Pesce all' Acqua Pazza
Occasionally something so simple, so unpretentious and humble can be very striking. One of the more memorable dinners I had on my recent trip to Sicily was a whole fish gently poached in Acqua Pazza, which means "Crazy Water". I remember thinking that maybe it's because it's so uncomplicated that you never encounter it in the States, but now that I think of it, generally fish preparations in the United States are even more simple, sometimes just grilled with some ill-suited sauce, or fried with no sauce at all.
Poached fish recipes that I remember from training in French restaurants are similar but the aromatic vegetables and herbs are strained and discarded before serving. I've also noticed that poached fish, which is really a perfect way of cooking something so delicate, is overlooked and ignored by today's gourmands.
𝘗𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭’𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘢 𝘗𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘢 is one of those preparations that you can find from Almafi coast down to Sicily and then back up the Italian boot up the other side at least through the region of Abruzzo. The origins called for seawater though I wouldn't recommend that today. Instead just simmer whichever aromatic vegetables and herbs you like, in my case here I used fennel, red onion, carrots, celery, capers, olives, tomato, basil, thyme, parsley, garlic, peppercorns, lemon and white wine, then lower whatever whitefish you want, Rock Cod in my case, simmer lazily, gently lift it out onto a plate and drench with the poaching liquid. I used potatoes too that I cooked separately in salted water with herbs. Drizzle the best olive oil you can afford and have some hand torn chewy bread nearby. The clean, bright flavor you won't soon forget, at least, I haven't.