Bouillabaisse

The best Bouillabaisse comes from Marseille and uses at least five to seven freshly caught fish. You can serve it with rouille or without, your preference.

Ingredients

3 pounds of at least 3 different kinds of fish fillets

¼ - ½ cup extra virgin Olive oil

1-2 pounds of Oysters, clams, or mussels

1 – 1 ½ cup cooked shrimp, crab, or lobster meat, or rock lobster tails

1 cup onions, thinly sliced

2 or 3 leeks, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 – 1 ½ large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 sweet red pepper, chopped

4 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2-inch slice of fennel or 1 teaspoon of fennel seed

3 sprigs fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

2 whole cloves

Zest of half an orange

½ teaspoon powdered saffron

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup clam juice or fish broth

2 Tbps lemon juice, optional

2/3 cup white wine

Sliced French bread to serve on the side

1.

  Heat half of the extra virgin olive oil in a large (6-qt) saucepan. When hot, add onions and leeks. Sauté for a minute, then add crushed garlic to taste, and sweet red pepper. Add tomato, celery, and fennel. Stir the vegetables into the oil with a wooden spoon. Then add the other half of the olive oil, thyme, bay leaf, cloves and the orange zest. Cook until the onion is soft and golden but not brown.

2.  Cut fish fillets into 2-inch pieces. Add the pieces of fish and 2 cups of water to the vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Add oysters, clams or mussels (though these may be omitted if desired) and shrimp, crabmeat or lobster tails, cut into pieces.

3.  Add saffron, salt, pepper. Add clam juice, lemon juice, and white wine. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.

4.  Before serving, add salt and pepper to taste. Add two tablespoons lemon juice (optional). Many people like to put a thick slice of crusty French bread into the soup bowl and ladle the bouillabaisse over the bread. If desired, serve with Sauce Rouille. 

Serves 6

This is my mother's recipe which she cooked in different ways, depending on what was available.

 

Sauce Rouille:

1 Tbsp hot fish stock or clam broth.

2 cloves peeled garlic

1 small red hot pepper

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup soft white bread, pulled into bits

½ cup olive oil

  Put hot fish stock or clam broth into the bottom of a blender. Add garlic and red hot pepper, salt and bread. Blend until very smooth. With the blender still running, add olive oil slowly and stop the blending as soon as the oil disappears.

  At serving time pass Rouille in a little bowl along with the bouillabaisse. Each serving is about 1/2 a teaspoon that you stir into your soup. Use gingerly like Tabasco. It tastes something like garlic mayonnaise.