Take Cioppino for instance. I bet Mario knows Cioppino.......It used to be a way to get some bad fish into a better tasting format, use up the stuff and get some protein.....Use anything you had from catfish to lobster, from shrimp to cod. Now the stuff goes for big bucks in the finer Italian restaurants.
I made two and a half gallons over Thanksgiving and with some great garlic bread served it up at a post turkey day party. Everyone raved and went on and on, even young kids (and a lot of adults who had no idea there was a half pound of anchovies in there as well). I mean, I love the stuff and I love mine especially but let's face it, it started out as crap.