The story
Cioppino was born on the San Francisco waterfront in the late 1800s. Italian fishermen, many from Genoa, along with some Portuguese and Spanish crews, worked off the wharves and lived in the North Beach neighbourhood. They cooked whatever the day's catch offered, crab, clams, shrimp and fish, in a stew of tomatoes and wine. The name most likely comes from ciuppin, a fish soup of their Ligurian homeland, though a popular story claims it comes from fishermen asking one another to 'chip in'. The dish shows up in local print in the early 1900s and became a fixture of the city's Italian restaurants.
Rival claims
Descends from ciuppin, a fish stew of Genoa, Italy, but the dish as known today was created by Italian fishermen in San Francisco's North Beach.
Also known as ciopino, ciuppin, San Francisco fish stew.
On the Meridish menu
Cioppino was the soup course on menu No. 27 on October 27, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
A tomato and wine stew loaded with crab, clams and fish. Immigrant fishermen from Genoa cooked it on the wharves of this foggy, hilly bay city in the late 1800s.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
