Winter is the best time to enjoy sea fish. Far from biological stops and cold waters, it is with the cold that reaches the best shape. As the experts explain, they advise not to neglect anything, from molluscs to "poor" fish
"The winter sea. It is a concept that thought does not consider. It is not very modern. It's something that nobody ever wants. " We do not doubt the abstract concept of Enrico Ruggeri – author of a memorable song – but we are in total disagreement regarding the raw fish. Even if the mixed grill and the monumental frying evoke the summer tables or the matched oysters-Champagne (wrong, however, to focus on a Chablis or a very Italian Lugana) remembers the Ferragostan dinner in the moonlight. Because beyond the biological stops – which vary from region to region – it is in the coldest months of the year that fish, crustaceans and molluscs reach the top of the form. Above all in our seas and therefore it is the advisable period to taste many species, with the certainty that they are not imported or of inferior quality. It comes from this and not from other reasons, the advice to eat i seafood and oysters first in the months with the 'r', then from September to February. Even if climate change risks limiting the period to the strictly winter one.
The best, and not touristic, Adriatic
Important detail: the greater availability calls for consumption not only of the immortal fish élite (crustaceans, oysters, branzinor …) but of what is defined "Poor fish". Fresh and treated as it should be pure enjoyment. The Bartolini family – a reference for those who love Adriatic fish and not only – for example, is working very well on the theme and offers in its Osterie (in Bologna, Cesenatico and Milano Marittima) a series of exemplary dishes on the theme that do not jar near their mythical Great Fried: The Sea in a sandwich with the fifth quarter of amberjack; Piadina with smoked mackerel; Lumachini with potato cream; Poor Clams in Casentino bean soup; Tagliatelle with cuttlefish. «Since we have a very fresh product, thanks to the fishermen friends who work exclusively for us, it becomes easy to serve unimaginable proposals in the summer – explains Andrea Bartolini, patron together with his father Stefano – and for us there is also the pride of showing how much our Adriatic offers, especially far from the tourist season
The best of Sicily
Naturally, it takes the sensibility of the patron and chef to choose the catch and interpret it to the fullest. Ciccio Sultano, bistellato with the Cathedral in Ragusa, is one of these and starts from a principle. «80% of my menu needs fish, in all species, and therefore it is suitable according to what the Sicilian sea offers in every season – he explains – I always say that the best month for fish is when you find it fresh. It seems obvious but you have to study more and educate customers not to ask for 'out of season' dishes. In the winter, Sultan prefers the sword, the amberjack, the sorrel, the alalunga, the calamari and the totanetti. And he has a weakness for the dolphinfish, fish not very well known but of great versatility, which approaches the coasts of the island and the Tyrrhenian in general at the end of autumn to lay their eggs. "We must not lose this season: it has a white, refined meat. The raw servant on spaghetti and in an antipasto with orange salad and pistachio sauce. But it is also good breaded or scalded with a sauce of black olives he says.
Scallops, mussels and oysters
Always a total supporter of seasonality is Enrico Buonocore, owner of the Langosteria Group, that to the three rooms in Milan – where the 'pantry' must still ensure the classics of the menu – flanks two temporary restaurants in Courmayeur and Paraggi. Each with a justly different vision, linked precisely to the periods. "We continue to underestimate the importance of one correct storage temperature for fish, to guarantee first of the health and then of the quality – says Buonocore – in this sense, I adore the cold months because they make the thing less complicated even in the passage from the boat to the restaurant. But what counts is the respect of the customer: in Paraggi, since we are practically on a beach and in the hot months, we avoid serving certain products while in Courmayeur we are in a natural refrigerator ideal for our counter of only raw . More and more oriented towards a limited number of suppliers and the direct management of fish, the owner of Langosteria shows us the three 'must' for the season. "The mussels are exceptional: fresh and beautiful full. Then the scallops: if they are of quality, they forget those 'rubbery' that often end up on the table. Finally, the oysters: in this period we realize that the rule of the 'r' has not flown in the air and even if the French have made canalization systems to keep the temperature where they are always low, the winter ones remain of another planet
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