Cod Fish in Crazy Water (Acqua Pazza)

We show you a simple way to poach white fish 'acqua pazza' style, which literally mean "crazy water". It's a wonderful weekday recipe that cooks in 15 minutes. We used Icelandic cod for this video, but you can you most white fish. ⁠
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The delicious dish we know today draws its roots from the skilled fishermen of the Neapolitan area. These craftsmen of the sea would ingeniously cook their day's haul in seawater, infusing it with tomatoes and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to create a flavorful feast. Interestingly, the term 'acqua pazza' or 'crazy water', which we associate with this dish, likely hails from a different Italian tradition rooted in Tuscany. Here, Mezzadria peasants, who were deeply involved in wine-making, were obliged to hand over the majority of their produce to landlords, leaving them with scant wine for their own consumption. Undeterred, these ingenious peasants would not let anything go to waste. They cleverly combined the remnants of wine production - stems, seeds, and pomace - with copious amounts of water. This mixture was then brought to a boil, sealed tightly in a terracotta vase, and left to ferment for several days. The resulting concoction, known as l'acquarello or l'acqua pazza, was a barely wine-tinted water. It's speculated that fishermen were reminded of this pale, wine-like water when they looked upon the broth of their seafood creation, tinged a subtle red by tomatoes and olive oil.⁠

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