Today’s Spotlight is on Bouillabaisse.

Bouillabaisse is a classic French seafood soup. It’s made with a broth of fish and shellfish, and is often served with a rouille, which is a Provençal mayonnaise-style sauce.

The Marseillaise version uses a variety of fish, while the Provençal version usually uses just one or two species. The Provençal version is also more likely to include saffron and tomatoes.

Bouillabaisse is traditionally served in two courses. The broth is served first, piping hot, with toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with rouille. The fish and shellfish are served separately on their own dish.

Here’s how to serve bouillabaisse:

• Ladle the broth into warmed bowls.
• Place a thick slice of crusty French bread in each bowl.
• Rub the bread with garlic and drizzle it with olive oil.
• Top the bread with rouille sauce.
• Serve the fish and shellfish separately on their own dish.

Other accompaniments include:

• Shredded cheese
• Garlicky aioli
• Roasted red pepper rouille sauce.

 

History

Bouillabaisse is thought to have originated in Marseille, France around 600 BC.  The Phoceans, an Ancient Greek people, founded Marseille and ate a simple fish broth known in Greek as “kakavia”.  Fishermen in Marseille made their own version of the dish, using bony rockfish that couldn’t be sold at the market.  The stew was made with whatever was left of the catch of the day. They combined the fish with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and saffron.

Others say that Bouillabaisse originated in the Provence region of France in the 19th century. The name comes from the French words bouillir, which means to boil, and abaisser, to reduce heat.

Some say that bouillabaisse was exported to Marseille by fleeing Ionian Greeks from the city-state of Phocea. Others speculate that it’s a descendant of kakavia, a traditional soup of the ancient Greeks.

One story says that Venus, the Roman goddess of love, invented bouillabaisse to put her husband, Vulcan, to sleep so she could be with her paramour Mars.

 

Here are some fun facts about bouillabaisse:

• The name comes from the method of preparation, where the broth is boiled and then different kinds of fish are added one by one.
• It’s never too hot for bouillabaisse. Michael Hutchings of Michael’s Waterside in Santa Barbara makes a chilly version that is molded like a salad.
• A traditional bouillabaisse starts with a Provencal soup base. This soup base will have herbs and spices that are available in Provencal including garlic, tomatoes, fennel, thyme, bay, saffron, olive oil, onions, and of course, the fish. It may also have dried orange peel and a hit of wine in it.
• Bouillabaisse contains 2 g of saturated fat and 93 mg of cholesterol per serving. 227 g of Bouillabaisse contains 68.10 mcg vitamin A, 7.5 mg vitamin C, 7.49 mcg vitamin D as well as 1.63 mg of iron, 74.91 mg of calcium, 638 mg of potassium.

 

Here is a Bouillabaisse recipe for you to try:

Ingredients:

Sauce Rouille

• 1 tablespoon hot fish stock or clam broth
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled.
• 1 small red-hot pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup soft white bread, pulled into bits.
• 1/2 cup olive oil

 

Bouillabaisse:

3 pounds of at least 3 different kinds of fish fillets (such as sea bass, red mullet, haddock, halibut, cod, conger, or red porgy), cut into 2-inch pieces.

• 1-pound mussels or clams
• 1 pound squid or crab
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 cup onions thinly sliced.
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced.
• 1/4 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, or 1 teaspoon fennel seeds.
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed.
• 3 large tomatoes roughly chopped.
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 long, wide strip orange zest
• 1 cup clam juice or fish stock
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
• Sliced rustic French bread, plain or toasted.

 

Instructions:

1. Make the sauce rouille: Put the hot fish stock or clam broth into the bottom of a blender. Add the garlic and red-hot pepper, salt and bread. Blend until very smooth. With the blender still running, add olive oil slowly and stop the blending as soon as the oil disappears. Set it aside.
2. Cook the onions, leeks, and fennel: Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large (6 to 8 quart) pot on medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, leeks, and fennel. Stir to coat the vegetables with the olive oil. Cook on medium heat until softened but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, tomatoes, salt, and aromatics: Add the crushed garlic, chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, saffron, salt, and orange zest. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and broken down, about 10 more minutes.
4. Add the fish: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Lay the fish pieces over the vegetable mixture and pour over with 2 cups of boiling water. Add clam juice or fish stock. Bring everything to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the shellfish: Add the mussels, squid, and/or crab, pushing aside the fish so that the shellfish is now covered in liquid, and simmer for 10 minutes more, uncovered. Add freshly ground black pepper, and more salt to taste. Remove the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and orange zest from the broth.
6. Serve with bread and rouille: To serve, remove the fish and shellfish to a platter to keep warm. Place a thick slice of crusty French bread (plain or lightly toasted) in each bowl and put a dollop of the rouille sauce on top of the bread. Ladle the soup broth over the bread, and then portion out fish and shellfish onto the bowls.
7. Enjoy!

 

Consumption

According to Tastewise, the average person consumes bouillabaisse 1.17 times per year. However, few native Marseillaises eat it, and only at home.

 

Celebrating Bouillabaisse

National Bouillabaisse Day is celebrated annually on December 14th. This day recognizes the soup or stew that’s made from different types of fish. Let us know in the comments if you enjoy bouillabaisse or if you think there is something fishy about it.