FISHY STEW, FOR SURE.

Byline: Marlene McLean Greer Staff Writer

Raphael Felix grew up in the coastal community of Mazatlan, Mexico, eating every kind of seafood available. So it's no surprise that the head chef at the San Pedro Hilton's Madeo Ristorante has a recipe for cioppino, an-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fish stew, that he has entered in the Cioppino Cook-Off at the Port of Los Angeles International Lobster Festival at Ports o' Call in San Pedro this weekend.

His version of this traditional dish includes mussels, clams, swordfish, squid, shrimp, scallops, salmon, tuna, halibut and Chilean sea bass in a garlic-tomato sauce. For the cook-off, he added lobster, as that's one of the contest rules: The cioppino has to have lobster.

In a combination of Spanish and English, Felix, 34, explains that cioppino is what is known as ``Siete Mares,'' which means, roughly, ``Something from the Seven Seas,'' in his native Mexico, with ``something'' implying a little bit of many types of fish.

When asked what goes in his stew, he answers simply: ``Everything.''

His cioppino will be among 10 professional recipes in the 1 p.m. Sunday Lobster Festival Cook-Off. Another 10 entries will compete in an amateur category.

Cioppino was selected for the cook-off, because ``it's a real San Pedro dish,'' says Carol Rugnetta, director of catering for Hilton, who is coordinating the contest. ``Everyone has a cioppino recipe. It's a staple of the Italians and Croatians in this town.''

The Italians and Croatians, she says, brought the dish with them when they immigrated to America. Doc Puccinelli, owner of one of the canneries in San Pedro in the early part of the century, made a huge pot of cioppino each day to feed his workers. His wife, Jenny, had made for him a special cioppino pot with his recipe printed on the lid. The pot will be on display during the contest.

Rugnetta, who grew up in San Pedro, says her mother, who married into a Yugoslav family, used to make a version of cioppino that simmered for two or three hours on the stove. The fish, she said, was thrown in at the last minute.

Felix, however, whipped his dish together in five minutes and it was delicious. (Cooking this at home will take a bit longer because of the less intense heat.) Here's his recipe.

RAPHAEL FELIX'S CIOPPINO

4 cloves garlic

1/4 bunch parsley

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup white wine

2 cups tomato sauce

4 jumbo shrimp, shelled and deviened

12 whole clams

12 Green-Lip New Zealand mussels

1 lobster tail

12 ounces halibut

12 ounces salmon

12 ounces tuna

12 ounces sea bass

4 whole squid

8 large scallops

In a large pot, saute garlic and parsley in olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. Add white wine to deglaze. Add tomato sauce and heat to boiling. Reduce heat and add shrimp, clams, mussels and lobster tail. Cook 3 to 5 minutes.

Add halibut, salmon, tuna, sea bass, squid and scallops to pot. Cover with a lid. Cook about 5 minutes, or until done. Dish is done when fish is cooked throughout.

Serve in bowls with Italian bread, preferably hand-torn for dipping. Makes 4 servings.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Raphael Felix, head chef at San Pedro Hilton's Madeo Ristorante, shows off his version of cioppino, a seafood stew, which he entered in the Cioppino Cook-Off at the Port of Los Angeles International Lobster Festival.

Leo Hetzel/Staff Photographer