A Fishy Business
Maya Even cooks bouillabaisse – food that’s good enough for the gods
This is a soup of paradoxes. We know it as perhaps the greatest example of French peasant cuisine – an invention of Marseille fishermen, designed to make good use of the unwanted catch of the day – a rough ‘n’ ready hotchpotch of fish. Masculine, practical, hearty… But we also know it as the lofty creation of the goddess Venus, who prepared it for Vulcan, to lull him to sleep so she could dally with Mars. It could be that the lowly fishermen felt they needed a little divine ancestry to fortify their soup. (As Venus was born on a clam, perhaps her interest in bouillabaisse was predictable.) Then there’s the name – a conflation of “to boil” and “to lower” – or “simmer”. Finally, there is the paradox of the recipe itself. There’s plenty of nonsense written about this. Many recipes try to frighten readers with long lists of unfamiliar fish with ugly faces, sharp spines and untranslatable names. They warn of hours of hard labour – endless boiling, straining, puréeing, cracking, gouging. This is silly. Have these people never heard of fishmongers? As for lengthy boiling, see Prosper Montagne, author of Larousse. He writes: “The total cooking time of a bouillabaisse does not exceed 14 to 15 minutes.” That’s minutes. Fish stock needs only the briefest of cooking, so as not to diminish the fresh taste. If you truly want to do all the scaling, deboning and chopping, I won’t dissuade you. With close friends and good wine, gutting several kilos of fish may even be a pleasant way of passing an afternoon.
The point I’m trying to make is that you have a choice. If you get other people to do the hard work, bouillabaisse becomes a delightfully simple, quick and rewarding dish to prepare. Its informality will enliven even the dullest spirit at your table. And most important, the first mouthful will produce that greatest of compliments – an appreciative silence.
INGREDIENTS (serves 8 to 10)
500g ripe tomatoes
350g onions
4 garlic cloves
3 fresh fennel sprigs
bunch of flat-leafed parsley
piece of orange peel
4 good pinches of saffron
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
130ml-plus of good olive oil
salt
pepper
a day-old baguette
fish – if you’re a purist, give up now unless you live between Toulon and Marseille, or near an exacting fishmonger. Geoculinary connoisseurs hold that authentic bouillabaisse ingredients reside only here. These include: rascasse or chapon (scorpion fish), St Pierre (John Dory), conger eel, angler fish, red mullet, whiting, sea perch, dorade and various shellfish including mussels or clams. (Lobster is inappropriate because of its expense.) Happily, most of these – the elusive rascasse aside – can be substituted with more common varieties: hake, baby cod or turbot, monkfish, gurnard, halibut, rockfish, lemon sole, plaice, weaver, ling, haddock or wrasse. You need about 3kg: a mix of lean, delicate, gelatinous, firm and shellfish. Ask your fishmonger to order in some of the more exotic characters and have him scale, skin and debone your purchases.
METHOD
Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F. Boil a kettle.
Cut the fish into pieces about 2in (5cm) square-ish. Divide according to cooking time -firmer-fleshed in one group, more delicate in another. Clean and sort mussels and clams. Slice baguette into thin rounds. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place on middle shelf in the oven to harden. Decrease heat if they begin to brown.
Roughly chop onions, fennel fronds and parsley. Deseed and chop tomatoes. Mash the garlic into a paste with a bit of salt. In a large pot, heat the oil and throw in the onions. Gently cook for 5 mins – lid on – till translucent. Stir in garlic and tomatoes, raise heat, and cook for another 5 mins. Add the firm-fleshed fish. Stir. Add saffron, peel, fennel, bay leaf, thyme and half the parsley. Pour in the water a couple of inches above the top of the fish. Cover. Boil briskly for 7 mins. Slide in the more delicate fish. Cover. Boil for 5 mins. Add shellfish, turning over the other fish carefully. Cover again. After 3 mins, open, lower heat to a simmer and taste. Season. Taste again after another minute. Correct seasoning. Add a slug of olive oil and remaining parsley.
Guests should place the bread at the bottom of their bowls, and help themselves to the bouillabaisse, either from a tureen or directly from the pot. It’s usually served with wine from the region. Whatever you choose, it should be dry, fairly strong and, if red, try it frais.
One Response
Would you like to comment on this article?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:04 am
High heels make women feel taller, skinnier and sexier.That is why high heels are always loved by women.
If you would like to have a look at the high heel styles of the brand Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, etc, you could link to:
http://www.allabouthighheel.com