Bouillabaisse with Rouille

Ingredients

• 400 g cod fillet, cut into large chunks
• 2 sea bass, halved
• 300 g mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 200 g shrimp, peeled with tails on
• 8 dl fish stock
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, sliced and rinsed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 garlic, crushed
• 400 g canned tomatoes
• 1 pinch saffron
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 baguette, cut into thin slices
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Method

1. 1.

   Sweat the aromatics — Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium-low heat and sweat the fennel, leek, onion and four of the garlic cloves for 10 minutes, stirring often. They should go soft and sweet without taking any colour at all.

2. 2.

   Build the saffron broth — Add the canned tomatoes, saffron and orange zest, cook for 2 minutes, then pour in the fish stock and season with salt. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, until the broth is deep orange and tastes of fennel and sea.

3. 3.

   Make the rouille and toasts — Make the rouille: crush the remaining garlic clove to a paste with a pinch of salt and beat it into the mayonnaise with the cayenne pepper and two tablespoons of the hot broth. Toast the baguette slices until dry and crisp.

4. 4.

   Poach the fish gently — Bring the broth back to the barest simmer — a rolling boil will shred the fish. Slide in the cod and sea bass and poach for 4 minutes without stirring.

5. 5.

   Steam open the shellfish — Scatter the mussels and shrimp over the top, cover the pot and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until every mussel has opened and the shrimp are pink and curled. Discard any mussel that stays shut.

6. 6.

   Serve in deep bowls — Taste the broth and adjust the salt, then lift the fish and shellfish into warm deep bowls and ladle the broth over. Spread the rouille thickly on the toasts and float them on top, or serve them alongside to dunk.