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Bouillabaisse (Mediterranean Fish Soup)



Like all traditional dishes, bouillabaisse, a fish soup commonly found in restaurants and homes

along France's Mediterranean coast, can take many forms. Its origins are in the fishermen's stews

that were typically cooked up on the beaches, after the day's catch was in and sold.


For the rouille:

2 dried cayenne or other dried red chilies,

seeded

4 garlic cloves

1 Tbs. dried bread crumbs

2 egg yolks

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil



For the soup:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 leeks, white portion only, chopped and rinsed

well

2 tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 fresh bay leaf or 1/2 dried leaf

2 fresh thyme sprigs

1 fennel stalk, 6 inches long

1 fresh or dried orange zest strip, 2 inches long

and 1 inch wide

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 cups dry white wine

1 cup water

5 potatoes, about 1 1/2 lb. total, peeled

and cut into slices 1/2 inch thick

1/4 tsp. saffron threads

2 lb. firm-fleshed fish steaks or fillets such as

monkfish, halibut or cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch

chunks

Boiling water, as needed

2 lb. tender-fleshed whole fish such as

red snapper, ocean perch or rockfish, cleaned

and left whole if small or cut into 1 1/2-inch

chunks or filleted if large

1 lb. mussels, scrubbed and debearded

1 lb. small crabs

1 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

8 slices coarse country bread, each 1 inch thick,

toasted and rubbed with garlic



To make the rouille, in a mortar, combine the chilies and garlic and crush them together with a

pestle to make a paste. Add the bread crumbs and mash again. Mix in the egg yolks and salt to

make a smooth paste. Very slowly, drop by drop, whisk in the olive oil until the mixture thickens.

Continue adding the oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly, until a mayonnaiselike mixture

forms. (Alternately, make the rouille in a blender.) Set aside.


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