For 8 people

2 kilos of solid fishes (angler fish, conger eel, moray, scorpion fish, conger, John dory…) and tender ones (wrasse, weever or labroids)
2 or 3 dozens mussels, a crab, some whelks
Eventually, a lobster.
1 onion
1 kilo tomatoes
A carrot
A few leaves of wild fennel (or parsley if you don’t have fennel), thyme, laurer
Grated nutmeg
A few soft chillies, ground.
6 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
White wine
0,2 grams of saffron

Originally, bouillabaisse was cooked by poor people, and was a fish soup made with the unsold rest of the daily fish. Today, you can find in it the most various fishes, including some very delicate ones, like daurade or monkfish) which make it more expensive. It is up to you, with only one rule to abide: fishes must be fresh, if possible of the very day, and in any case not have been deep-frozen

You prepare it in two steps, first a soup made with the small fishes, mixed and diluted, where the big fishes will be cooked, layed one after the other in the pot, so that they are done at the same time. The secret of a good bouillabaisse lies in the fishes” choice, the good mix of spices and the perfect cooking timing, so that the flesh of the fish are still holding.

During tie cooking time, you can prepare “rouille” and “aioli”, two sauces traditionally served with the bouillabaisse.

As usual, you prepared your saffron the day before, diluting it in a cup of cold water that you filter before use

The broth:

• Mash a carrot
• Blanch the tomatoes to remove skin and seeds (you can also use prepared mashed tomatoes)
• Brown onion peeled and squashed garlic, ground fennel leaves, the mashed carrot, a pinch of chilli powder, all in olive oil, on moderate fire.
• Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and strew with raped nutmeg.
• Add a small quantity of white wine, and regularly stir over a high heat.
• As soon as boiling point is reached, lower the fire so that the preparation just simmers, and add the fishes for the soup (like conger or scorpion fish)
• Add saffron
• Stir regularly and let cook for half an hourMix it and pass through a sieve. You need to have enough liquid to cover the big fishes, you can add water or white wine.

• To follow tradition, white fishes, like bass or daurade, should not be used in bouillabaisse, just scorpion fish, labroids, conger, and maybe monkfish’s slices. You can also use some John dory, and add crabs, whelks, mussels or lobster, even if one started to use them only a few years ago.
• Leave to simmer in a part of the broth peeled and sliced potatoes.
• 10 minutes later, add the biggest fishes (of course, scaled and cleaned. You keep separate the liver for the “rouille” sauce), and add the smaller fishes later on, so that they are all cooked (and still firm) at the same time. The whole cooking time must not be longer than 15 minutes.

Note: it is also possible to make it easier, and cook all fishes together, without preparing the broth before. In that case, it will be thickened by the small pieces of fishes that did not hold. It is not as pleasant and good as with the traditional method.