Every time people visit San Francisco on holiday, they always have a few things on their bucket list to conquer: take a picture in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, buy some chocolate in Ghirardelli Square, jaunt the Ferry Building on a bustling Saturday morning, and, most importantly, if you’re a foodie, grab a bowl of chowder at Fisherman’s Wharf. However, what if I told you that SF natives are reaching for another dish that’s far more flavorful and culturally significant to the city than chowder?
Let me introduce you to cioppino — a hearty, Italian American tomato-based seafood stew that originated in The Golden City in the late 1800s. This satisfying, heartwarming stew features a rich broth made with white wine, tomato paste, herbs, fennel, and garlic that’s studded with chunks of fresh Dungeness crab, clams, whole shrimps, mussels, and fish. It’s almost always served alongside a thick slice of toasted San Francisco-style sourdough to soak up the scrumptious broth and with a bowl of sliced lemons to cut through the richness.
Similar to other Mediterranean fish-based stews, it’s believed the stew is a successor of the Ligurian dish called ciuppin, where Genovese fisherman mashed unsold fish into a flavorful, tomato-based broth. When these fishermen emigrated from the rocky coastline of Liguria to the vibrant neighborhood of North Beach, they carried their culinary traditions with them, taking their daily catch of crab, clams, and fish into a stew that tasted home.
Where to find the best bowl?
In the City by the Bay, there are hundreds of different places to try this classic California dish; however, there are a few restaurants that locals swear by. I personally like heading over to the Castro and grabbing a bowl at Anchor Oyster Bar, where the cioppino is overflowing with Dungeness crab legs, mussels, and fish. The restaurant adds a good helping of minced Gilroy garlic, onions, and peppers into the mix, giving it an irresistible savory flavor that will surely make any mouth water…