Cappon magro (a sort of seafood salad) is undoubtedly the most elegant dish of Genoese cuisine. Very impressive in appearance, it requires a rather elaborate preparation and is, in fact, served on special occasions.
Its origins are undoubtedly much simpler; it was in fact a “lean” seafood salad prepared with ship’s biscuits soaked in water and vinegar and leftovers and scraps of fish and vegetables, mixed somewhat at random, like the sea in a state of “bullezumme” (a Ligurian term that refers to a rough sea).
With the passing of time it arrived on the dinner tables of the nobility, with increasingly refined ingredients and spectacular presentation. Various boiled vegetables were added, prawns and/or lobster and in particular green sauce (or salsa verde) to harmonize the flavours. Nowadays, many local chefs include it on the restaurant menus with fanciful and original versions.
Cappon magro is a true symbol of Ligurian cuisine and is also one of the traditional Christmas or Easter dishes.
Here, I offer my recipe (every family has one). The original recipe requires gurnard, which is not easy to find. I advise you to prepare it with seabass, gilthead seabream or croaker. As a baking tin/mould you can use the one for zuccotto (an Italian dessert) or fruit cake. It will be delicious and lovely to look at!
Ingredients
Fish and vegetables
Salsa verde (green sauce)
Tools
Steps
Salsa verde (green sauce)
Boil an egg, cooking for 8 minutes in boiling water. Rinse under cold water and peel.
Put the bread to soak in the vinegar. Wash the parsley leaves in the salad spinner. Dry them well in the spinner. Put the parsley, bread soaked in vinegar and wrung out, the boiled egg, anchovies, pine nuts and garlic (if you like it) in the blender and season with salt. Blend. Add extra virgin olive oil and vinegar to taste. Keep to one side.
Preparation and composition
Clean all the vegetables. Peel the carrots and the oyster plant with the potato peeler. Wash them. Cut the cauliflower into florets and rinse. Top and tail and wash the green beans.
Clean the artichokes, removing the harder outer bracts and the thorns. Then cut in half, remove the beard and cut them into slices 3 mm thick. Immerse them as you go in a bowl full of water acidified with lemon juice and leave for about twenty minutes.
Cook the vegetables in the steamer or parboil separately in salted water. They all have different cooking times. Drain them when they are tender but not soft.
Peel the cooked beetroot and cut into thin slices. Not all of it will be needed!
Clean the fish, leaving it whole, and cook in the steamer or boil. Add the carrot, celery and onion to the water used to cook the fish. When the fish is cooked, skin and remove the bones and break it up a little.
Parboil the prawns for 2 minutes in boiling water. Drain and peel them, some with the shell on for the decoration at the end.
Put the fish and prawns in a bowl and dress with a trickle of oil, lemon juice and salt.
Cut the carrots and the oyster plant lengthways, leaving them separate, and season with a trickle of extra virgin olive oil.
Soak the ship’s biscuits with water and vinegar. If you cannot find ship’s biscuits you can use sheets of unleavened bread, one on top of the other (see FAQ).
Line the cake tin with food film.
Start with a first layer of beetroot so that, being on the bottom, it cannot stain the other ingredients red.
Alternate layers of fish and vegetables, inserting between each layer a film of salsa verde. Put the ship’s biscuits on last.
Cover with food film and leave in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Turn over onto the serving dish.
Garnish with the remaining prawns and, if you want, the salsa verde.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If I can’t find all the ingredients?
Ship’s biscuits are a form of dried bread shaped like a squashed focaccina, which are “regenerated” by soaking them in water and vinegar. If you cannot find them, toast some slices of homemade bread or make a layer with 2 or 3 sheets of unleavened bread, always soaked in water and vinegar.
The vegetables can be changed. You can, for example, use potatoes, celery and fennel. Cappon magro can be served as a single portion using pastry cutter moulds, or split up as a mixed salad.
Varied doses for servings