Boston owns baked beans. Philadelphia brags on cheese steak. Nobody would challenge New Orleans on gumbo. And San Francisco's iconic dish is (no, not Rice-A-Roni) cioppino.

Now that Chef Greg Alauzen is slated to open Cioppino, a new restaurant in the Strip District, we Pittsburghers had best get acquainted with what is sure to be the signature dish.

San Francisco is one of the only places in the country you can find cioppino (choh-PEE-noh). It is a seafood stew much like bouillabaisse, but Italian-inspired and locally refined. While the seafood used in cioppino can vary, crabs are essential. Dungeness crabs from the Pacific are best, but here in the East, Chesapeake blue crabs are what we have, and they are just fine. Along with crab, typical components of cioppino include clams, mussels, shrimp (head on, if you can get them) and chunks of various sturdy white fish such as monkfish, depending on seasonal availability.

The tale of the origin of cioppino depends on which story you care to believe. One says the name is a corruption of the Ligurian word ciuppin, referring to a fish stew made by Ligurian immigrants to San Francisco. The spoiler legend says that the fish stew was invented on the spot by newly arrived Italian fishermen at the Wharf. Supposedly, thrifty cooks at seaside eateries asked the local salts to "chip in" their surplus catch and toss random seafood into their soup pots, already simmering with fresh tomatoes and red wine.

Should you find yourself in San Francisco, these restaurants are famous for their versions of cioppino. As a Clean Plate Club member, I can vouch for all of them.

• Tadich Grill -- The 1998 James Beard Foundation regional restaurant award winner includes pre-shelled prawns and crab. The clams are steamed separately and the fish sauteed with butter and olive oil for each serving before being combined with the hot broth. Look for fennel in the broth. Tadich makes to-die-for house-baked crusty sourdough bread.

• Scoma's -- Located on Fisherman's Wharf, Scoma's might have the freshest seafood in the city because it has its own fleet of fishing boats. Its cioppino is considered the classic: heavy, generous and full of fresh crab.

• Rose Pistola -- One of North Beach's oldest haunts adds calamari into the pot. As for the name, when Chef Reed Hearon opened his third restaurant in the historic North Beach section of San Francisco, he wanted to pay tribute to the cuisine of the Italian immigrants who settled there. He named it after Rose "Pistola" Evangelisti, a hard-drinking, hard-working, dancing and singing barkeep who was one of the city's best cooks. (Her husband earned the nickname "Pistola" when he got furious at a cook and brandished a pistol to scare him into submission.) This rendition of cioppino is jam-packed with seafood in a light broth.

Cioppino is an easy dish to serve for either family or company. The key to success is hunting and gathering the fish. Be sure to tell the fishmonger that you are making cioppino. He will customize your dish depending on what he has on hand.

Henry Dewey, co-owner of Penn Avenue Fish Co., always pokes around in his iced-down seafood bins to find goodies such as head-on prawns, handfuls of mussels and clams and maybe halibut instead of the monkfish. Since whole crabs are hard to find in Pittsburgh, he suggests fresh lump crab meat. Find containers of fish stock in his freezer. At $4.99 a quart, it's easier and better than any stock you can make at home.

A good sourdough bread is a must, and BreadWorks makes one of the best in the city. You'll need plenty for sopping up the broth. Serve a basket of slices, or grill olive-oil brushed Texas toasts rubbed with a clove of garlic.

Roasted heads of garlic are wonderful. Smear the creamy cloves onto the bread for a spread that's way better than butter.

To roast garlic: Brush off the loose papery skins from several heads of garlic and slice off the tops to expose the cloves. Place heads on foil, drizzle heavily with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes. Cool. Serve one head for two persons.

Serving note: You really need wide, sturdy soup bowls for serving. The hearty seafood would look ridiculous in a fine, china soup dish.

As for wine, use the same wine in the glass as in the cioppino. Choose something with good acidity and a fairly assertive personality. California chardonnay or sauvignon blanc work well. As for red, there's an easy way to remember one good match, which is pinot noir.

Just say "Ciop-pinot."

PG TESTED

After the essential ingredient, crab, this fish stew is all about what's fresh at the market. Be sure everyone gets a little of everything. Use a 28-ounce can of Marzano tomatoes if the Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes are hard to find.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, or 1 teaspoon harissa
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen
• 1 cup dry red or white wine
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 to 4 cups fish stock
• 12 clams, suitable for steaming, in shell and scrubbed
• 12 mussels in shell, debearded
• 1 pound large shrimp (30 per pound), shelled and deveined, OR 6 head-on prawns
• 3/4 pound meaty fish, such as monkfish or halibut, cut into large chunks
• 8 large scallops
• 8 ounces lump crab meat
• Olive oil for drizzling
• Sour dough bread or garlic toasts

In 6- to 8-quart pan over medium heat, combine olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley and hot pepper flakes; cook, stirring often, until onion is soft. Stir in tomatoes (break up with spoon if necessary) and their liquid, wine, basil, thyme and oregano. Cover and simmer until slightly cooked down, about 20 minutes.

Add fish stock to thin to a good soup consistency; simmer another 10 minutes. Use all four cups to make a generous amount of broth. These steps can be completed in advance. Before serving, reheat the broth and continue with the seafood.

To lightly simmering broth, add clams, mussels and head-on prawns, if using. Cover and simmer gently about 4 minutes. Add shrimp, monkfish and scallops and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the crab and allow to heat through.

Ladle hot broth and some of each shellfish into large bowls. Serve with warm sourdough bread or garlic toasts. Drizzle each portion with a swirl of extra virgin olive oil.

Makes enough for 4 to 6 servings.

-- Marlene Parrish