bouillabaisse today

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  • Shang
    Senior Member
    • Sep 2000
    • 10021

    bouillabaisse today

    Made bouillabaisse for midday meal today. Similar to this:

    "According to tradition, there should be at least five different kinds of fish in a proper bouillabaisse. In Marseille, considered the mecca of bouillabaisse, they use at least seven, not counting the shellfish. The fish should be extremely fresh - caught and cooked the same day. If you cannot get extremely fresh fish, then the next best alternative is quick frozen - fish frozen the same day it was caught. Use as many different types of fish as you can, such as fillets of flounder, haddock, cod, perch, white fish, whiting, porgies, bluefish, bass - almost any combination. Count on at least three kinds to serve six."

    http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bouillabaisse/ ...and so on.

    And hot, newly made French bread to go with it.
    Last edited by Shang; 09-29-2012, 09:44 PM.
  • BrianW
    not your average member
    • Nov 2002
    • 28191

    #2
    Re: bouillabaisse today

    Originally posted by Shang
    Use as many different types of fish as you can, such as fillets of flounder, haddock, cod, perch, white fish, whiting, porgies, bluefish, bass - almost any combination. Count on at least three kinds to serve six."
    Are those all white meat fish?
    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,

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    • BrianW
      not your average member
      • Nov 2002
      • 28191

      #3
      Re: bouillabaisse today

      We would be hard pressed to find six different types of white meat fish here in the PNW.
      “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”― Mark Twain,

      Comment

      • L.W. Baxter
        can eat fifty eggs
        • Sep 2003
        • 23618

        #4
        Re: bouillabaisse today

        Originally posted by BrianW
        We would be hard pressed to find six different types of white meat fish here in the PNW.
        Whut? Lemme see...Halibut, sole, rockfish, lingcod, greenling, cabezon, pacific cod, sablefish, sturgeon. Go inland for walleye, bass, catfish, crappie, and so on (not in alaska, granted).

        That said, I can't imagine that having 5 or more different species of fish really makes a difference.

        Comment

        • David W Pratt
          Senior Member
          • May 2005
          • 12324

          #5
          Re: bouillabaisse today

          What I do is steam some mussels,clams and shrimp; save them and the broth, let the flavor develop, saute some onions and celery, add to the broth, add a can of V-8 Juice, warm to a simmer, add some chunks of Chilean Sea Bass, serve over rice or pasta

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          • Hwyl
            Gareth
            • Jan 2003
            • 22222

            #6
            Re: bouillabaisse today

            I was working on a boat in the Med, we were in St Tropez and the owners were aboard, we went out to a top restaurant, the boat owner was well known. As is usually the case, the restauranteur came over to our table to chat, I had spent some time brushing up on my French that day and the sample exercise was how to order bouillabaisse. Usually in such books the exercises are so arcane one can never use them. When the restauranteur chatted with me, I effectively paraphrased the exercise, and said something lke "I did not order the bouillabaisse because it is best ordered the day before so the chef can select the fish from the market" the conversation carried on for a few minutes and eventually I stopped listening/translating. I was feeling rather pleased with myself that I had actually found a use for the phrases learned.

            The next morning, I was preparing the boat for sea, and the owner came by and asked why I was doing that, he realised that I'd missed the part of the conversation where the restauranteur had said that he was so surprised that a Brit' knew so much about Mediterranean food, he himself would cook me a special bouillabaisse that night.

            It was fantastic, I've eaten in some great places but that meal was in the top echelon.

            Comment

            • Shang
              Senior Member
              • Sep 2000
              • 10021

              #7
              Re: bouillabaisse today

              Originally posted by BrianW
              Are those all white meat fish?
              "...if you do not happen to live on the Mediterranean, you cannot obtain the particular rockfish, gurnards, mullets, weavers, sea eels, wrasses, and breams which they [French experts] consider absolutely essential. But you can make an extremely good fish soup even if you have only frozen fish and canned clam juice to work with because the other essential flavoring of tomatoes, onions or leeks, garlic, herbs, and olive oil are always available."
              --Julia Child

              Julia also says, "...remember that [bouillabaisse] is a simple Mediterranean fisherman's soup, made from the day's catch or its unsalable leftovers, and flavored with the typical condiments of the region..."

              I wasn't following Julia's recipe, and I used several kinds of white fish, also mussels, salmon, and at the last minute, shrimp.

              Made a great lunch yesterday, and should be even better today.
              Last edited by Shang; 09-30-2012, 10:19 AM.

              Comment

              • Shang
                Senior Member
                • Sep 2000
                • 10021

                #8
                Re: bouillabaisse today

                Originally posted by Donn
                I've sampled bouillabaisse in three different places in Marseille...
                You were luckier than I was in Marseille. We were near the harbor looking for a restaurant for bouillabaisse when a substantially large fistfight broke out in the street.
                That seemed like a good time to grab a taxi back to our hotel. The hotel dining room had a fish soup, but it wasn't a good bouillabaisse.

                Got to go back.

                Comment

                • John Meachen
                  Senior Member
                  • Jan 2004
                  • 10482

                  #9
                  Re: bouillabaisse today

                  I thought a proper bouillabaisse includes some rascasse and wikipedia says much the same.A really good fish stew could be made without it but would a Frenchman call it bouillabaisse?

                  Comment

                  • pefjr
                    Humorist
                    • Dec 2008
                    • 14330

                    #10
                    Re: bouillabaisse today

                    Just made my recipe last week, and ate it for four days. I make it too spicy for the family so I get it all, ...Ha. Rascasse...hmmm... how would you know? I have to manage my goldfish pond, so planning to use Goldfish next time, have many that are too big and need to be harvested.



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