Earlier this week I was working on a crossword puzzle.  The clue was  “8 letter word for Fish Stew”

Now Pat and I make variations of fish stew all the time.  Chowders and Bouillabaisse come to mind but neither one has 8 letters.  As the puzzle became more complete the letters were being revealed as Matel??? .

I finally had to look it up and the word was Matelote.  (pronounced mat teh low)

I was confused because I am used to the term Matelot (mat low) which means a sailor and often used in the books I read about the Royal Navy.  Apparently a carry over from when the Normans conquered England.

What kind of stew is made from fish and old sailors?

So I researched and it is a type of fish stew from the Lorraine region of France traditionally made with fresh water eels.

Very similar ingredients to Beef Bourguignon with a red wine sauce and pearl onions and mushrooms.

This is the kind of inspiration we use to select dishes we want to prepare.  Unfortunately we cannot source eels (either fresh water or salt) at our local stores so I substituted Red Snapper (mostly because it was on sale)

Certainly a different kind of fish stew and not bad,  but not sure I will repeat it.  In any event I will now know what the word is when used in a crossword puzzle again.