Bouillabaisse
Encyclopedia
Bouillabaisse is a seafood soup made with various kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables, flavored with a variety of herb
s and spice
s such as garlic
, orange peel
, basil
, bay leaf
, fennel
and saffron
. Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal
fish stew
originating from the port city of Marseille
. The French and English form bouillabaisse comes from the Provençal
Occitan word bolhabaissa ˌbujaˈbajsɔ, a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (to boil
) and abaissar (to reduce heat, i.e., simmer).
There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish
(fr: rascasse); sea robin
(fr: grondin); and European conger
(fr: congre); and it can also include gilt-head bream (fr: dorade); turbot
; monkfish
(fr: lotte or baudroie); mullet
; or silver hake
(fr: merlan) It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins (fr: oursins), mussels (fr: moules); velvet crab
s (fr: étrilles); spider crab
(fr: araignées de mer) or octopus
. More expensive versions may add langoustine (European lobster). Vegetables such as leek
s, onion
s, tomato
es, celery
and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille
, a mayonnaise
made of olive oil
, garlic
, saffron
and cayenne pepper
on grilled slices of bread.
What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provençal herbs and spices in the broth; the use of bony local Mediterranean fish; the way the fish are added one at a time, in a certain order, and brought to a boil; and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter.
Recipes for bouillabaisse vary from family to family in Marseille, and local restaurants dispute which versions are the most authentic.
In Marseille, bouillabaisse is rarely made for fewer than ten persons; the more people who share the meal, and the more different fish that are included, the better the bouillabaisse.
An authentic Marseille bouillabaisse must include rascasse (eng: scorpionfish
), a bony rockfish which lives in the calanque
and reefs close to shore. It usually also has congre (eng: European conger
) and grondin (eng: sea robin
). According to the Michelin Guide Vert, the four essential elements of a true bouillabaisse are the presence of rascasse, the freshness of the fish; olive oil, and an excellent saffron.
The American chef and food writer Julia Child
, who lived in Marseille for a year, wrote: "to me the telling flavor of bouillabaisse comes from two things: the Provençal soup base - garlic, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, fennel, saffron, thyme, bay, and usually a bit of dried orange peel - and, of course, the fish - lean (non-oily), firm-fleshed, soft-fleshed, gelatinous, and shellfish."
This is the recipe from one of the most traditional Marseille restaurants, Grand Bar des Goudes on Rue Désirée-Pelleprat:
The Rouille
1. Clean and scale the fish and wash them, if possible in sea water. Cut them into large slices, leaving the bones. Wash the octopus and cut into pieces.
2. Put the olive oil in a large casserole. Add the onions, cleaned and sliced; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed; the pieces of octopus, and the tomatoes peeled and quartered, without seeds. Brown at low heat, turning gently for five minutes, for the oil to take in the flavors.
3. Add the sliced fish, beginning with the thickest to the smallest. Cover with boiling water, and add the salt and the pepper, the fennel, the bouquet garni and the saffron. Boil at a low heat, stirring from time to time so the fish doesn't stick to the casserole. Correct the seasoning. The bouillabaisse is cooked when the juice of the cooking is well blended with the oil and the water. (about twenty minutes).
4. Prepare the rouille: Remove the stem of the garlic, crush the cloves into a fine paste with a pestle in a mortar. Add the egg yolk and the saffron, then blend in the olive oil little by little to make a mayonnaise, stirring it with the pestle.
5. Cook the potatoes, peeled and boiled and cut into large slices, in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes. Open the sea urchins with a pair of scissors and remove the Corail with a small spoon.
6. Arrange the fish on a platter. Add the corail of the sea urchins into the broth and stir.
Serve the bouillon very hot with the rouille in bowls over thick slices of bread rubbed with garlic. Then serve the fish and the potatoes on a separate platter.
Another version of the classic Marseille bouillabaisse, presented in the Petit LaRousse de la Cuisine, uses congre, dorade, grondin, lotte, merlan, rascasse, saint-pierre, and velvet crab
s (étrilles), and includes leeks. In this version, the heads and trimmings of the fish are put together with onions, celery and garlic browned in olive oil, and covered with boiling water for twenty minutes. Then the vegetables and bouquet garni are added, and then the pieces of fish in a specific order; first the rascasse, then the grondin, the lotte, congre, dorade, etrilles, and saffran. The dish is cooked for eight minutes over high heat. Then the most delicate fish, the saint pierre and merlan, are added, and the dish is cooked another 5–8 minutes. The broth is then served over bread with the rouille on top, and the fish and crabs are served on a large platter.
Other variations add different seasonings, such as orange peel, and sometimes a cup of white wine or cognac is added.
According to tradition, the origins of the dish date back to the time of the Phoceans, an Ancient Greek
people who founded Marseille
in 600 BC. Then, the population ate a simple fish stew known in Greek
as 'kakavia
.' Something similar to Bouillabaisse also appears in Roman mythology
: it is the soup that Venus
fed to Vulcan
.
The dish known today as bouillabaisse was created by Marseille fishermen who wanted to make a meal when they returned to port. Rather than using the more expensive fish, they cooked the common rockfish and shellfish that they pulled up with their nets and lines, usually fish that were too bony to serve in restaurants, cooking them in a cauldron of sea water on a wood fire and seasoning them with garlic and fennel. Tomatoes were added to the recipe in the 17th century, after their introduction from America.
In the 19th century, as Marseille became more prosperous, restaurants and hotels began to serve bouillabaisse to upper-class patrons. The recipe of bouillabaisse became more refined, with the substitution of fish stock for boiling water, and the addition of saffron.
Bouillabaisse spread from Marseille to Paris, and then gradually around the world, adapted to local ingredients and tastes.
The name bouillabaisse comes from the method of the preparation - the ingredients are not added all at once. The broth is first boiled (bolh) then the different kinds of fish are added one by one, and each time the broth comes to a boil, the heat is lowered (abaissa).
Generally similar dishes are found in Portugal (caldeirada
), Spain (sopa de pescado y marisco, suquet de peix), Italy (zuppa di pesce), Greece and all the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; where these kind of dishes have been made since the Neolithic Era. What makes a bouilabaisse different from these other dishes are the local Provençal herbs and spices, the particular selection of bony Mediterranean coastal fish
and the way the broth is served separately from the fish and vegetables.
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s and spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s such as garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, orange peel
Orange Peel
Orange Peel may refer to:*Orange Peel , an event held at Oklahoma State University*Orange Peel , a thoroughbred stallion*Orange Peel , a concert venue in Asheville, NC...
, basil
Basil
Basil, or Sweet Basil, is a common name for the culinary herb Ocimum basilicum , of the family Lamiaceae , sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort in some English-speaking countries....
, bay leaf
Bay leaf
Bay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the bay laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean cuisine...
, fennel
Fennel
Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
and saffron
Saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
. Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
fish stew
Stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables , meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used...
originating from the port city of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. The French and English form bouillabaisse comes from the Provençal
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...
Occitan word bolhabaissa ˌbujaˈbajsɔ, a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (to boil
Boiling
Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which occurs when a liquid is heated to its boiling point, the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the pressure exerted on the liquid by the surrounding environmental pressure. While below the boiling point a liquid...
) and abaissar (to reduce heat, i.e., simmer).
There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish
Scorpionfish
Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfish, are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As the name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. The family is a large one, with hundreds of members. They are...
(fr: rascasse); sea robin
Sea robin
Sea robins, also known as gurnard, are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird's wings in flight....
(fr: grondin); and European conger
European conger
The European conger, Conger conger, is a conger of the family Congridae, found in the eastern Atlantic from Norway and Iceland to Senegal, and also in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It is sometimes seen in very shallow water by the shore but can also go down to depths of 1170 m...
(fr: congre); and it can also include gilt-head bream (fr: dorade); turbot
Turbot
The turbot is a species of flatfish in the family Scophthalmidae. It is native to marine or brackish waters of the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.-Etymology:...
; monkfish
Monkfish
Monkfish is the English name of a number of types of fish in the northwest Atlantic, most notably the species of the anglerfish genus Lophius and the angelshark genus Squatina...
(fr: lotte or baudroie); mullet
Mullet (fish)
The mullets or grey mullets are a family and order of ray-finned fish found worldwide in coastal temperate and tropical waters, and in some species in fresh water. Mullets have served as an important source of food in Mediterranean Europe since Roman times...
; or silver hake
Hake
The term hake refers to fish in either of:* family Phycidae of the northern oceans* family Merlucciidae of the southern oceans-Hake fish:...
(fr: merlan) It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins (fr: oursins), mussels (fr: moules); velvet crab
Velvet crab
The velvet crab , Necora puber, is a species of crab. It is the largest swimming crab found in British coastal waters, with a carapace width of up to , and the only species in the genus Necora. The body is coated with short hairs, giving the animal a velvety texture, hence the common name...
s (fr: étrilles); spider crab
Spider crab
The term spider crab can refer to various species of crab in the family Majidae. See crab spider for spiders of the Thomisidae family.*Japanese spider crab , the largest living species of crab, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean*Libinia emarginata, the portly spider crab, a species of crab...
(fr: araignées de mer) or octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
. More expensive versions may add langoustine (European lobster). Vegetables such as leek
Leek
The leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum , also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae...
s, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s, tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es, celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...
and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille
Rouille
Rouille is a sauce that consists of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chili peppers. It is served as a garnish with fish, fish soup and, notably, bouillabaisse. Rouille is most often used in the cuisine of Provence....
, a mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
made of olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, saffron
Saffron
Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
and cayenne pepper
Cayenne pepper
The cayenne pepper—also known as the Guinea spice,cow-horn pepper, aleva, bird pepper,or, especially in its powdered form, red pepper—is a red, hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum...
on grilled slices of bread.
What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provençal herbs and spices in the broth; the use of bony local Mediterranean fish; the way the fish are added one at a time, in a certain order, and brought to a boil; and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter.
Marseille Bouillabaisse
In Marseille, bouillabaisse is rarely made for fewer than ten persons; the more people who share the meal, and the more different fish that are included, the better the bouillabaisse.
An authentic Marseille bouillabaisse must include rascasse (eng: scorpionfish
Scorpionfish
Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfish, are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As the name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. The family is a large one, with hundreds of members. They are...
), a bony rockfish which lives in the calanque
Calanque
A calanque is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast...
and reefs close to shore. It usually also has congre (eng: European conger
European conger
The European conger, Conger conger, is a conger of the family Congridae, found in the eastern Atlantic from Norway and Iceland to Senegal, and also in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. It is sometimes seen in very shallow water by the shore but can also go down to depths of 1170 m...
) and grondin (eng: sea robin
Sea robin
Sea robins, also known as gurnard, are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird's wings in flight....
). According to the Michelin Guide Vert, the four essential elements of a true bouillabaisse are the presence of rascasse, the freshness of the fish; olive oil, and an excellent saffron.
The American chef and food writer Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
, who lived in Marseille for a year, wrote: "to me the telling flavor of bouillabaisse comes from two things: the Provençal soup base - garlic, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, fennel, saffron, thyme, bay, and usually a bit of dried orange peel - and, of course, the fish - lean (non-oily), firm-fleshed, soft-fleshed, gelatinous, and shellfish."
This is the recipe from one of the most traditional Marseille restaurants, Grand Bar des Goudes on Rue Désirée-Pelleprat:
- 4 kilograms of fish and shellfish:
- grondin (eng. sea robinSea robinSea robins, also known as gurnard, are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird's wings in flight....
) - Rascasse blanche (eng. scorpionfishScorpionfishScorpaenidae, the scorpionfish, are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As the name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venomous mucus. The family is a large one, with hundreds of members. They are...
); - rouget grondin (red gurnardRed gurnardThe red gurnard, Chelidonichthys spinosus, is a fish in the genus Chelidonichthys....
); - congre (eng. congerCongerConger is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 3 m in length, in the case of the European conger...
); - baudroie (lotte, or monkfishMonkfishMonkfish is the English name of a number of types of fish in the northwest Atlantic, most notably the species of the anglerfish genus Lophius and the angelshark genus Squatina...
); - Saint-Pierre (eng. John DoryJohn DoryJohn Dory, also known as St Pierre or Peter's Fish, refers to fish of the genus Zeus, especially Zeus faber, of widespread distribution. It is an edible benthic coastal marine fish with a laterally compressed olive-yellow body which has a large dark spot, and long spines on the dorsal fin...
); - vive (eng. WeeverWeeverWeevers are nine species of fish of family Trachinidae, order Perciformes. They are long , mainly brown and have poisonous spines on their first dorsal fin and gills. During the day, weevers bury themselves in sand, just showing their eyes, and snatch prey as it comes past, which consists of...
); - OctopusOctopusThe octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
- 10 sea urchins
- grondin (eng. sea robin
- 1 kilogram of potatoes
- 7 cloves of garlicGarlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
- 3 onions
- 5 ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 1 bouquet garniBouquet garniThe bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs usually tied together with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients, but is removed prior to consumption....
- 1 branch of fennelFennelFennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
- 8 pistils of saffronSaffronSaffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the saffron crocus. Crocus is a genus in the family Iridaceae. Each saffron crocus grows to and bears up to four flowers, each with three vivid crimson stigmas, which are each the distal end of a carpel...
- 10 slices of pain de campagne (country bread)
- salt and CayenneCayenne pepperThe cayenne pepper—also known as the Guinea spice,cow-horn pepper, aleva, bird pepper,or, especially in its powdered form, red pepper—is a red, hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum...
pepper
The Rouille
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 10 pistils of saffron
- salt and Cayenne pepper
1. Clean and scale the fish and wash them, if possible in sea water. Cut them into large slices, leaving the bones. Wash the octopus and cut into pieces.
2. Put the olive oil in a large casserole. Add the onions, cleaned and sliced; 6 cloves of garlic, crushed; the pieces of octopus, and the tomatoes peeled and quartered, without seeds. Brown at low heat, turning gently for five minutes, for the oil to take in the flavors.
3. Add the sliced fish, beginning with the thickest to the smallest. Cover with boiling water, and add the salt and the pepper, the fennel, the bouquet garni and the saffron. Boil at a low heat, stirring from time to time so the fish doesn't stick to the casserole. Correct the seasoning. The bouillabaisse is cooked when the juice of the cooking is well blended with the oil and the water. (about twenty minutes).
4. Prepare the rouille: Remove the stem of the garlic, crush the cloves into a fine paste with a pestle in a mortar. Add the egg yolk and the saffron, then blend in the olive oil little by little to make a mayonnaise, stirring it with the pestle.
5. Cook the potatoes, peeled and boiled and cut into large slices, in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes. Open the sea urchins with a pair of scissors and remove the Corail with a small spoon.
6. Arrange the fish on a platter. Add the corail of the sea urchins into the broth and stir.
Serve the bouillon very hot with the rouille in bowls over thick slices of bread rubbed with garlic. Then serve the fish and the potatoes on a separate platter.
Another version of the classic Marseille bouillabaisse, presented in the Petit LaRousse de la Cuisine, uses congre, dorade, grondin, lotte, merlan, rascasse, saint-pierre, and velvet crab
Velvet crab
The velvet crab , Necora puber, is a species of crab. It is the largest swimming crab found in British coastal waters, with a carapace width of up to , and the only species in the genus Necora. The body is coated with short hairs, giving the animal a velvety texture, hence the common name...
s (étrilles), and includes leeks. In this version, the heads and trimmings of the fish are put together with onions, celery and garlic browned in olive oil, and covered with boiling water for twenty minutes. Then the vegetables and bouquet garni are added, and then the pieces of fish in a specific order; first the rascasse, then the grondin, the lotte, congre, dorade, etrilles, and saffran. The dish is cooked for eight minutes over high heat. Then the most delicate fish, the saint pierre and merlan, are added, and the dish is cooked another 5–8 minutes. The broth is then served over bread with the rouille on top, and the fish and crabs are served on a large platter.
Other variations add different seasonings, such as orange peel, and sometimes a cup of white wine or cognac is added.
History and legend
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
people who founded Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
in 600 BC. Then, the population ate a simple fish stew known in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
as 'kakavia
Kakavia (soup)
Kakavia is a Greek fish soup. It is considered a fishermans soup, made of fish that were unlikely to sell. In its original form is very easy to make and with very few ingredients because it is very often cooked aboard the fishing boat. It is considered a variety of psarosoupa and is similar to the...
.' Something similar to Bouillabaisse also appears in Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
: it is the soup that Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
fed to Vulcan
Vulcan (mythology)
Vulcan , aka Mulciber, is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes in ancient Roman religion and Roman Neopaganism. Vulcan is usually depicted with a thunderbolt. He is known as Sethlans in Etruscan mythology...
.
The dish known today as bouillabaisse was created by Marseille fishermen who wanted to make a meal when they returned to port. Rather than using the more expensive fish, they cooked the common rockfish and shellfish that they pulled up with their nets and lines, usually fish that were too bony to serve in restaurants, cooking them in a cauldron of sea water on a wood fire and seasoning them with garlic and fennel. Tomatoes were added to the recipe in the 17th century, after their introduction from America.
In the 19th century, as Marseille became more prosperous, restaurants and hotels began to serve bouillabaisse to upper-class patrons. The recipe of bouillabaisse became more refined, with the substitution of fish stock for boiling water, and the addition of saffron.
Bouillabaisse spread from Marseille to Paris, and then gradually around the world, adapted to local ingredients and tastes.
The name bouillabaisse comes from the method of the preparation - the ingredients are not added all at once. The broth is first boiled (bolh) then the different kinds of fish are added one by one, and each time the broth comes to a boil, the heat is lowered (abaissa).
Generally similar dishes are found in Portugal (caldeirada
Caldeirada
Caldeirada is a typical Portuguese stew consisting of a large variety of fish, and sometimes shellfish, with potatoes, tomato and onion. It is made of a variety of fish differing in texture and taste...
), Spain (sopa de pescado y marisco, suquet de peix), Italy (zuppa di pesce), Greece and all the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; where these kind of dishes have been made since the Neolithic Era. What makes a bouilabaisse different from these other dishes are the local Provençal herbs and spices, the particular selection of bony Mediterranean coastal fish
Coastal fish
Coastal fish, also called offshore fish or neritic fish, are fish that inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the...
and the way the broth is served separately from the fish and vegetables.
See also
- CaldeiradaCaldeiradaCaldeirada is a typical Portuguese stew consisting of a large variety of fish, and sometimes shellfish, with potatoes, tomato and onion. It is made of a variety of fish differing in texture and taste...
- CioppinoCioppinoCioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco. Despite being considered an Italian dish, it is unknown in Italy, and it is only slightly comparable with various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine...
- KakaviaKakavia (soup)Kakavia is a Greek fish soup. It is considered a fishermans soup, made of fish that were unlikely to sell. In its original form is very easy to make and with very few ingredients because it is very often cooked aboard the fishing boat. It is considered a variety of psarosoupa and is similar to the...
- Suquet de peix
- Halászlé, Hungarian Fisherman's soup
- UkhaUkhaUkha is a clear Russian soup, made from various types of fish such as sturgeon, salmon, or cod. It usually contains root vegetables, parsley root, leek, potato, bay leaf, dill, tarragon, and green parsley, and is spiced with black pepper, saffron, nutmeg, and fennel seed...
, Russian fish soup - GumboGumboGumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...