Cod Piece

Ok, thanks. Although living in Nyc I guess I'm getting Atlantic cod.

That's ok if it's line caught.....

I don't know any of you well enough to let you touch my cod piece! '-P

[Jenise]

Ok, thanks. Although living in Nyc I guess I'm getting Atlantic cod.

What we buy here is always labeled "True Pacific Cod".

Jaques, thanks for posting that link. I'll put that dish on the list too, but don't blame me if I give into the temptation to use halibut instead.

Thanks Jacques, I have ordered the book.

FWIW we went through a real Italian/Tuscan cooking phase about 10 years ago, and I particularly liked the soups. I cooked through a couple of good Italian cookbooks (Bugialli, and I think Kasper's book The Splendid Table) doing all the soups. The ONE soup that gave me trouble, and embarrassment with guests, was an Acqua Pazza. At least in Bugialli's recipe, the big problem is that you can't taste as you go along. You have no idea how things are turning out and you can't adjust to taste because it tastes watery or even bad right up until the end. In that recipe I think you stir in a lot of grated Parmigiano and an egg or two right at the end, which if you have done everything else right, gives you a delicious soup. Despite the fact that I am a chemist I sometimes get a little glitchy with quarts and gallons and pints, so occasionally I would end up adding too much water at some stage and end up with a diluted excuse for soup that eventually tasted excellent, but only after a couple of hours of gentle reduction. You can't leave your dinner guests at the table for a couple of hours... I quit making that soup. All the others turned out beautifully, including some that you wouldn't even realize were Italian if you were just served the soup out of context. I think Kasper has a mushroom soup that has a beautiful dark clear broth, and a huge flavor from a mixture of dried porcini and sliced mushrooms of other sorts.

I realize your Acqua Pazza is something quite different but it reminded me of the one I attempted a few times.

Frank, I think you'll enjoy the book a lot. Even though it's not a cookbook per se, I liked the few recipes in it a lot.

I can't imagine an Acqua Pazza soup, I have one of Giuliano Buglialli's cookbooks, I'll look it up. The only Tuscan soup I remember making is a ribollita

I have several from Bugialli -- IIRC it is a big format, colorful one specifically about Tuscany, which of course includes the Maremma.

Uh Oh. I remembered everything about the soup except the NAME. My confusion -- it is "Acquacotta" (cooked water) and sometimes jokingly called "stone soup." It is from the Maremma.

http://www.tuscanrecipes.com/recipes/acquacotta.html

A movie made by a chef (about 14 minutes) La Zuppa di Pietra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-biTrjNmg

The lowly peasant dish, salt cod!

But when it is done in the Frawnch style, whipped into a mousse and deep fried and served with an aioli or spicy tomato sauce? Mmmmmmmmm.

And the Italian dish, traditional for New Year celebration in some quarters, baccala/bacalao is fantastic. My favorite was, I think, Neapolitan in origin and made every New Year dinner for luck. Salt Cod in Tomato Sauce with lots of hot peppers. There might have been just the slightest touch of garlic in there too, I think.