Bouillabaisse

  • medium
  • 4
  • 3 hours 15 minutes
Not yet rated

Bouillabaisse is a classic French seafood soup, often served with a rouille – a Provençal mayonnaise-style sauce. This bouillabaisse recipe from Tom Aikens creates a dish which can be served in a number of ways, with the broth and fish plated separately, or in one steaming bowl – either way this is an incredible recipe, with a hint of aniseed flavour provided by the fennel.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Bouillabaisse broth

Rouille

To plate

Equipment

  • Stick blender
  • Fine chinois

Method

1
To make the broth, place the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the fennel and cook for 3–4 minutes, without colouring it
2
Add the red peppers, sea salt, tarragon and pepper, and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Add the fish bones and tomatoes, cover with water to a depth of 2.5cm and bring to a simmer
3
Skim off any scum that has risen to the surface, then add the tomato paste and saffron and bring back to a simmer. Cook for 1 ½ hours until reduced by approximately one third, skimming away any more scum from time to time
4
Use a stick blender to blend the mix to a smooth sauce. Pour through a fine sieve, pressing the solids with a ladle to extract all the liquid. Pour through a fine chinois, this time without pressing
5
Add the lemon juice then pour into a blender and add the butter. Blend, check the seasoning and pass again through a fine sieve once more. Chill until needed
6
To make the rouille, whisk the egg yolks with the seasoning, lemon juice, saffron and cayenne pepper
7
Slowly add the oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously. Stir in the garlic and add a little warm water to thin it down if you need to. Set aside until required
8
Peel and deseed the tomato and chop the flesh finely to make a concasse
9
Cut the salmon, pollock and monkfish into 50g pieces and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cut each sardine fillet in two
10
Heat 500ml of the bouillabaisse broth to a simmer, add 30g of the rouille and whisk well
11
Add the monkfish and mussels, poach for 3 minutes, then add the salmon and pollock and cook gently for another 7–8 minutes
12
Add the sardine pieces, cook for 2 minutes, then add the herbs and tomato concasse. Serve immediately
First published in 2015

Tom Aikens is one of the most creative and talented chefs Britain has ever seen, with a restaurant empire to match.

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