Cioppino
Oh, it has been too long, my friends. T he new year came and went, and then so did January, and no w most of Febr u ary. How quickly it came and went, in deed. Let's rew ind the clock for a moment to talk about one of our favorite New Year's dishes, which c ould become one you r favorite mi d -winter dishes, as crabs are still in season (I saw a whole stack of them gleaming at the Ber keley Bowl yesterday). Cioppino is the q uintess ential San Francisco dish . Wander into any touristy restaurant in town right now, and they will have a steaming (and overpriced) bowl of this fisherman's stew on the menu. Avoid the prices and make yo ur own. The stor y goes that this dish originated with the boats out at sea ; the Portuguese and the Italian fish ermen would chop up the leftovers of the day's catch and stew them to falling-apart consi stency in wine , olive oil, and tomato es . Really, how can you go wrong with...