Finely chop the onion, celery stalk and carrot and mince the garlic and anchovies. Drain and chop the tomatoes, reserving the juice. toast and grind the saffron, then dissolve in 1 tbs of hot water.

In a soup pot, heat 4 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat . Add the onion, celery and carrot and saute until the onion is translucent.

Add the garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, and anchovies and saute until the mixture is fragrant and teh anchovies have melted.

Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half or about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes (not their juice), fish stock, 1 cup of water, saffron mixture, bay leaf, and rosemary. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Add some of the reserved tomato juice if you want more liquid or more tomato flavor.

Just before serving , add the fish fillets, cover and simmer until just opaque.

Add clams, cover, and simmer until most of the clams open.

Add the mussels, cover, and cook until they open.

Remove from heat and season with salt to taste.

Discard the bay leaf. Serve in warm bowls sprinkled with fresh cilantro and a little olive oil.

The Shrimp :

In order to maximize flavor we fry up the shrimp in the style of gambas al ajillo and add to the stew just before serving. A more conventional approach would involve simply adding the shrimp to the hot stew about 5 minutes before serving.

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