Fisherman's Sauce Bake

Serves 6

This sauce recipe is one of the oldest known Tadich Grill dishes. It dates from 1910. The Buich family gave it to Doris Muscatine in 1960 for use in her book A Cook's Tour of San Francisco, and it is reprinted here with Doris's and the Tadich's permission.

1/3 cup olive oil
2 or 3 leeks, white and light green parts, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, white and light green parts, finely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup white chicken stock or white wine fish stock
3 pounds halibut, sea bass, striped bass, or similar
white fish, whole, steaks, or fillets

Place a sauté pan over high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is very hot, add the leeks and green onions and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Decrease the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours, until thickened. Add the stock and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until warmed through.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. If the fish is whole, score it along the top so that it will absorb the sauce as it cooks.

Cover the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold all the fish with about 1-1/2 cups of the sauce, and place the fish on top. Cook whole fish for about 40 minutes, steaks or fillets for 10 to 15 minutes, until the flesh flakes with slight pressure from a fork. The meat should be moist but flaky. Pour the remaining sauce (about 2 cups) over the top of the fish, and return to the oven for 5 minutes, until heated through. Serve at once.

Buy the Book!

from:
The Tadich Grill
A History of San Francisco's Oldest Restaurant, with Recipes
by John Briscoe
Ten Speed Press
Hardcover, 200 pages
Price: $27.95 (CAN $48.00)
ISBN: 1-58008-425-7
Recipe reprinted by permission.