Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse
Region: France, Provence
Category: Stews
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive

Please read about the history of bouillabaisse and how to cook it before proceeding.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
Preparation Time: 4 hours

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.

Posted: 01/09/2007

Needed Recipes:

Saffron-Garlic Mayonnaise and Fried Bread for Bouillabaisse and Other Fish Soups and Stews