With humble origins, bouillabaisse has become one of those sophisticated dishes everyone thinks is hard to make. But before we get into recipes and techniques, so that you can brag about having it your repertoire, a bit of charming history ....[You foodies who know this, skip ahead.]
Bouillabaisse originated in Marseilles, on France's central west coast. Back from a hard and long morning's work at sea, their boats and docks groaning with a great catch, the fisherman were ready for a meal. One builds a great open fire for a giant pot. Another prepares the aromatics [onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, herbs]. Someone peels the potatoes. A lot of them. Each pitches in fish from their haul and a giant fish stew is wrought.
Today, we include shellfish, because it's a no brainer. They work beautifully. But originally, bouilly was served in two stages: first the flavourful refreshing broth, and second, the potatoes, fish and vegetables, with plenty of bread. This guys needed a lot of carbs.
Below is a fabulous video of a small country restaurant in Nice, where the bouillabaisse is made "old school." The special guests are chefs and their mates, lined up at long tables al fresco.
The video doesn't have any subtitles [apart from some brief commentary in English], but it's worth noting that the opening tune is a tribute song about the fisherman of Marseilles. [The next song seems to be about cows, probably about how inferior they are to fish. If anyone can translate, let us know.]
This next video is good and bad -- and still worth sharing.
It's good because it does a good job of breaking down technique, except for the bouillant or "boiling" part of the process. The word bouillabaisse is essentially French for 'boiling low," as in temperature, and therefore slowly. A fast boil doesn't give you a chance to skim the soup properly, so all those impurities [aka skum] get sucked back into the soup and makes it cloudy and nasty. There isn't a chef or maker of good bouilly who wouldn't shudder how violently the chef lets his bouilly boil. It's just bad form [and sounds vaguely like that Aussie song about letting a billy boil]. Part
An important thing to know about boiling, generally and especially when making soup or stock: the boiling point temperature of 212F, whether it's just barely ticking over [the best way to make soups and stocks] or the rolling boil of a perfect storm [and you know what that gets you] is the same. Get your soup just barely ticking over, meaning little balls of air are rising delicately to the top.
How To Make Bouillabaisse [sort of]
Here's the New York Times on bouilly, including a century-old recipe, which they clearly still endorse.
Credit for this post goes to our wine guy Glenn, who loves any chance to pair red wine and fish.
What are we drinking with this, Glenn?
From Italy, to go with bouilly's characteristic saffron scenting, I recommend the 2007 Rosso di Montefalco by Caprai, in Umbria. It's wonderfully rich, with gorgeous floral aromatics that hint at saffron, with fennel hints and plenty of red fruit. Staying in Italy, still unctuous but a little lighter and less tannic, try the 2007 Masciarelli, by Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, for its racy acidity and dark unwooded fruit.
Top image: Flickr member dwizzy licensed under Creative Commons) Via TheKitchn.com [also with a recipe worth checking out]
Next week, we talk rouille [pron: roo-ee].
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