My rich elevated version of this famous Provencale dish is delicious and easier to realize than you might expect. The origins of bouillabaisse are humble- it literally means to boil and the bring down ( the temperature) referring to the boiling caldrons on the shore of Marseille which would be waiting for the arrival of the daily fishermen's catch to cook. The small fish which were caught in the nets would all go into these boiling pots and made into a hearty fish stew, bouillabaisse. Since then the recipe has been refined and here is my version.
Ingredients:
2 liters of strong veg stock - this is the base of the soup which we make using roasted vegetables- carrots, lots of fennel and a burned onion.
Small rock fish, perch or scorpion fish and or red mullet for the stew base.
Here are some of the fish and shellfish you might also use.
– monkfish
– white scorpion fish
– fielas (conger eel)
– spider crab
– capon (red scorpion fish)
– galinette (red mullet)* optional
– St. Pierre (John Dory)
– slipper lobster
– lobster
-shrimp
-crab
-mussels
You can choose a mix of different fish or shellfish which will be cooked in the rich stock once it’s ready.
2 cups of white wine
Tomatoe paste - we make our own by roasting red pepper and tomato’s and pureeing them with olive oil and some vegetable stock.
Method
Sautée 6-8 small fish or red mullet on high heat as to brown them on each side. Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add the fish and 2 liters of rich vegetable stock made in advance into a Dutch oven or stock pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 20-30 minutes.
Sautee shrimp and or crab similarly and deglaze with cognac, par cooking them, and set aside. Once they are cooled you can take the heads and most of the shrimp peal off and add that to your fish stock.
Once the fish stock has boiled with the fish and shrimp heads for 20-30 minutes take it off the heat and mash the fish and shrimp heads altogether with the liquid and strain.
You should have a muddy liquid left. Add your tomato red pepper purée or a good quality tomato paste to taste, salt, pepper and chopped fresh garlic.
Bring this liquid back to a simmer and use it to cook your shrimp the rest of the way, crab or mussels. Poach your other finer fish pieces such as monk fish, cod or sea bass by turning off the heat and placing the fish in the hot broth for 10 minutes with a cover.
The Rouille is a really key part of this dish - a garlic and saffron mayonnaise which is served on the side on toast points. See the recipe for aioli and add saffron to taste.
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