Stocco all’anconetana: one might wonder why a port city like Ancona includes among its typical delicacies a dish based on stockfish, generally used where fresh fish had little chance of arriving or being purchased. The answer is to be found in history, when Ancona’s ships sailed towards Norway and the city was the main port of the Papal States in the Adriatic; the strong Lenten restrictions, which were more strictly observed than in other Italian places, did the rest. Since 1997 the recipe for this dish has been canonized by the Accademia dello Stoccafisso all’Anconitana, which promotes the dish with an annual competition among local restaurateurs. The dish consists of pieces of stockfish placed in a pan with chopped celery, carrot and onion, and tomatoes. All this should be abundantly sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil, water and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, and then covered with slices of potatoes. The cooking must be very slow and the baking pan should never be stirred: you risk breaking the pieces of stockfish on the bottom which must remain intact until the plate.
