Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse - one of the most expensive soups in the world. In some restaurants, a portion of this first dish costs 200 euros. This is due to the cost of its constituent ingredients. The composition often include lobster, lobster, separately served sea scorpion. The dish refers to the French cuisine, especially common in the provinces located near the Mediterranean coast. It was originally prepared by Marseilles fishermen from an unsold catch, it was a small sea fish, clams. The cost of this stew was not high. Now it is called the soup of the poor for the rich and compared with the “lunar sonata”. In the menu of Russian restaurants, bouillabaisse can be found under the names “Marseille ear” or “ear in Marseille”. It is possible to reproduce this masterpiece in the home kitchen, although some efforts will have to be made to this.

Cooking Features

In different parts of France, bouillabaisse soup is made according to different recipes, which differ in cooking technology and composition. However, the cooking process and the recipe of this world-famous French dish have some distinctive features that must be taken into account when cooking. Otherwise, bouillabaisse will turn into an ordinary ear that has nothing to do with an elite dish.

It is necessary to include as much seafood as possible into the composition of bouillabaisse. Among them must be at least one variety of fish, several species of other inhabitants of the deep sea. If the soup includes less than five kinds of fish and seafood, then he cannot claim the title of bouillabaisse. In some restaurants it is made from 40 species of fish and mollusks. For broth it is not necessary to take fish fillets, its spine and fins will fit, so the goal is not as difficult to achieve as it may seem at first glance. River fish can be included in the composition of the soup, but not desirable - it will be a departure from the traditions.
Bouillabaisse is a rather thick soup, and not water with a small patch of fish. At 1 liter of water when cooking soup, you need to take about 1 kg of seafood.
Traditionally, tomatoes, celery stalks, onions and garlic are included in the bouillabaisse. Other vegetables are optional, but you can add them. In some parts of France, potatoes and rice are put into this soup, which makes it even more satisfying.
Vegetables before laying in the soup are passaged in olive oil - this is a prerequisite.
There are many spices and spices in the composition of bouillabaisse. The classic recipe involves the use of a bouquet of garni. This bouquet is represented by bay leaf, tarragon, basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley. Additionally, often add the infusion of sage, for the preparation of which a few sprigs of spicy grass is poured with a small amount of boiling water, infused for 10-20 minutes, filtered. In some regions, in order to give the dish unique notes, nuts put into the paste are put into it. A number of recipes include the addition of citrus peel.
The classic bouillabaisse recipe suggests the addition of white grape wine. Most often, it is poured into vegetables and evaporated, less commonly added to an already prepared soup. Wine can be replaced with vinegar, as is done in Brittany, or calvados, as do Normandy residents.
Bouillabaisse served with spicy ruy sauce. To make it, 4-5 cloves of garlic should be ground with a pinch of saffron and half a teaspoon of salt, the same amount of cayenne pepper, mixed with 4 yolks of raw chicken eggs and whipped, adding half a liter of olive oil. In order for the sauce not to exfoliate, you can mix the butter with a small amount of lemon juice and add it in small portions. The consistency of the sauce resembles mayonnaise, the color is red, as if rusty. Some recipes include adding sauce directly to the soup.

Wheat croutons should also be prepared for the bouillabaisse. In Marseille, it serves stale bread cooked according to a special recipe. If you dry white bread in the oven, cover it with a thin layer of butter, and rub garlic, then such croutons will be an ideal complement to the famous Marseilles soup.

Classic bouillabaisse

Composition:

fish (better in assortment) - 1, 5 kg;
squid - 0, 2 kg;
shrimps - 0, 2 kg;
mussels - 100 g;
scallops - 100 g;
onions - 0, 2 kg;
leek - 0, 2 kg;
tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
celery stalks - 150 g;
dry white wine - 0, 2 l;
orange - 0, 2 kg;
garlic - 5 cloves;
bay leaf - 2 pcs .;
black pepper peas - 5 pcs .;
allspice peas - 5 pcs .;
basil, thyme, saffron, rosemary - to taste;
olive oil - how much will leave;
salt - to taste;
water - 2, 5 l.

Preparation Method:

Wash, clean, gut sea fish. Cut it into fillets.
Fish trim the water, put on fire. When it boils, add salt and continue to simmer for half an hour.
Cut off the orange zest. With spices, wrap it in cheesecloth.
Peel the onions. Cut into small cubes.
Rinse celery stalks well, chop them finely.
Chop the leek with a knife.
Cut the garlic as small as possible.
On the tomatoes, make cross-shaped cuts. Dip tomatoes for 2 minutes in boiling water. Take out a slotted spoon by placing it in a container with cold water. Peel off, cut seals in the stalk area. Cut the flesh into pieces and use a blender to turn it into a puree.
Heat olive oil in a pan, fry both kinds of onion, garlic and celery until soft.
Pour in the wine, put it out for 5 minutes.
Add the tomato mass, put a bag of zest and spices in it, simmer another 5 minutes. Remove seasonings, but do not throw away.
Strain the fish broth, transfer the vegetable mass into it.
Cut the fish fillet into medium-sized chunks, dip in the soup after it boils. Boil 10-20 minutes depending on the type of fish used.
Add seafood, pre-cleaning them, cut into small pieces. Cook for 5 minutes.
Put the spice bag in the soup again. Hold him there for a couple of minutes. Take out the bag, remove the soup from the fire.

This is just one of the cooking options for classic Bouillabaisse in Marseille. Other options include the addition of a bouquet of spices with fennel, boiling fish and seafood fillets not in fish broth, but in a vegetable mixture, a separate supply of broth and other products.

Serve the Marseille bouillabaisse with wheat croutons, light aperitif and ruy sauce.

Bouillabais in Toulon

Composition:

large sea fish - 1 kg;
small sea fish - 1, 2 kg;
carrots - 100 g;
potatoes - 0, 3 kg;
white onion - 50 g;
leek - 150 g;
fresh champignons (optional) - 100 g;
fennel root - 1 pc .;
celery stalk - 50 g;
tomatoes - 0, 3 kg;
rice (optional) - 30 g;
dry white wine - 0, 2 l;
tomato paste - 20 ml;
lemon - 0, 5 pcs .;
fresh basil - 50 g;
Provencal herbs, salt to taste;
water - 2, 5 l;
olive oil - how much will leave.

Preparation Method:

Cut large fish into fillets, just wash small ones.
Finely chop the fennel root, leek and white onion.
Cut celery stalk into small pieces.
Boil in tomatoes, peel, cut into large cubes.
Cut the mushrooms into thin plates.
Wash rice.
Slice carrots.
In olive oil, fry the onions (both kinds) and mushrooms, add carrots, fennel and celery, and fry the vegetables for a few more minutes.
Add tomatoes.
After stewing the vegetables for 5 minutes, add the rice.
After a couple of minutes, pour wine into the vegetables and mushrooms, add tomato paste and spices. Put a bunch of basil. Stew for 5 minutes, transfer to the pan. Basil can be thrown out.
Add small fish, ridges, tails and fins of large fish to vegetables. Fill with cold water. Boil for half an hour.
Strain the broth, vegetables and rice through a strainer, return to the broth pan.
Peel the potatoes, cut into large slices, put in the broth and boil until ready.
Cut the large fish fillets into portions, place them on a baking sheet, lay the lemon slices between the pieces. Fill one with a soup ladle, put in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
Arrange the fish in plates, cover with broth.

Serve with wheat crackers, ruy sauce. If desired, you can add seafood to the soup. Remember that it is impossible to boil squids and shrimps for a long time - they will become tough, like rubber. To prepare bouillabaisse at home, you can use a frozen sea shake, which will greatly simplify the process of cooking.

Bouillabaisse - an exquisite French fish and seafood soup, which is prepared with the addition of a special set of spices, white wine, tomatoes, onions and celery. In restaurants, it is not cheap, but it can be cooked in the home kitchen - it will be much more economical. The process of cooking this soup can not be called simple, but if you follow the instructions that accompany the recipe, you can get a good result even for an aspiring cook.

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