Bouillabaisse: a complete meal

The true bouillabaisse (boil then simmer in Occitan) is from Marseille. It is the brainchild of Phoenician fishermen who built fires on the shore, added seawater to the pot and simmered their catch of the day along with a few native vegetables, leeks, carrots and fennels and the ubiquitous olive which supplied the basis for the accompanying sauce. The Mediterranean is filled with coastal reefs replete with marine life and the dish took advantage of its easily caught fish population: scorpion fish, conger and sea robin. Saffron came the way of the Arab conquest. After the seventeenth century, new world imports, tomatoes and potatoes, were added. As the dish gained popularity, more costly and less bony fish joined the initial mix.
I do not remember my first bouillabaisse: it has been as much a part of my summers as the marine breeze, the lapping waves and the warm sun caresses. It is a series of friendly meals taken on the concrete terrace of Camille after a quick swim from the boat anchored in the small bay of Cap Camarat. Before you finally reached the sand, you had to mind the urchins under your feet, a reminder to later watch the bones in your plate.
I have adapted the dish to use Atlantic fish fillets rather than Mediterranean whole fish. Red snapper, cod and halibut are good substitutes and the bones can be picked beforehand. For convenience, I suggest to use store-bought fish stock, although it is possible to ask your fishmonger for heads and bones to make your own. Bouillabaisse is particularly suited to feeding a large party (10 people in my recipe), as it is a natural two-course meal: the soup is served on its own, with slices of toasted baguette buttered with saffron and garlic mayonnaise, followed by the main course of simmered fish and potato. The perfect ending, then as now, involves lemon sherbet. My lemon surprise came nested in its skin. My version involves fresh lemon juice, sugar, mint leaves and ice cubes blended for a few minutes and served immediately after in a tall glass, or true to memory, in its frozen lemon skin.

Bouillabaisse (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 90 minutes, A little expensive)

Ingredients
For the soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium onions sliced
3 garlic cloves peeled and bruised
1 medium carrot peeled and sliced
3 leeks washed and sliced
1 fennel bulb washed and sliced
4 tomatoes peeled and seeded
1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
8 cups (2 liters) fish stock
Bouquet garni (sprigs of thyme, parsley and bay leaves tied in a leek leave)
1 orange zest (optional)
A pinch of saffron
Salt and pepper to taste
For the garnish:
Rouille (garlic and saffron mayonnaise)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon mustard
2 egg yolks
6 garlic cloves peeled and puréed
Pinch of saffron
Drops of tabasco or red pepper
Tomato sauce
2 cups olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 baguettes sliced and toasted
For the main course:
1 lb (500g) squid washed and sliced
1½ lbs (750g) cod or monkfish fillets cut in 3-oz (100g) pieces
1½ lbs (750g) halibut fillets cut in 3-oz (100 g) pieces
1½ lbs (750g) red snapper fillets cut in 3-oz (100g) pieces
10 medium potatoes peeled and halved

Material:
10-quart heavy bottom saucepan
Wood spoon
Blender
Set of holed spatulas
Eggbeater
Breadbaskets
Bowls
Dish soups

Pour a tablespoon of oil in the saucepan, and warm on the slow flame of the gas. Add the onion and carrot slices and stir until translucent. Add the garlic, fennel and leek slices and cook stirring until the fennel is soft, about five minutes. Add the tomatoes and orange zest and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the wine, saffron and bouquet garni. Set the gas to medium and bring to a boil. Transfer the content of the saucepan minus the bouquet garni into the blender and blend until well mixed. Return to the saucepan and set on the medium range of the gas. Add the fish stock and cook for 20 minutes after the boil resumes. The soup is essentially ready. It can either be prepared a few days before the dinner and stored in the refrigerator or let to simmer on the gas until 20 minutes before seating to the table.



Prepare the Rouille. Beat the yolk, mustard and lemon in a salad bowl with the eggbeater. Add drop by drop the oil until an emulsion forms. Then continue to beat while pouring a regular stream of oil until you run out of it. Add the pureed garlic, tomato sauce, saffron and Tabasco or pepper. Taste and add salt and pepper.
Add to the simmering soup the slices of squid and the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
Ladle the soup in 10 soup dishes and serve hot. Encourage your guest to dip in the soup slices of bread slathered with rouille. It is the mixing of the rouille in the soup that creates its richness.
Make sure you have enough soup left to simmer the pieces of fish. When your guests are done with the soup, prepare the fish by poaching them gently in the simmering soup for 4 to 8 minutes.
For the second course, remove the fish, the squid and potatoes from the soup and present them on a platter. Bring the remaining soup in a tureen and propose extra servings to wet the fish, and of course leave the bread and rouille on the table.

Lemon surprise

Ingredients:
1cup (250g) water
2 cups (500g) sugar
½ cup (125g) coarsely chopped mint leaves
1 cup (250g) fresh lime or lemon juice, lime cut ¾ of the way up, each part saved and kept in the freezer.
4 cups ice cubes

Material:
Large heavy-bottom saucepan
Blender

Place the water, sugar, mint and limejuice in the saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Strain the liquid and place in a covered plastic container in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour. The mixture will become slushy and icy.
Just before serving, place in a blender with the ice cubes. Blend until the ice is finely crushed. Serve immediately in a tall glass, garnished with sprigs of fresh mint and lime slices, or scoop in the reserved lime skins and bring to the table with the bottom on.