Recipe Roundup: Seafood Stews
JBF Editors
Every year on Christmas Eve, Italians around the world gather at the table for an elaborate seafood dinner called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Though the meal often includes a parade of classic dishes like salt cod (baccalà), seafood salad (insalata di mare), fried smelts, and spaghetti with clam sauce, a simpler menu could feature cold, briny oysters on the half-shell followed by a boldly seasoned seafood stew of any provenance. The beauty of the dish is its versatility: just add green olives and cumin for a Moroccan-style dish, potatoes and chorizo for Portuguese flavors, coconut milk and cilantro for a taste of the Caribbean, or, of course, tomatoes and red wine for a more traditional Italian dish.