La Triestina

There are so many tall tales in the archives of the origin of the famous San Francisco specialty cioppino, it is hard to know which one might have a grain of truth. What I suspect is that cioppino is related to the cacciucco of Livorno and the fish stews of the Friuli region of Italy. These are made with a red wine base. This ragout, which we serve over soft or baked polenta, is from the Dalmatian coast. For cioppino, sprinkle the ragout with chopped parsley and serve with slices of