FAKE FISH SOUP (Traditional Recipe) 

Serves 6

Oil, half a glassful	Water, as required
Garlic, two cloves	Salt to taste
Anchovies, 100g	Pepper, plenty
Chopped Parsley, a spoonful	Soaked bread, as required
Tomato sauce, a couple of spoonfuls

Method

Of all the many fish soups, there is only one which allows you to use just one type: the anchovy… hence the name 'fake fish soup'. Don't expect too much, but this modest and cheap preparation, however humble it may be, makes for a fairly tasty dish and is a good way of using up leftover bread. 

For 6 people, put half a glassful of oil into a saucepan, adding the two cloves of garlic and lightly frying. In the meantime, wash, fillet and chop one hundred grams of anchovies, that you can then add to the oil, together with a spoonful of chopped parsley. Almost immediately afterwards, add a couple of spoonfuls of tinned (or otherwise prepared) tomato sauce, mix, and add sufficient water to provide six bowls of soup. 

Leave to simmer until the tomato is cooked, then season with salt and plenty of pepper, whilst putting the required bread into soak in cold water. When the bread has absorbed sufficient water, squeeze it out and put through a metal sieve. Collect the sieved bread in a small terracotta bowl and dilute little by little by stirring in a ladle or two of the liquid from the saucepan. The bread serves to make the liquid a little denser. Allow to boil for a few minutes and then serve this light, aromatic purée into the soup bowls, where you will already have placed a few slices of toast onto which, should you so wish, you will have lightly rubbed some garlic. Finally, add a pinch of chopped parsley to each bowl. 


The Dish

This is a simple dish which today is no longer to be found in most Italian households, but that once upon a time was used to satiate and satisfy the appetite of many families… thanks to its pleasant flavour. (I continue to repeat that it is perfectly possible to obtain a very pleasurable dish using ingredients that we would otherwise consider simple or poor). 
The secret of each dish is in the harmonising of the various elements, to obtain the best result possible. This dish confirms the rule: only a few anchovies, a little dampened leftover bread, garlic, parsley and tomato are necessary to turn a so-called 'poor' dish into one full of rich flavours. 


Wine Accompaniment

This dish should definitely be consumed with a fairly important white wine. The choice of the wine should be made considering first the flavour of the fish, and second, its structure. The anchovy, in fact, has a decisive flavour which tends to dominate everything else, a fact which guarantees the success of this dish. The wine should be fairly young, reasonably acidic in order to harmonise with the flavour of the anchovy, fairly alcoholic in order to dilute the sapid nature of the dish, fairly aromatic in order to make the most of the flavour of this blue fish, with an intense and persistent, slightly bitter taste. 


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