Pesce all'acqua pazza
Pesce all'acqua pazza
A whole white fish briefly simmered with garlic, cherry tomatoes, and water — a fisherman's dish from the coast of southern Italy. It's said to have started aboard boats with no refrigeration, where fishermen poached the day's catch in seawater instead of salt. Recreated on land by mixing seawater and fresh water, the result tends to come out too salty, which is why the name is explained through the Neapolitan phrase for too much salt, "te fa ascì pazz" ("it drives you crazy") — giving the dish its name, "crazy water". It spread to restaurants across the country in the 1950s-60s after the actor Totò became known for ordering it.
A fisherman's dish from the southern Tyrrhenian coast. Ponza (Lazio), Capri, and Capo Miseno (Bay of Naples) each claim to be its birthplace, and the dispute has never been settled.
Ponza (Lazio, Italy) — One of the islands credited as the birthplace of the dish, alongside competing claims from Capri and Capo Miseno.
Main ingredients
- White fish (sea bass, sea bream, scorpionfish, or another tender-fleshed fish, whole)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic
- Cherry tomatoes
- White wine
- Water
- Parsley
- Salt
How it goes
These are the bones of the method. Quantities and detail live in the sources.
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Prep the fish and tomatoes
Scale and gut the white fish. Wash the cherry tomatoes and quarter them.
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Build the base aroma
Heat olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and cherry tomatoes, cook briefly, and season with salt.
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Burn off the wine
Add the fish, pour in the white wine, and cook over high heat to burn off the alcohol.
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Cover and simmer
Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and let it cook through slowly. Turn the fish partway through, and add hot water if the liquid reduces too much. The fish is done when its eyes turn white — cooking it longer than that dries out the flesh.
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Finish
Remove from the heat, stir in chopped parsley, and plate the fish with its cooking liquid.
Pasta it follows
Why it works
Spaghetti alla puttanescaIt comes from the same Naples-to-Tyrrhenian-coast tradition, sharing the same lineage of garlic, olive oil, and tomato. The shared home ground makes this an easy match. 
Pasta al LimoneAnother dish of the same Campania coastline (Amalfi). Going from a light citrus primo to a fish secondo keeps the weight building in order within an all-seafood menu. 
Spaghetti allo scoglioBoth draw on seafood from the same southern Italian coast. Moving from a seafood primo to a fish secondo keeps a consistent "menu of the sea" running from start to finish. 
Penne all'arrabbiataPonza, one of the places credited with inventing the dish, sits in Lazio. Placing this same-region primo of garlic and chili before the fish secondo avoids repeating ingredients while staying light going in. 
Spaghetti alle vongoleAnother Campania seafood menu. Going from a shellfish-broth primo to a fish secondo keeps the ingredients at the same level throughout — the standard coastal sequence.