Bianco Kerkyras (Μπιάνκο Κέρκυρας)

Bianco Kerkyras is Corfu's white fish stew, and the region is the dish's surname. It is not red, not spiced, not crowded with vegetables. Fish, potatoes, garlic, olive oil and lemon are enough, with wine in the pot and a sauce that stays pale because that is the whole point.

The method that decides it is gentleness. You cook the potatoes first until they almost give, then lay the fish on top and shake the pot instead of stirring. The potato starch, olive oil and lemon make the sauce cloudy and glossy on their own. If you stir with a spoon, you get broken fish and mashed potatoes. Still good to eat, yes, but not bianco.

Use the firmest white fish you can buy that day. Corfiot cooks have made this with scorpionfish, cod, grouper, hake, whatever the boats and the market allowed. Λίγα και καλά: a few good things, and good ones. I don't invent it. I find it, I test it, I write it down, so the next cook can make the same pale, sharp, comforting pot without guessing.