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Julia Child’s Bouillabaisse

Julia Child
Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. as part of the JC100 Celebration.
Print Recipe
Course Main Course
Cuisine French

Ingredients
  

  • 300 ml onions finely cut or minced
  • 200 ml leek finely sliced (or add 150 ml more onions)_
  • 150 cup olive oil
  • 4 clove garlic mashed
  • 500 g tomatoes ripe, red tomatoes roughly chopped, or 500 mls drained canned tomatoes or 1/2 cup tomato paste
  • 2.5 lt water
  • 6 parsley springs
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ tsp thyme or basil
  • ½ tsp fennel
  • 2 big pinches of saffron
  • orange peel A 2-inch piece or 1/2 tsp dried orange peel
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp salt none if clam juice is used
  • 2 to 3 kg fish scraps You're making stock. So 2 to 3 kilos fish heads, bones, and trimmings, or 1-quart clam juice, 1 1/2 quarts of water, and no salt
  • 3 to 4 kg fish assorted lean fish, and shellfish if you wish

Instructions
 

Making the stock

  • Cook the onions and leeks slowly in olive oil for 5 minutes or until almost tender but not browned.
    300 ml onions, 200 ml leek, 150 cup olive oil
  • Stir in the garlic and tomatoes. Raise heat to moderate and cook 5 minutes more.
    4 clove garlic, 500 g tomatoes
  • Add the water, herbs, seasonings, and fish heads, bones, and trimmings to the kettle (or clam juice) and cook uncovered at a moderate boil for 30 to 40 minutes.
    2.5 lt water, 6 parsley springs, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp thyme or basil, 1/2 tsp fennel, 2 big pinches of saffron, orange peel, 1/2 tsp pepper, 2 to 3 kg fish scraps, 1 tbsp salt
  • Strain the soup into the saucepan, pressing juices out of ingredients. Correct seasoning, adding a bit more saffron if you feel it necessary.
  • You should have 2 1/2 quarts of in a higher, rather narrow kettle.

Cooking the seafood and assembly

  • Bring the soup to a rapid boil 20 minutes before serving. Add lobsters, crabs, and firm-fleshed fish. Bring quickly back to the boil and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Add the tender-fleshed fish, the clams, mussels, and scallops. Bring rapidly to the boil again and boil 5 minutes more or until the fish are just tender when pierced with a fork. Do not overcook.
    3 to 4 kg fish
  • Immediately lift out the fish and arrange on the platter. Correct seasoning, and pour the soup into the tureen over rounds of French bread. Spoon a ladleful of soup over the fish, and sprinkle parsley over both fish and soup. Serve immediately accompanied by the optional rouille.

Notes

To prepare the fish for cooking, have them cleaned and scaled. Discard the gills. Save heads and trimmings for fish stock. Cut large fish into crosswise slices 2 inches wide. Scrub clams. Scrub and soak the mussels. Wash scallops. If using live crab or lobster, split them just before cooking. remove the sand sack and intestinal tube from lobsters.
Keyword foundation, kai moana, seafood, soup