Bouillabaisse
Bouillabaisse was originally the Marseille fishermen's stew of unsellable rockfish: they would simmer them whole with water, olive oil, Provençal herbs and whatever else was at hand, eat the fish with stale bread soaked in the broth, and call it dinner. The Charte de la bouillabaisse marseillaise (1980) codified what had become a tourist target into a strict format: at least four Mediterranean fish, rascasse mandatory, saffron mandatory, two-course service. The amber broth comes first, ladled over slices of dry baguette with rouille on top; the fish follows on a separate plate with more rouille on the side. Restaurant versions add tomato, Pernod and dramatic plating; the underlying logic — broth pounded out of the smallest fish to poach the largest — hasn't changed in two centuries.
Marseille's codified stew
The 1980 charter: at least four Mediterranean fish, rascasse mandatory, saffron mandatory
Small fish for the broth
Cheap rockfish simmered to a pulp, then strained hard — the broth is the dish
Two-course service
Broth over croutons with rouille first, fish on a separate plate after
Saffron and orange peel
Provençal signature: dried zest, fennel seed, a touch of Pernod at the end
Ingredients 6 servings
- 800 g small Mediterranean rockfish (rascasse, weever, wrasse — for the broth), gutted
- 1.2 kg firm Mediterranean fish in chunks (rascasse, monkfish, John Dory, conger, gurnard — at least four species), skin on, scaled
- 1 large onion, 2 leeks (white parts only), 1 fennel bulb, 4 ripe tomatoes, 6 garlic cloves
- Bouquet garni: thyme, bay, parsley stalks, a strip of dried orange peel, a teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 1 g saffron threads (a generous pinch), 2 tbsp pastis (Pernod) stirred in at the end
- 100 ml olive oil, 1 tsp salt, freshly ground pepper
- 2 L water (or light fish fumet)
- 12–15 slices of toasted day-old baguette and rouille (3 garlic cloves, ½ tsp saffron, ¼ tsp cayenne, 1 egg yolk, 200 ml olive oil, salt, a small piece of bread soaked in the broth)
How to make it
- 1Scale, gut and rinse all the fish — cut the larger ones into 3 cm chunks and keep the heads and bones for the broth, while the small rockfish go whole into the pot.
- 2In a large heavy pot, heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and sweat the chopped onion, leeks and fennel without colour for about 10 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and 5 garlic cloves and cook another 5 minutes to a pulp.
- 3Tip in the small fish and the heads and bones of the larger ones, cover with the 2 L of water, drop in the bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley, orange peel, fennel seeds) and simmer hard for 30–40 minutes until the small fish completely break down, then pass everything through a coarse sieve or food mill, pressing hard to extract every drop — bones, herbs and pulp discarded — bring the strained broth back to a rolling boil, taste for salt and stir in the saffron.
- 4Slip the firm fish (monkfish, conger) into the broth first and poach 5–6 minutes, then add the more delicate ones (rascasse, John Dory) for another 3–4 — they should be just opaque, never falling apart — and off the heat, swirl in the pastis.
- 5For the rouille, pound the last garlic clove with the salt and saffron in a mortar, work in the bread (dipped in broth and squeezed), then the yolk, then olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly until thick like mayonnaise, then serve in two courses: the broth first, ladled over toasted baguette with a spoonful of rouille on top; the fish after, on a separate plate, with more rouille alongside.
Nutritional info
per serving (~400 ml)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
