Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise
After I’ve been talking for a few minutes and people detect my accent, rest assured, they ask me if I’m French. “Yes, I am”!, I say and they all have some sort of a reaction… I hope it’s a good one… lol!
Although French people always have that “je ne sais quoi”, it became more obvious following WWII. After the war, France turned into one of the most popular destinations along with Italy for its romance, its joie de vivre, its fashion and its food!
French cuisine became the best “culinary experience” everyone should experience. Anyone who wanted to become a chef had to go to “the best of the best” elite cooking schools which was and still is “Le Cordon Bleu” – just a little trivia to add to your cooking knowledge… the school was closed for 4 years during German occupation.
French became a statement! If you hosted a dinner party and served a lovely “French” dish along with a nice Burgundy, you became “sophisticated” among your guests. When Julia Child returned to the United States with “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” with cookbook co-authors Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, and showed North America how to cook French cuisine… that was it! It turned out to be more than a trend… it became a new life style!
Back to “moi”!
Yes I’m French, my roots are French but I’m French Canadian from Québec. Is there a difference between the two cultures? Of course there is but when it comes to cooking, the dishes are quite similar with some variations. As a little girl, I grew up with Pâté, croissants, French Onion Soup, Boeuf Bourguignon served with French Baguettes, and many more French dishes because that is how my mother grew up as well as my grandmother and so on back to our first settlers that arrived in Canada from France…
There’s a dish that the women in my family were making… If you like seafood and fish, here’s an incredible recipe from southern France that you just have to make and it’s called Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise! If I may, I would describe it as a peasant fish stew. It’s similar to Cioppino except Bouillabaisse is made with a white base (fish stock) and added tomatoes plus the addition of saffron versus Cioppino with its straight tomato base.
With a beautiful combination of ocean gems, vegetables and spices, this Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise recipe is the perfect dish to represent the French Mediterranean coast. Cooked in a scrumptious broth, this dish delivers many delicious layers of flavor. In Marseille, when there are no added fish or shellfish, people add either potatoes or pasta to the broth which is a popular soup over there. It gives another dimension using this incredible broth.
When making this recipe, it can be hard to find certain fish in your area. Use what you can find but please note that lean fish is the way to make your Bouillabaisse. There’s sole, tilapia, sea bream, pollock, halibut, flounder, sea bass aka branzino, monkfish, red snapper, and so on… just to name a few.
On the other hand, if you decide to add shellfish or make this dish strictly with them, you can use prawns/shrimp, scampi, clams, mussels, scallops, and lobster. I personally prefer a combination of fish and shellfish because it gives a distinct taste to the dish.
This Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise is a beautiful Provençal meal that any seafood and fish lover will enjoy. Served with crusty bread, this is a great “experience culinaire Française” (French culinary experience) that your family and guests will savor.
Bon Appétit!
I mention during the video that we’ll start with fish and shellfish that take the longest to cook. As you know, lobster would be the first to add but I added mine after the prawns & scallops because it was already pre-cooked and just needed to be heated through.
Check out these other scrumptious French recipes…
– Quiche Lorraine
– Croque- monsieur Montréal Style
– Chocolate Éclairs
– Red Snapper en Papillote
– Classic Vichyssoise
– Homemade Vol-au-vent
and for even more seafood and fish recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Fish & Seafood
Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking on this link… Club Foody YouTube
Bouillabaisse à la Marseillaise
Hover to scale
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil tips & tricks
- 3 1/2 cups fennel, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces and fronds reserved for garnish tips & tricks
- 2 cups leeks, washed and sliced tips & tricks
- 1 1/2 cups red onions, chopped
- 5 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 cups plum tomatoes, washed and quartered
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste tips & tricks
- 1 tbsp. dried orange peel (substitute a fresh orange strip)
- 3-4 sprigs thyme tips & tricks
- 1 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tsp. saffron threads
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Chardonnay
- 6 cups boiling water
- fish head, carcass and/or shrimp shells
- handful fresh parsley tips & tricks
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 tsp. ground Himalayan sea salt, or more to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I always use mixed peppercorns)
- 3 lbs. mixed skinless lean white fish such as sea bream, tilapia, cod, turbot, etc. Footnote
- 3 lbs. mixed shellfish such as lobster, scampi, prawns, mussels, clams, and scallops
Directions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add oil and when it gets hot, add fennel, leeks, onions and garlic; stir and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, orange peels, thyme, dill, saffron and cayenne pepper; stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot; cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in boiling water and add fish heads/carcass/shrimp shells, add parsley, bay leaf, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; bring to a full boil; cook for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Remove the fish heads, bones and shells; discard. Remove sprigs of thyme and discard as well.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the mixture until smooth.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve over a large pot.
- Bring the heat to medium-high and when the broth starts to boil, add firmer fish first before adding the others (*see footnote). When they are all cooked, transfer them to a serving plate.
- Add shellfish starting with the ones that take the longest to cook. Transfer shellfish to the serving plate along with the fish and transfer the broth to a soup tureen.
- In shallow serving bowls, place a mix of fish and shellfish, ladle the broth over and serve with crusty bread. To add a nice finishing touch, place fennel fronds on top.
Notes
Don't forget to rate and comment on this recipe!
Here’s a question for you. What you don’t make? You’re unbelievable! Your recipes look amazing. This recipe is on my “to do” list. Thank you for sharing Frankie
Lol! Thank you Liza ☺ I always cooked and love it. It’s my passion and it’s my pleasure to share it with you! Have a gorgeous afternoon ☀