If you order bouillabaisse in a restaurant you expect a great variety of fish and shellfish. Yet the dish began humbly, as a simple fisherman’s stew, and in our kitchen we can join it there. See below for Bouillabaisse and additional fish stews. 

A quite delightful fish stew may be quickly prepared. What the stew lacks in developed character, it makes up in clarity and freshness.

Fish stock is not necessary. Clam juice can supply the essential flavor of the sea. (Of course, if you have fish stock, you will use it. Fish stock is a relative rarity today, as we buy fillets minus their heads, skin, and bones.)

Fresh garlic and tomatoes, fresh herbs if you have them, and a single fish make a delightful dish, with Mediterranean flavors. A few minutes for the broth, a few minutes more for the fish, and your meal is complete in less than half an hour.

The garlic is mashed, then sautéed 5 minutes. The cooked garlic flavor goes into the oil, to be preserved through the subsequent boiling.

The master recipe is for a quickly cooked broth. A longer cooking, as described in the variation, is more conventional. This further develops the flavors, but at some expense of freshness.

Serves 4

Preliminaries

Cook onions gently in olive oil until transparent, 5 minutes.
Cut each garlic clove in 4 pieces. Peel and mash.
Stir in mashed garlic and tomatoes. Raise heat slightly and cook 5 minutes more.

To prepare broth

Add clam juice, wine, and water. Add bay leaf, thyme, and pepper. Taste and add salt if there is not enough already in the clam juice.

Bring rapidly to the boil. Boil uncovered at a definite boil about 15 minutes.

Taste and correct seasoning. The broth should be delicious.

(May be done in advance to this point.)

To cook fish

15 minutes before serving, cut fish in double bite-size pieces. Add to the broth. Cook until tender, turning once or twice, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook.

Variations
Bit of orange zest, 1 inch piece, is a nice touch. Add with other herbs.
Include some short pasta, cooked in the broth.

Use ingredients for the master recipe. Boil the broth 30 to 40 minutes before adding fish.
More character can be developed by shredding tablespoons of the raw fish and cooking it in the broth.

Most kinds of firm-fleshed fish may be used in a fish stew: cod, halibut, sea bass, snapper, mahi mahi. Sole and salmon are a bit too delicate for this.

Shellfish are not traditional in bouillabaisse, but have slipped in naturally. Any kind of shellfish - shrimp, lobster, mussels - are suitable. These cook quicker than swimming fish. Thus after cooking fish 5 minutes, add shellfish, let come back to boil, and cook 5 minutes more.

If using shrimp, cook shells with the broth, then take them out before serving.

A full bouillabaisse is not difficult, just time-consuming. The only real difficulty with the dish is spelling it, a problem avoided if you refrain from passing the recipe on to friends.

Julia Child recommends that at least six kinds of fish be used, including some of a gelatinous quality such as halibut, eel, or firm-fleshed flounders.

A base is made from a fish stock, in which heads, bones, and trimmings are boiled for 30 to 40 minutes. Saffron and fennel are included with flavorings. The soup is passed with rounds of hard-toasted French bread, rouille (a strong sauce of garlic, red pepper, chili pepper, and herbs) and cheese. Consult Julia Child (Mastering, Volume I).

While the bouillabaisse line above uses garlic and tomatoes as a base, alternative ingredients may be used.

This uses the flavor combination of pollo chilindron. While the ham, tomatoes, onions, and red pepper do not produce here quite the marvelous effect that they do with chicken, they do conspire to make an interesting fish stew, a little off the beaten track.

Preliminaries

Roast the red peppers in toaster oven or by other method.

Heat the oil at medium low in the pan. Add onions and optional garlic. Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in the ham, tomato, and roasted red peppers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook gently 15 minutes. Liquid from the tomatoes and onions will be produced.

To prepare broth

Add wine and water. That’s it, the broth is made.
Taste and correct seasoning. The broth should be delicious.

(May be done in advance to this point.)

To cook fish

15 minutes before serving, cut fish in double bite-size pieces and add to the broth. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Do not overcook.

This recipe is in preparation. Please request if you wish to see it.