight against the great enemy that was
hunger.
For this they used the fish that they could not sell and ate them with the bread, enhanced with garlic, both to cover the smell of fish (there were no refrigerators!), and more to fill bellies!
In a few words, it was a poor dish, where they stood all the waste “material”.
Today Cacciucco evolved, entered the tomato in the recipe, and has adapted to modern tastes.

gallinella, tub gurnard

Ingredients:
For 6 people need:
800 GR. Rocky octopus
700 GR. Squid and cuttlefish
450 GR. Mantis shrimp or prawns or shrimps
450 GR. Smooth hound and / or mooray fish or conger eel
300 GR. Fish for soup (scorpionfish, tub gurnard, weever, atlantic stargazer,)
GR 700, well ripe tomatoes
various kind of clams according to the taste
2 spoons of tomato paste
1 glass and half of olive oil
1 glass and half of red wine
garlic
chili pepper
onion
celery
sage
12 slices of stale bread

pesce prete, atlantic stargazer

Preparation:

Put in a big pan half oil with 3 cloves of garlic, the sage and the chili pepper; when the garlic is just browned put the octopus, beaten and cutted in pieces, and let cook slowly, after 20 minutes add the squids and the cuttlefish well washed and cutted. After a while add the wine and the tomatoes paste.
In another little pan put the onion, the celery and 2 cloves of garlic, all roughly chopped, together with the remaining oil; after they brown a little, add the soup fishes, the tomatoes and little water. Boil for about 20 minutes then pass through a sieve into the big pan.
When the mollusc will be almost cooked add the clams, the crustaceans (of course well washed and cleaned) and the other fishes cutted in slices.
Roast the bread, rub it with 1 clove of garlic and put at the bottom of the individual bowls then serve the soup.

scorfano, red scorpionfish

tracina, weever