Bouillabaisse
Serves 4
This classic French fish stew, Bouillabaisse, is a symphony of seafood flavours. With a rich, aromatic broth and a medley of fresh fish, it’s a dish that's sure to impress.
Ingredients
For the broth
200ml olive oil
2 bulbs of fennel, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, roughly chopped
10g sea salt
20g of tarragon
4g black pepper, crushed
1kg fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped
1kg fish bones (turbot or lemon sole)
30g tomato paste
2 pinches of saffron
2 lemons, juiced
40g butter
40ml Pernod
To Plate
200g salmon fillets, skinned
200g pollock, skinned
200g monkfish, skinned
2 sardine fillets
2g basil leaves, chopped
2g tarragon, chopped
2g chives, chopped
8 mussels, debearded
Method
- To make the broth, put the olive oil into a large pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the fennel and cook for 3–4 minutes without colouring it.
- Add the red peppers, sea salt, tarragon and pepper. Cook for another 2–3 minutes.
- Add the fish bones, tomatoes and Pernod, then cover with water to a depth of 2.5cm and bring to a simmer. Skim off any froth, add the tomato paste and saffron, and bring back to a simmer.
- Cook for 1 ½ hours until reduced by approximately one third. Use a stick blender to blend the mix to a smooth sauce. Pour through a fine sieve pressing the solids with a ladle to extract all the liquid.
- Pour through a fine chinois (this time without pressing). Add the lemon juice, then pour into a blender and add the butter. Blend, check the seasoning and pass through a fine sieve again.
- Cut the salmon, pollock and monkfish into 50g pieces, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper, and cut the sardine fillets in two.
- Heat 500ml of the bouillabaisse broth to a simmer. (Don’t heat above a simmer as this will split the sauce!)
- Add the monkfish and poach for 3 minutes. Add the salmon and pollock and cook gently for another 7–8 minutes. Add the mussels and sardines and cook for 2 minutes, then add the herbs and serve.
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