Bourdeto ( el, Μπουρδέτο) is a fish dish from
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. It comes from the
Venetian word ''brodetto'' which means
broth
Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...
. It is fish cooked with onion, and red sweet and hot spicy pepper. The best fish for bourdeto is
scorpion fish
The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomo ...
. One can also find the same dish containing fillet of a bigger kind of fish. In Patras and western Greece, the dish is also called Bourgeto/Bourjeto. In
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...
meat is used, instead of fish.
The traditional recipe is a fisherman's food, so they did it with the simple ingredients they had, such as lots of red pepper, both hot and sweet, and a good dose of lemon juice added in the end of cooking, they never used tomato or any tomato paste
See here
But later, some chefs wanted to make this very spicy dish more soft and attractive to tourists, therefore they added tomato and used less pepper, but this is not the traditional recipe.
The name's dish comes from a dish found on the eastern
Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
coast, which is called
Brudet
Brudet, brodet or brodeto is a fish stew made in Croatian regions of Dalmatia, Kvarner and Istria, as well as along the coast of Montenegro; the brodetto di pesce, or simply brodetto (''broeto'' in Lingua veneta, ''Brudèt ad pès'' in Roma ...
.
References
Cuisine of the Ionian Islands
Fish dishes
Culture of Corfu
Greek stews
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