Melting Pot: Cioppino-style

After a month or so of working at Midweek, I decided I wanted to host a dinner to allow myself to get to know my coworkers, and also to share a little bit about myself. What better way to bring folks together than by literally making them sit around a dining table with food, good enough to keep them there? So, upon planning the dinner, I thought of making something yummy and intimate. I decided on Cioppino, which I've made many times before, and was still perfecting. The date and menu were set! All that was left was the actual cooking (and cleaning, as company requires livable circumstances).

Beginning any recipe requires raw ingredients. For a while, I felt like these fresh, but oh so raw, veggies. I was new to work and didn't know much about how to do my job. I also didn't know anyone at all, and no one knew much about me. There, however, was potential, as there always is in the beginning. It was my job to create purpose with these veggies! Here, I have: Italian parsley, peppers, garlic (of course), onions, shallots, fennel and eggplant (which does not go in Cioppino, but looked really pretty; also, it was from our garden). The differences in colors, textures and tastes can seem daunting and chaotic, but melding all of these into the pot, working together to create an epic meal, makes sense with every bite of the final product.

After making my own fish stock, I added all the ingredients together and simmered this bad boy for hours. The seafood needed for this dish were added right before serving. Cioppino is a seafood stew/soup, like bouillabaisse, but with a stronger tomato-based broth. Spice usually is added, also, while the addition of dry white wine, enhances the flavors of the briefly cooked sea critters (you can use shrimp, white fish, crab, lobster, scallops, mussels, clams, and etc.) My favorite type of cooking always has been Italian, and this American-Italian classic was a great accomplishment for me, not to mention it allowed my coworkers and I to bond over a hearty meal. The response also was positive. We had found our purpose, melding with each other as coworkers and friends. It truly was a a momentous and pivotal time for us. We laughed and learned things about each other that we never knew. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to state my purpose, which isn't to be the personal work chef, but to be an added entity to the well-oiled machine that is our Newspaper company. This, all over a pot of Cioppino, with a side of wine, of course.

FIN.

BON APETIT!