Cookbook:Bouillabaisse
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
| This Cookbook page needs work. Please improve it. See the talk page for discussion regarding improvements. |
Cookbook | Recipes | French cuisine
| Bouillabaisse | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Category: | French recipes |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Time: | 1 hours |
| Difficulty: |  |
Bouillabaisse is a traditional fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille.
It is usually a simple fish stock containing different kinds of cooked fish and shellfish. This is complemented with a variety of herbs and spices such as garlic, chillies, bay leaves, fennel and saffron. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes and celery are boiled together to produce a rich flavor. The exact proportions vary by cook and region.
The Charte de la Bouillabaisse Marseillaise was signed in 1980 by 11 restaurants in an attempt to standardize the definition of a bouillabaisse. According to the charter, a bouillabaisse must be prepared with at least four of the following fish: monkfish, John Dory, galinette (or gunard), mullett, rascasse, conger eel, and chapon (rascasse rouge). Most versions will contain at least rascasse and chapon.
Bouillabaisse is often only served when there are large groups of people, as it is time-consuming to prepare and its ingredients are expensive. The stew and the fish are usually served in separate bowls, with the stew poured over slices of French bread seasoned with a spicy garlic mayonnaise called rouille.
[edit] Traditional bouillabaisse
This recipe is from one of the most traditional Marseille restaurants, Grand Bar des Goudes on Rue Désirée-Pelleprat.[1]
[edit] For the soup
- 660 grams sea robin
- 660 grams scorpionfish
- 660 grams red gurnard
- 660 grams conger
- 660 grams lotte, or monkfish
- 660 grams John Dory
- 1 live octopus (optional)[2]
- 10 sea urchins
- 1 kilogram of potato
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 3 onions, sliced
- 5 ripe tomatoes, peeled, quartered and without seeds
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 1 bouquet garni
- 1 branch of fennel
- 8 threads of saffron
- 10 slices of country bread
- salt and cayenne pepper
[edit] For the rouille
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 10 threads of saffron
- salt and cayenne pepper
Note: Serve this dish without rouille to reduce the fat and cholesterol in this dish.
[edit] Preparation
- Scale the fish and wash them, if possible, in sea water. Cut them into large slices, leaving the bones. Wash the octopus and cut into pieces.
- Warm the olive oil in a large, deep saucepan.
- Add the onions, cleaned and sliced along with six cloves of crushed garlic, the octopus pieces, and the tomatoes peeled and quartered, without seeds. Brown at low heat turning gently for five minutes.
- Add the sliced fish, beginning with the thickest to the smallest. Cover with boiling water and add salt, pepper, fennel, the bouquet garni and saffron. Boil at a low heat, stirring from time to time so the fish doesn't stick to the casserole. Correct the seasoning. Remove the bouillabaise from the heat once the oil and water have thoroughly blended with the other ingredients. This should take about twenty minutes.
- Prepare the rouille: Use a mortar to crush the garlic cloves into a fine paste after removing the stems. Add the egg yolk and the saffron, then blend in the olive oil little by little to make a mayonnaise, stirring it with the pounder of the mortar.
- Cook the potatoes, peeled and boiled and cut into large slices, in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes. Open the sea urchins with a pair of scissors and remove the roe with a small spoon.
- Arrange the fish on a platter. Add the sea urchin roe into the broth and stir.
- Rub several slices of bread with garlic and spread a tablespoon of rouille on each one. Then place each slice in a serving bowl.
- Remove the fish and potatoes from the broth and place them on a large serving platter.
- Pour the hot broth in each bowl containing a slice of bread smothered in rouille. Then serve the fish and the potatoes on a separate platter.
