Bouillabaisse



Bouillabaisse, an ambrosial soup that legend says was first prepared by Venus herself!

 I drove through the Basque country and France for my honeymoon. It was a gastronomic delight; The Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Cap Ferret, San Sebastian, and then we stopped for 2 nights in Montpellier and stayed at the wonderful Baudon de Mauny, a place I heartily recommend for a romantic getaway. The next stop was to be Dijon but we decided to have lunch in Marseilles, adding 4 hours on to our journey just so we could have a bowl of the finest Bouillabaisse on earth at L’Épuisette. Due to some pfaffing on my part we were late, and they refused to let us sit down. We did not dine on Bouillabaisse that day, my darling husband tried his best not to be furious with me and I made my first wifely commitment, ‘I shall learn to cook a damn fine Bouillabaisse’. Ironic that this should be my first connubial promise, as legend says it was Venus who first served bouillabaisse, she made it for her husband Vulcan to lull him to sleep while she consorted with Mars!

Now, Bouillabaisse can be jazzed up in many ways, but one must remember that it is traditionally a provincial fisherman’s soup, made from whatever was left in the net after all the good-stuff had been sold. A simple fish stew carried to it’s zenith by smattering of provincial herbs and a thousand years of lore (Greek food writers claim to have invented the precursor of bouillabaisse, when the Phocaeans, founded Marseilles in 600 B.C. bringing with them a fish soup known as kakavia). I decided not to go for a fancy version, with lobsters, crab claws and the like, instead I have chosen a more rustic and traditional recipe which goes like this.

I read: Elisabeth Luard, Julia Child, Rick Stein, Paul Bocuse and many online recipes.

You need to use a selection of at least 6 fish. Try to select a proportion of gelatinous fish such as, halibut and eel along with some firmer fleshed varieties. Here is a selection to choose from:

Cod, Conger eel, Gurnard, Haddock, Hake, Halibut, John Dory, Lemon Sole, Perch, Plaice, Pollack, Mullet (Red or Grey), Sea Bass, Sea Bream, Trout (fresh water or Sea), Turbot, Shellfish (Mussels, Crab, Lobster, Scallops)

Many fishmongers will have a ‘fish soup’ mix. Ask them what is in the mix and how fresh it is. If the fishmonger is good, the mix should also be good. This makes life a lot easier and also makes it possible for you to cook the bouillabaisse for a group smaller than 6. If you buy the mix, then you will also need to ask the fish monger for some fish heads and bones. My fishmonger gives these to me for free. If yours doesn’t then I suggest you look for another!

ingredients for bouillabasse.

Ingredients (for 4)

About 2kg of mixed fish from the list above.

2 onions

1 leek

3 cloves of garlic

1 400g tin of tomatoes.

1 fresh bulb of fennel

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 curl of orange zest

15 strands of saffron

6 tbs olive oil

4 pints of water

1 pint white wine

Salt and pepper

4 thick round slices of crusty French bread, slightly stale or toasted.

For the Rouille

3 cloves of garlic

½ tsp salt

3 red pepper

1 large sweet red chilli

2 slices of white bread (soaked in water and then squeezed of excess)

If you buy the fish whole, you will need to prepare them (wash, scale and gut). Reserve all the debris (bones, fins, heads etc for the stock pot). Cut the fish into bite size pieces and separate the firm fleshed fish from the soft fleshed fish.

eeuwwe! Fish heads.

Put the fish heads and trimmings into a large pot with the cooking water and wine, bring almost to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and reserve.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the onions, leek, and fennel cook in 3 tbs of olive oil for about 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Now, add the saffron, garlic, orange peel and parsley and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the tin of tomatoes, stir through (at this point you can cover the mix, leave the fish covered in the fridge and finish the soup later.)

Before finishing the soup you need to make the rouille, I have chosen to use a mortar and pestle, simply because I am channeling a provincial fisherman’s wife circa 1850 for my bouillabaisse day, but you can use and food processor or blender (and I probably will next time).

a mortar and pestle brings out the vintage fishwife in me!

First blister the red peppers and chilies by putting them in a 200degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Take them out and put them in a plastic bag to cool for a further 15 minutes. Crush the garlic with the salt, tear up the soaked bread and add it to the garlic. Remove the peppers from the bag and pull out the stalk and tip the ‘water’ from the center into a cup, this is highly flavored with the essence of the pepper so I add this to the soup – never waste a flavour like that. Add the peppers and chilies to the garlicky mix and pulverize or blend to a smooth paste. Tip into a pretty bowl ready for service.

When ready to complete the soup, put some deep soup bowls into a low oven to warm.

Bring the vegetable mix back up to simmer and then layer the firm-fleshed fish on top, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top and cover with the fish stock, add a teaspoon of salt and generous grinding of back pepper. Allow the soup to boil for 5 minutes.

Get your table ready with a well chilled bottle of provincial rose or Beaujolais, the rouille, a bowl of aioli, a large basket of crusty French bread and a bowl in which to discard bones and mussels shells. Diners will need a fork and spoon each.

Now add the soft fleshed fish to the pot and boil for another 5 minutes, then add the mussels and wait a further 2 minutes for them to open, take the pot off the heat.

Take the bowls from the oven and put a toasted slice of bread in the bottom of each bowl. Cover each with 2 ladles of broth, then portion the fish out making sure each bowl gets a generous share and assortment. Place the mussels on top to garnish each bowl and then add a final scatter of parsley. Serve immediately encouraging guests to add a large blob of rouille and aioli to there bowls before eating. There should be enough for seconds.

Lobster Thermidor



Classic Lobster Thermidor.







 

 






















When I was a child, my older brother and I heard about Lobster Thermidor somewhere, I can’t remember where, but I do know that it became synonymous with ‘posh food’. We thought it hilarious to ask for it whenever we went out to eat at a restaurant. My parents would take us to the local ersatz Italian diner, and when the waiter would ask for our order, we would titter and say, “The Lobster Thermiodor please, Garcon’.

And so, to this day, the classic French dish holds a place of respect in my mind. I imagine it to be an insurmountable culinary feat, the cooking of which would be akin to a ‘Babette’s Feast’. I wonder, is this true, or is it just a glorified lobster mornay?

So what do I really know? Well, its’ go t a lobster in it, it’s gratinated and no doubt has lots of cream and probably brandy, but that’s it…so what better dish to kick off my weekly culinary challenges. This week I’m going to cook Lobster Thermidor.

The first task is to decide on which recipe to follow. There are hundreds, if not thousands out there, and at first glance I’m thinking, ‘This is going to be a cinch - cook lobster, cover in bechemal sauce, swiss cheese and grill! Then I happen upon the REAL recipes. The French recipes and I realize the obvious. This is classic French cuisine and it’s all about the sauce, and By God, what a sauce it is!

I decide on Julia Child's recipe, because I’ve never followed one of hers before, and I loved that movie ‘Julie and Julia’. I like to imagine Meryl Streep’s version of Julia Childs instructing me from the page as I read.

While making this dish, I REALLY wanted to stray from the recipe. It seemed too intense, too much butter, cream, too many over complicated stages, that could be skipped. But the aim of this exercise is to follow the master and learn. So I stuck it out…and this is how it goes (I’ve doctored the original recipe which was for 6 people down to fit a menu for 2)

Serves 2

Ingredients

Ingredients for a classic Lobster Thermidor.

large stainless steel stock pot with tight-fitting cover 

smaller stainless steel saucepan

Wooden spoon

Wire whip

mixing bowl

fry pan

Shallow roasting pan

1 cup dry white vermouth

1 cups water



1 onion , thinly sliced

1 medium carrot , thinly sliced

1 stalk celery , thinly sliced

6 sprigs parsley

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. thyme

6 peppercorns

1 Tbsp. fresh or dried tarragon



1 live lobsters , 2 pounds

1/4 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. cream

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 egg yolks



1/4 cup whipping cream

3 to 4 Tbsp. more whipping cream

Pinch cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup cognac

1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1 Tbsp. butter , cut into bits

Directions

The stockpot.



Steaming the lobsters: Simmer vermouth, vegetables, herbs, and seasonings in the stock pot for 15 minutes. Then bring to a rolling boil and add the live lobster, head first to kill it instantly. Cover and boil for about 20 minutes. The lobster is done when it is bright red and the long head-feelers can be pulled from the sockets fairly easily.

While the lobster is steaming, stew the mushrooms slowly in the covered saucepan with the butter, lemon juice, and salt for 10 minutes.




when cooked the front feelers
can be removed with a gentle tug.

The sauce: When the lobster is done, remove them from the pot. Pour the mushroom cooking juices into the lobster steaming juices and boil down rapidly until liquid has reduced to about by half. Strain into a saucepan and bring to the simmer.

Cook the butter and flour slowly together a saucepan for 2 minutes without browning. Off heat, beat in the simmering lobster-cooking liquid. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute. Set aside. Film top of sauce with the cream.

Split the lobster in half lengthwise, keeping the shell halves intact. Discard sand sacks in the heads, and the intestinal tubes. Rub lobster coral and green matter through a fine sieve into the mixing bowl, and blend into it the mustard, egg yolk, cream, and pepper. Beat the sauce into this mixture by driblets.

Return the sauce to the pan, and stirring with a wooden spoon, bring it to the boil and boil slowly for 2 minutes. Thin out with tablespoons of cream. Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon fairly heavily. Taste carefully for seasoning. Set aside, top filmed with a spoonful of cream.


pass coral and green matter through a sieve



Sautéing the lobster meat: Remove the meat from the lobster tail and claws, and cut it into 3/8-inch cubes. Set the fry-pan with the butter over moderate heat. When the butter foam begins to subside, stir in the lobster meat and sauté, stirring slowly, for about 5 minutes until the meat has turned a rosy color. Pour in the cognac and boil for a minute or two, shaking the skillet, until the liquid has reduced by half.


Final assembly: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Fold the cooked mushrooms and two thirds of the sauce into the skillet with the lobster meat. Arrange the split lobster shells in the roasting pan. Heap the lobster mixture into the shells; cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and dot with butter. The recipe may be prepared ahead up to this point and refrigerated.

Place in upper third of 425-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until lobster is bubbling and the top of the sauce is nicely browned. Serve immediately on a platter or serving plates.

I served it with trimmed green beans that had simply been blanched for a few minutes, and a simple wedge of lemon. We drank an Alsatian Cremant Rosé .

 Lobster Thermidor? Done.

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So, what did I learn and would I do it again?

I learnt something most good cooks will probably already know. A good sauce maketh a good dish, and a fabulous sauce maketh a fabulous dish. This sauce was precise and time consuming; it was a little like baking with a lot of precise measuring, timing and technique required. I enjoyed it. I find time in the kitchen therapeutic, almost like meditation. I forget about everything else and think only of the food I’m looking at. It quiets my mind.

So getting back to the question, I learnt that you must spend time on a sauce. I kept thinking “Who invented this?”  like the ‘mushrooms’ bit, I’d never have added mushroom cooking liquor to this sauce if I was ‘inventing’ it, but it worked so well, the sauce needed that ‘musty, earthy’ base note. I now want to spend some time learning more about  great French sauciers, they are like the wine masters of the kitchen.

I’m not sure I’ll be cooking this regularly, too many pots and pans, but yes I’d do it for a dinner party, or on request. Personally I like my lobster meat fresh and clean with a light dipping sauce or just a squeeze of lemon. I do love the steaming process I learnt here though, and I shall do that part regularly. The lobsters turn out beautifully cooked and the cooking liquor is the base for a fantastic soup or sauce. So that’s what I’ll take from this. I’ll steam my lobsters a la Julia Child's Thermidor recipe. Eat the lobster meat with a squeeze of lemon in a salad, or through a pasta or as part of a Fruits de la Mer platter; then use the liquor to make a lobster bisque, seafood soup or (along with the coral and green matter) make a fabulous seafood sauce to serve with fish or prawns!