Kakavia (Κακαβια)

Kakavia is also known as "Psarosoupa" or a fish soup. Kakavia also gets it's name from the pot in which it's cooked in, the "kakavi". By all accounts, Kakavia is the pre-cursor to the modern-day bouillabaisse. It made its way from Greece to Marseilles (Massalia) around 600 B.C.

The Greeks cooked this in the "kakavi", the French in the "bouillet". Which pot do think came first? Good.

There are many renditions of Kakavia, this one having some tomatoes, others made in a Avgolemono Sauce and both are absolutely delicious. The two versions (any many in between) are made with a combination of fish and shellfish, filled with vegetables and herbs and it makes for an excellent pairing with some crusty bread and a dry glass of white wine.

Some of the older recipes for Kakavia even call for the use of sea water in the soup but we'll steer away from that. Kakavia is traditionally made from the day's catch to feed the crew so, don't fret if you don't have the same array of seafood I've used. The best fish and seafood is the freshest fish and seafood.

There are three components to a Kakavia, the first being the base of vegetables and herbs. The second component is the whole fish that's gives the soup mid-range seafood flavours. Without the whole fish, this would just be a vegetable soup with some shellfish thrown in the end. The third and final component is the actual fish and seafood that get added just near the end of the cooking process. The meat of the dish, if you will.

Preparation or "mise en place" is always important when cooking but I'd recommend you get organized when making Kakavia. It's not a difficult soup to make, there are just some steps one has to be organized about when tackling this dish.

Bouquet garnis are required for the whole fish that get poached in the soup and, for the bundle of herbs and spices that will add depth of falvour. Leeks are best for soups but onions work fine too. A rough dice of all the vegetables is all that is required. The goal is to have chunks that fit well on the soup spoon. A gulp of potato, a slurp of carrot and clam, a bite if shrimp and celery.

Kakavia is also a liberal recipe in that there's no set rules as to what fish and seafood one should use. My only caution to you is to avoid adding salmon here...the salmon will dominate the entire flavour of the soup.

So, pay a visit to your fishmonger, ask him (or her) to find you a good whole fish for stock, say a red snapper or 2-3 red mullets. In Greece, the Scorpion fish does the fish stock duties but I've yet to see such species on this side of the Atlantic. A medley of shellfish are the jewels of the soup. Grab some clams, mussels, the shrimp and some fillets of white fish (like bass, cod, whiting or grouper).

An important procedure with Kakavia is to wrap the whole fish well in a cheesecloth. The wholefish will be poached in the broth and the body can come apart rather easily. The cheesecloth does a very good job of preventing pin bones from remaining in your soup.

Finally, do accompany this soup with some good crusty bread. On this occasion, I toasted some homemade Artisan bread, wizzed up some roasted garlic with olive oil and scallions and smeared the spread over the crusty warm bread. The combination of dipping this old-school garlic bread into this chunky fish soup will remain a memory for awhile.

Kakavia (Κακαβια)

(serves 6)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 large leeks, rinsed well & rough dice

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs of celery, chopped

3 large potatoes, diced

4 cloves of garlic, smashed

3 bay leaves

4-5 allspice berries

6-7 peppercorns

1 bunch of fresh thyme

pinch of saffron threads

1 heaping Tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 cup tomato puree

1 cup dry white wine

2 red mullets (or 1 whole red snapper or Scorpion fish)

1 lb. clams

1lb. mussels

1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

(shells reserved)

1 lb. white fish fillets (bass, haddock, halibut, whiting),

cut into bite-sized pieces

8-9 cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

some cheesecloth

crusty garlic bread

chopped fresh parsley

wedges of lemon

1. Have your "mise en place" in order. Clean, peel & chop up your vegetables, wash, scrub, peel, clean, trim your fish and seafood and keep in the fridge until ready to cook. Have some cheesecloth handy to make a bouquet garni of your herbs and spices and to wrap your whole fish.
2. Place a large pot on your stovetop over medium-high heat and add your leeks, carrots and celery and saute. You may also add the bouquet garni of bay, thyme, allspice, peppercorns along with the saffron threads and another bouquet garni of reserved shrimp shells (lots of flavour in those). Lower to medium and cover and allow to sweat and soften for about 10 minutes.
3. Add your potatoes, tomato paste and tomato puree and stir in for a minute or two. Now add the wine and water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to medium and simmer for another 30 minutes. Add some salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add your whole fish (wrapped & tied in cheesecloth) and simmer for another 15 minutes. Carefully remove the fish, continue simmering the soup. Carefully remove the meat of the fish and reserve. You may discard the fish bones.
5. Clams take longer than all the remaining seafood to cook. Drop the clams into the pot and bring back to a boil. As soon as your soup is boiling, turn the heat off and add the mussels, shrimp and pieces of white fish and cooked red mullet meat. Cover and allow the residual heat of the soup to cook the seafood for about 10 minutes. Remove both bouquet garnis and discard.
   
6. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Divide the soup in large bowls and serve with some crusty garlic bread, sprinkle some chopped fresh parsley and serve with a wedge of lemon.
7. I recommend drinking a Pavlou Xinomavro-Riesling. It's a "blanc de noir", meaning it's a made primarly of crushed red grapes and the skins are removed to preserve it's "white wine" appearence. The Xinomavro-Riesling is an 80/20 mix and it has intense acidity (that's good), berry tones with a lemon finish.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.blogspot.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis

Spaghetti With Brown Butter and Feta (Μακαρόνια με βούτυρο και φέτα)

Last weekend was a busy one. I had a full social calendar, things to do around the house, work on a revamped "Kalofagas" website and attend a Superbowl party on a Sunday evening that's usually spent quietly at home.

Oh yeah...I was also in the thick of baking, enjoying and sharing artisan bread in five minutes! As a reminder, you have until this upcoming Friday (by noon) to leave a comment and be elligible for a draw to win this fabulous bread making cookbook.

As if bread weren't enough carbs, I had a craving for pasta but something stripped down, focusing on good ingredients and what the Hell, I was feeling nostalgic.

One of my favourite dishes my mom would serve is a plain spaghetti (Makaronia) that was tossed in butter until slightly browned, then the pasta was drained and tossed in the brown butter with crumbled Feta cheese and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil to cap the dish.

Brown butter is a sauce unto itself and in my opinion, under-rated. The next time you're feeling for pasta yet you want something light, try a spaghetti with brown butter and Feta. Whip up a salad and call it a nice, light dinner where you'll get to eat Makaronia the way momma made it.

In case you're wondering, that's plain white pasta in the photos, the brown butter has given the dish a warm nut-brown colour.

Spaghetti With Brown Butter and Feta (Μακαρόνια με βούτυρο και φέτα)
(per serving)

2 Tbsp. of butter
1 clove of garlic, smashed
handful of dry spaghetti (Misko brand)
extra-virgin olive oil
grated Kefalotyri or Romano cheese
crumbled Feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Get a pot of water boiling on your stovetop. When aboil, add a good amount of salt, add your spaghetti and cook according to packet's instructions.
2. In a small pot, add your butter, a little olive oil and the smashed clove of garlic over medium heat. Keep your eye on the melting butter and soon you will see the milk solids begin to foam and quickly dissappear...THIS is where you have to watch carefully.
3. Your butter will turn from a golden yellow to a chestnut brown very rapidly. Your goal is to get a nut-brown colour to your butter. Once you have that nut-brown butter, take off the heat, take the clove of garlic out and keep cover to keep warm until your pasta is done.
4. When your pasta is cooked to an "al dente", strain and place in the pot with your brown butter. Toss the pasta to coat and if the spaghetti appears a bit dry, add some olive oil into the mix. Add some grated Kefalotyri cheese and continue to toss until the cheese has blended in with the butter.
5. Take off the heat, add some crumbled Feta, a turn of fresh-cracked black pepper and top with some more crumbled Feta and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

The richer, creamier cousin to this dish can be found here.


If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.blogspot.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis