Brodet
(Slovenian Fish Soup) Recipe

Origin: Slovenia      Period: Traditional

This recipe probably started out as Italian brodetta and may well have come to Slovenia when it was part of the Venetian Republic, but Slovenians made this dish very much their own.

Ingredients

For the Stock:
1 carrot, peeled and sliced diagonally
1/4 celeriac, peeped and diced
1 tsp green peppercorns
1 tbsp vegetable oil
500g fish bones, heads, and trimmings
50ml white wine
salt and freshly-ground white pepper, to taste

For the Stew:
1 large onion, finely chopped
50ml olive oil
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp (heaped) tomato purée
4 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and chopped
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp parsley, coarsely chopped
1 bay laeaf
1.5kg fish (preferably a mixture), gutted, cleaned, de-scalled and sliced into 3cm chunks
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
finely-chopped parsley, to garnish
6 generous slices of French bread, rubbed with garlic

Brodet
(Slovenian Fish Soup) Preparation:

Method:

Begin by preparing the stock. Combine the vegetables, herbs and peppercorns in a pan along with the oil. Season lightly with salt and white pepper then cover and place on gently heat to sweat slowly until soft (about 30 minutes). At the end of this time add the fish boens and trimmings along with 500ml of water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes (but no longer, or the stock will be too fishy in flavour) then take off the heat and immediately strain through a fine-meashed sieve. Be certain to press down on the solids to extract as much liquid and flavour as possible. Adjust the seasonings of the stock then stir-in the wine.

Meanwhile, sweat the onion for the stew with the olive oil in a pot until the onions are golden (about 15 minutes) then stir-in the garlic and cook for about 20 seconds more before stirring-in the tomatoes, tomato purée, vinegar, parsley, bay leaf and the fish pieces. Now add just enough of the prepared stock to cover the ingredients in the pan. Bring quickly to a boil hen turn the heat down to a low simmer and cook slowly, uncovered, to poach the fish (do not stir; rather shake the pan to prevent sticking and burning) for about 30 minutes, or until the fish pieces flake readily with a fork.

Remove from the heat and adjust the seasonings. To serve, place a piece of bread rubbed with garlic in the base of 6 warmed bowls. Ladle the fish stock over the top then arrange the pieces of fish on the surface. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to garnish then serve.

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