Bouillabaisse
A rich fragrant saffron broth with sea bass, monkfish, sole, mussels and prawns, simmered with fennel, tomatoes, white wine and a splash of Pastis! Served traditinally with rouille-topped croutons floating on top. This is Marseille's emblem in a bowl!
Ingredients
Fish and seafood
- 200 gr sea bass whole
- 150 gr monkfish
- 100 gr red snapper
- 1 dover sole whole
- 200 gr shrimps preferably with shells on
- 500 gr mussels
Soup base
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 1 leek
- 1 fennel small
- 5 threads saffron
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5 tomatoes ripe
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 450 gr firm-fleshed potatoes
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 3 bay leaf
- 1 l fish stock or prepare your own with whole fishheads
- 120 ml dry white wine
- 2 tbsp Pastis Ricard from Marseille
- salt to taste
Fish stock
- 500 gr fish bones, heads, and shells from the fish and shrimp
- 1 stick celery roughly chopped
- 1 onion quartered
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- few parsley stalks
- 1 l water
- 5 peppercorns
Rouille sauce
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp mustard Dijon
- 2 slices white bread crust removed
- 6 threads saffron
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1 tsp Piment d’Espelette or cayenne pepper
- 65 ml olive oil
- 65 ml rapeseed oil
- lemon juice
- salt
Equipment
Instructions
1. Prepare the fish and prawns
- Fillet the whole Dover sole and sea bass, cutting along the backbone, and set the fillets aside for the soup. Keep all the bones, heads and frames for the stock. Peel the prawns and keep the shells.
2. Make the fish stock
- Rinse the bones, heads, frames and prawn shells thoroughly under cold water until it runs clear, to remove blood that would otherwise cloud the stock. Put them in the pot with the celery, carrot, quartered onion, garlic, bay leaf, parsley stalks, peppercorns and 1 litre of water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, never a rolling boil, and cook uncovered for 20–30 minutes.
3. Strain and blend
- Strain the stock through a fine sieve, reserving the cooked vegetables separately. Blend the vegetables with a little of the strained stock until smooth, then stir this purée back into the clear stock. Keep warm.
4. Make the rouille
- Soak the saffron threads in a little lemon juice, and the bread in a splash of warm stock or water. Whisk the egg yolks with the garlic, Dijon, soaked bread, saffron mixture, salt, paprika and piment d'Espelette. Add the olive and rapeseed oils very slowly, drop by drop at first and then in a thin stream, whisking constantly, until thick and emulsified. Adjust the seasoning and chill.
5. Prepare the vegetables
- Slice the onion, fennel and leek. Dice the tomatoes and cut the potatoes into chunks.
6. Start the soup base
- Heat the olive oil in a wide cocotte over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and leek and sauté until translucent and fragrant, without colouring.
7. Add the spices and tomatoes
- Add the fennel seeds and soaked saffron, then the minced garlic, tomatoes and tomato purée. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
8. Deglaze and add the stock
- Deglaze with the pastis and white wine, letting the alcohol reduce slightly, then pour in the fish stock.
9. Cook the potatoes
- Add the potatoes and bay leaves and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender but still holding their shape.
10. Add the seafood
- Cut the sea bass and sole fillets into large chunks. Add the monkfish and red snapper first and cook for 2 minutes, then add the sea bass, sole, mussels and prawns. Cover and cook for 5–7 minutes, until the fish is opaque, the prawns pink and the mussels open. Discard any mussels that stay closed.
11. Make the croutons and serve
- Toast the baguette slices and rub them with the cut garlic clove. Remove the bay leaves, ladle the bouillabaisse into warm bowls, and serve with the croutons spread thickly with rouille, floated on the soup or alongside for dipping.
Notes
- Traditionally made with Mediterranean fish: bar (sea bass), saint-pierre (John Dory), rouget grondin (red gurnard), lotte (monkfish) and rascasse (scorpion fish), plus red mullet. Use a mix of firm local white fish wherever you are.
- Never use oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, tuna or salmon.
- The stock and rouille can both be made a day or two ahead.