Originally published on Tuesday, 22nd January 2008

Hardcode Bouillabaisse with Monkfish Liver Rouille

Serves 4-6

In the south of France, bouillabaisse like all things French is taken very seriously. A good fish soup is actually surprisingly challenging to make and needs to be done with time to create a good flavour. This is not 'Nigella Express' material.

In the fish markets in Southern France, piles of small, angry-looking 'soupe' fish and tiny crabs called 'favouilles' are sold for making the stock for bouillabaisse. The key to a good bouillabaisse is to really boil the stock hard to get as much flavour and gelatine out of the fish and fish bones into your soup.

Rouille is a kind of chili and garlic mayonnaise which is served with the soup. Please don't be put off using the monkfish liver in the rouille, it really makes the rouille rich and delicious. The traditional way to serve bouillabaisse is to have the soup first with croutons and rouille and then serve the fish and potatoes as a second course.

Bouillabaisse

6 medium potatoes, thickly sliced
1.5 to 2 kilos of fish (aim for a mix of mild and stronger flavoured fishes such as John Dory, Red Mullet, a few Conger Eel steaks and Monkfish)
a generous pinch of saffron threads
1 baguette, cut into slices and toasted until quite hard

Fish Stock

A generous slug of olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 kilos of small mixed soup fish, gutted but left whole (aim for Mediterranean fish if at all possible, otherwise try a mix small red mullet and bream )
8 small crabs or a mix of lobster or prawn shells and heads
2 fennel bulbs with greens attached, quartered
1 carrot, cut into large chunks,
1 stalk of celery, cut into large chunks
2 large tomatoes, halved
A splash of Pastis (a traditional Provençal anise liqueur)
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
1 dried red chili
a generous pinch of saffron threads

Rouille

3 cloves of garlic, peeled
3-4 slices of peasant bread (without crusts), torn into small pieces
1 dried red chili
½ tsp sea salt
1 small monkfish liver
1 egg yolk
250 mls mild, extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

First make the stock by warming the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and lightly browned. Add the soup fish and crab or lobster/prawn shells and stir it vigorously every few minutes for the next 20 minutes until all the fish fall apart and collapse into a kind of paste. By the time you are finished you should have a pot of 'fish carnage' sautéing away. Continue to cook the fish mixture until it is browned and caramelized.

Add the fennel, carrots, and celery and sauté for a further 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and Pastis and continue to cook until the mixture is nearly dry. Add the bay leaf, thyme, chili pepper and saffron and add enough water to cover the fish mixture.

Raise the heat and bring your stock to a boil. The stock should boil hard enough that you have little oily pools forming on the surface. Continue to boil the stock for an hour, stirring regularly to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of your soup pot.

Remove from the heat and cool slightly, then pour the stock through a fine sieve into a second pot. Taste the soup - it should have an intense flavour and a nice rich colour. Bring the broth to a simmer and reduce the stock by approximately a third. Taste your stock and season it with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes to the stock and then add the fish according to its thickness and firmness. Firm fleshed fish like the Monkfish and Conger Eel should be added first and simmered for 10 minutes with the Red Mullet and John Dory added afterwards. Bring the soup to a boil and boil it for a further 15 minutes after you have added all the fish.

Meanwhile make the rouille by placing the garlic, bread, chili and salt in a mortar and pestle and pounding to a thick paste. Add a trickle of the fish soup broth to loosen it a little if it is too thick to pound easily.

Scoop a ladleful of the hot soup into a bowl and add the monkfish liver. Leave to stand for about a minute, until the monkfish liver is gently poached then drain the stock back into the soup and add the monkfish liver to the mortar and pestle. Gently pound the monkfish liver until it melts into your rouille, then add the egg yolk. With a small whisk, whisk the mixture together and slowly add the olive oil in small trickles, whisking vigorously in between each addition so that the olive oil emulsifies and the rouille becomes thick and creamy.

To serve, spread the rouille on the baguette slices and place 3 or 4 in each soup bowl. Lift the fish and potatoes out of the soup and keep them warm on a large platter. Ladle the soup over the croutons and serve first, followed by the fish and potatoes.

Jennifer Klinec from Eat Drink Talk has kindly agreed to provide Urban Junkies readers with mouthwatering recipes and foodtips.

To learn more, classes at Eat Drink Talk are held in Jennifer's beautiful loft in Clerkenwell, packed with information and useful tips, and you'll get to sample all of the delicious dishes prepared during class.

by JK

In collaboration with Eat Drink Talk