Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse (Occitan: bolhabaissa) is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. The French and English form bouillabaisse comes from the Provençal Occitan word bolhabaissa [ˌbujaˈbajsɔ], a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (to boil) and abaissar (to reduce heat, i.e., simmer).
Bouillabaisse is a fish soup containing various kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, bay leaf, fennel and saffron. There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish (fr: rascasse); sea robin (fr: grondin); and European conger (fr: congre); and it can also include gilt-head bream (fr: dorade); turbot; monkfish (fr: lotte or baudroie); mullet; or silver hake (fr: merlan) It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins (fr: oursins), mussels (fr: moules); velvet crabs (fr: étrilles); spider crab (fr: araignées de mer) or octopus. More expensive versions may add langoustine.
Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper on grilled slices of bread.
What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provençal herbs and spices in the broth, the use of bony local Mediterranean fish, and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter.
**History taken from Wikipedia
Bouillabaisse Recipe
8 to 10 pounds firm white-fleshed fish (choose 4 from this group): redfish (ocean perch), red snapper, blue-mouth, rockfish, sea robin (gurnard), monkfish, cod, porgy (scup), grouper, halibut, haddock, dab, turbot, wreckfish, ocean pout (ling), cusk, wolffish (ocean catfish), tautog (blackfish), tilefish, sculpin
4 to 5 pounds "oily" fish (choose 2 from this group): bluefish, moray eel, conger eel, mackerel, shark, dogfish, striped bass, sea bass, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, mahimahi (dolphinfish)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium-size onions, sliced
8 cups cold water
2 bouquet garni, each consisting of 4 sprigs fresh parsley, 6 sprigs fresh thyme, 10 black peppercorns, and 1 bay leaf, tied in cheesecloth
1 cup dry white wine, such as Muscadet, Sancerre, or Cassis (the wine, not the blackberry liqueur)
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
6 to 8 large garlic cloves, to your taste, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled and steeped in 1/ 4 cup hot water until needed
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 leeks, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise, well washed, and thinly sliced
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 long thin strip orange zest, with no pith
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads steeped in 1/4 cup tepid dry white wine until needed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Boiling water as needed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons anise liquor such as Pernod or Ouzo
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 recipe sauce rouille
1. Gut, scale, and clean the fish. If the fishmonger cleans and fillets your fish, have him save the heads, tails, and carcasses. Cut the fish into 4 x 2 1/2 -inch pieces.
2. Prepare the fish broth. Rinse the fish heads, tails, and carcasses in cold water. Break the carcasses into pieces. In a large stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat, then and cook the sliced onions until soft but not brown, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fish heads and bones and cover with the cold water. Put in one of the bouquet garni and the wine. Bring to a boil, skimming occasionally, then reduce the heat to low, partially cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Strain the fish broth through a conical strainer and set aside to cool. Discard all the fish heads and carcasses. You will have 10 cups of fish broth when finished. Clean the stockpot because you will need it in step 4.
3. After you get the fish broth going, marinate the fish in a large ceramic or glass bowl or pan with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, half of the chopped garlic, and the saffron threads for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
4. In the large stockpot, heat the remaining 1 1/4 cups olive oil over medium heat, then cook the chopped onions, leeks, and celery for 15 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomatoes, the remaining garlic, the remaining bouquet garni, the orange zest, and fennel seeds. Stir in the reserved fish broth and the saffron steeped in wine and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 40 minutes. The broth can be left like this, covered, for many hours, over very low heat or using a heat diffuser.
5. When you are ready to prepare the final stages of the bouillabaisse, bring the broth back to a furious boil. It should be boiling like mad. Keep the broth boiling furiously so the oil emulsifies. Add the oily fish and boil, uncovered, over very high heat for 8 minutes. Shake the pot to prevent sticking. Now put the firm-fleshed white fish in and boil hard for 6 minutes. Add more boiling water if necessary to cover the fish. Shake the casserole or pot occasionally. Mix the tomato paste and anise liqueur.
6. Carefully remove the fish from the broth with a slotted spoon and spatula or skimmer and transfer to a large bowl or deep platter. Arrange the fish on the platter more or less in the order in which you put them into the pot. Keep them warm by covering with a sheet of aluminum foil.
7. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a soup tureen or large bowl, discarding what doesn't go through. Whisk in the tomato paste-and-anise mixture. Sprinkle the platter and soup tureen with the parsley and serve with the croutes and sauce rouille on separate plates.
Variation: Serve the fish with boiled potatoes, thinly sliced and buttered. Some cooks, especially in restaurants, will add a cut-up live lobster at the same time as when the oily fish go in.
Rouille recipe:
Yield: Makes 1 1/4 cups sauce rouille and 10 servings of croutes
Preparation Time: 1:15 hours
1 1/2 cups diced French bread, white part only
1/2 cup fish broth (reserve some from the making of bouillabaisse)
4 to 6 garlic cloves, to your taste, peeled
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red chili pepper
Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
1 large egg yolk
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
40 to 50 slices French baguette bread (about 1 loaf)
1. Soak the diced bread in the fish broth. Squeeze the broth out. Mash the garlic cloves in a mortar with the salt until mushy. Place the bread, mashed garlic (saving 1 garlic clove for the croutes), red pepper, saffron, egg yolk and black pepper in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds then pour in 1 cup olive oil through the feed tube in a slow, thin, steady stream while the machine is running. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Store whatever you don't use in the refrigerator for up to a week.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the croutes. In a large skillet, melt the butter with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat with the remaining crushed garlic until it begins to turn light brown. Remove and discard the garlic.
3. Lightly brush both sides of each bread slice with the melted butter and oil and set aside. When all the slices are brushed place them back in the skillet and cook until they are a very light brown on both sides. Set aside until needed.
Variation: Another way to make the croutes is to toast them first and then rub both sides with a cut piece of garlic.
Note: If the rouille is separating, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the fish broth and whisk it in until smooth and re-emulsified.
