Recipes For Classic French Bouillabaisse Soup + Photos And Videos

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Cooking bouillabaisse fish soup: gourmet French cuisine in your home

In any national cuisine there is such a dish: in their own country it is prepared from what is at hand when there is nothing to eat, but in other states it becomes a real delicacy. Italians have pizza, in Japan - sushi, and in France - bouillabaisse soup. In this country, it is served both in cheap cafes and in expensive restaurants, and it is always popular with tourists and residents of France. What kind of delicacy is this and how can I learn how to cook it? The most popular French bouillabaisse recipes.

Content

• 1 The history of bouillabaisse and the peculiarities of its preparation

• 2 Various recipes for French soup: cook yourself at home + photo

  • 2.1 Classic version with rouy sauce

    2.1.1 Video: how to make bouillabaisse - French fish soup

  • 2.2 Toulon Bouillabaisse
  • 2.3 An exquisite recipe from Tatiana Litvinova
  • 2.4 Royal bouillabaisse
  • 2.5 Detailed video recipe from the "Food" channel

Bouillabaisse history and peculiarities of its preparation

The birthplace of bouillabaisse is traditionally considered to be Marseille. Many centuries ago, the sailors of this city, after a long working day, sold out their catch, and cooked soup from the remains to satisfy their own hunger. Everything that remained in the nets after the buyers dismantled a good product was used: small fish, squid, shrimp, molluscs and other marine life. To somehow dilute the smell of fish, they added aromatic herbs and some vegetables that are at hand.

Bouillabaisse was originally very simple to prepare, and most importantly - cheap, affordable for the poorest segments of the population. Now it is often called the soup of the poor for the rich. This is because over time the method of its preparation has changed a little and improved, the ingredients have become much more expensive. In French restaurants, a serving of bouillabaisse can cost about 200 euros due to the fact that it contains scallops, lobster meat and other expensive seafood.

Once bouillabaisse was a cheap soup for the poor, now it is served in expensive restaurants in France

In addition, it is customary to add a bouquet of garni made from aromatic herbs and spices as a seasoning for bouillabaisse:

• 1 green leek leaf;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 4 sprigs of thyme;
• 2 sprigs of parsley.

Now it is difficult to define a single recipe for this fish soup: in each region of France it is prepared in its own way, adding local flavor to the dish. But there are several main rules for cooking:

1. You can have any seafood and even fish leftovers (heads, ridges, tails or fins), but no less than 4–5 different types, and in fact, the more the better.

   

   For bouillabaisse, take as many types of fish and various seafood as possible

2. In addition to fish, vegetables are added to bouillabaisse. An obligatory set - tomatoes (fresh or in their own juice), garlic, leeks, onions, fennel root and greens. Vegetables are pre-fried and stewed - this is a distinctive feature of bouillabaisse.
3. In most recipes, half a glass of dry white wine and saffron are added to the Marseille fish soup. Several strings of this seasoning insist 2-4 hours in a little hot water and pour the resulting infusion during cooking.
4. Traditionally, bouillabaisse soup is always served hot, with croutons (in France they are called croutons) and a spicy rouy sauce.

The exact proportions of products are also not easy to deduce, but most often they are something like this:

• 2 kilograms of fish;
• 2 onions;
• 2 large tomatoes;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 2-3 sprigs of thyme;
• 5 sprigs of parsley;
• half a glass or slightly more dry wine.

In addition, you can, following the example of chefs from different regions of France, diversify the bouillabaisse recipe by adding walnuts and replacing wine with calvados, as in Normandy, acidifying with vinegar, as in Brittany, or adding potatoes, as in Toulon

Various recipes for French soup: we cook it yourself at home + photo

We have selected several recipes for you, which include the products available in our stores.

Classic version with rouy sauce

For a classic recipe, fish of 5-6 species are usually taken. In this case, it is better to buy two types of expensive fillets, and the rest can be small cheap fish.

Classic bouillabaisse

Take these products:

• 1.5 kg of fish of different types;
• 200 g squid;
• 200 g shrimp;
• 100 g mussels;
• 100 g scallops;
• 2 medium-sized onions;
• 4-6 cloves of garlic;
• 3 large fresh tomatoes without skin;
• 200 g dry white wine;
• 2 large celery stalks;
• 2 leeks;
• 5 bay leaves;
• 5 peas of black and white pepper;
• 1 orange;
• ½ bunch of greens (dill and parsley);
• spices for fish - basil, thyme and saffron.

Instead of fresh tomatoes, you can take 1 can marinated in your own juice. Now let's start cooking:

1. Rinse the fish thoroughly. In our case, this is a piece of tuna, stingray fillet, barracuda, salmon and paw-paw fish head.

   

   Stingray fillets are great for bouillabaisse

2. Set aside the salmon for now, and put the rest of the fish in a saucepan, add water there and set to cook for 20 minutes from the moment of boiling, adding leeks.

   

   Cook all fish, except salmon, in a saucepan

3. While the fish is on the stove, let's prepare a bouquet of herbs and spices. Spread a piece of gauze or cotton cloth on the table, on it place coarsely chopped peel of 1 orange, peppercorns, laurel leaves, basil sprigs, saffron and thyme. You can add some of your favorite seasonings. Wrap the fabric, make a pouch. When the time comes, you simply dip it into the boiling broth, hold for the required time and take it out. You will not need to then catch the spices from the saucepan.

4. In a deep frying pan or cauldron, fry the chopped onions with garlic, passed through a press, and chopped celery.

   

   Saute the onions, garlic and celery

5. Cut the peeled tomatoes, mash a little and add to the dishes to the onions and garlic.

   

   Add tomato puree to the pan

6. Add 1 glass of wine to the mass.

7. Meanwhile, the fish has already been cooked. You will determine readiness by the fact that the meat has turned white and began to move well from the bones. Strain the finished broth, pour it into a pan with vegetable mass, immediately put a bag of spices.

   

   Pour broth with vegetables, add a bag of spices

8. Cut the previously set salmon into small pieces. Sort out the fish left over from the broth, removing the bones. Put everything in a bowl where the vegetable mass is stewed (except for the bones, of course), and simmer for about 20 minutes.

9. While the fish is cooking, prepare the seafood: peel, rinse and cut. If you don't have fresh squid, shrimp, mussels and scallops, grab a frozen seafood cocktail from the supermarket.

   

   You can buy a ready-made seafood cocktail in the store

10. When the fish fillet is cooked, take out the spice bag, add the prepared seafood and cook for another 5 minutes.

    

    Add seafood to soup and cook for another 5 minutes

The bouillabaisse soup is ready. But to serve it correctly, it is not enough to pour the soup into bowls and sprinkle with chopped herbs. A required attribute is rui sauce, for which you will need:

• 1 egg yolk;
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 pinches of paprika;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 2 pinches of salt;
• 100 ml of olive oil.

The sauce can be made in advance or while making the soup.

1. Stir the egg yolk in a cup with salt, saffron, paprika and cayenne pepper. Rub thoroughly with a whisk, but do not whisk!
2. Add olive oil in a thin stream, stirring the sauce blank all the time. The mass should become lighter and similar in consistency to mayonnaise. It doesn't matter if you need less or more oil: you can determine the appropriate thickness by eye.
3. Prepare the croutons: cut the baguette into slices, place on a baking sheet, lightly drizzle with vegetable oil and place in the oven for 3 minutes at 200 ° C.

That's all. Now you can serve bouillabaisse soup, followed by croutons and rouy sauce in a separate bowl.

Video: how to cook bouillabaisse - French fish soup

Toulon Bouillabaisse

A peculiar highlight of bouillabaisse, which is prepared in the French city of Toulon and its environs, is potatoes. In other regions, it is not added to fish soup.

Toulon bouillabaisse is distinguished by the fact that potatoes are placed in it

You will need:

• 300 g fillet of any sea fish;
• 300 g of fish tails and heads;
• 1 potato;
• 1 onion;
• 2 large tomatoes;
• 1/2 fennel onion;
• 200 g of large shrimps;
• 200 g mussels;
• 1 squid carcass (can be frozen);
• salt, pepper, bay leaf, fennel seed, saffron.

The products are ready, you can start.

1. Place the heads, tails and fillets in a deep bowl, cover with water and boil a strong broth for 20 minutes. Close to the end of the cooking process, salt, add pepper and bay leaf to taste.

   

   Boil fish broth

2. Chop the onion finely, fry it in vegetable oil (traditionally olive oil).

   

   Saute the onions in vegetable oil

3. Cut the fennel bulb into thin long strips, place it on the onion and continue to fry.

   

   Also sauté the chopped fennel onion

4. Dip the tomatoes for 2-3 seconds in boiling water, then in cold water. Remove the rind.

   

   Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel them

5. Cut the tomato pulp into small slices, put in a frying pan, where onions and fennel are fried. Simmer for 5 minutes.

   

   Chop tomatoes and sauté them with onions

6. Transfer the fried tomatoes and onions to the fish broth. Add the peeled, diced potatoes and cook for another 20 minutes.

   

   Transfer the vegetables to the stock and cook for 20 minutes

7. In the meantime, do some seafood. Rinse the mussels thoroughly.

   

   Rinse the mussels

8. Remove the shells from the shrimp. If you have frozen food, pour boiling water over and rinse well in running cold water - this will make it easier to clean.

   

   Shell the shrimp

9. Rinse and peel the squid, cut into rings. Frozen squid, like shrimp, is easy to peel after being in boiling water. Place all the seafood in the broth bowl and cook for another 4 minutes.

   

   Peel, rinse and chop the squid

10. Remove fish and seafood from the pan, transfer to a separate bowl or immediately place on plates. Wipe the remaining broth with the broth through a sieve, put on fire again. Wait for the liquid to boil, add the saffron.

    

    Rub the broth through a sieve and let it boil again

11. Turn off the heat under the saucepan, pour the broth into bowls of fish and seafood. Serve the bouillabaisse hot with finely chopped fennel and a slice of lemon.

    

    Serve herb soup with lemon wedge

An exquisite recipe from Tatiana Litvinova

The team of the culinary program "Everything will be delicious" on the Ukrainian channel STB, headed by the host Tatiana Litvinova, offers us a special version of bouillabaisse - using Mediterranean vegetables. If you really cook a French fish soup, then you need to do it with the appropriate charm!

Bouillabaisse from Tatiana Litvinova provides for the use of Mediterranean vegetables

You will need:

• 400 g seabass;
• 500 g fresh salmon;
• 300 g shrimp;
• 2 shallots;
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• ½ cans of tomatoes in their own juice;
• 1 squid carcass.

In broth:

• 1 onion onion;
• 2 stalks of celery;
• ½ bunch of greens;
• 1 carrot;
• 2 liters of water;
• 500 g of fish bones, heads, ridges;
• 5 black peppercorns;

• salt to taste.

  

  Prepare the ingredients for the soup: fish with seafood, vegetables, herbs and spices

For serving, prepare the roui sauce (its recipe is written above).

1. Remove heads and chitins from shrimps, as well as black veins from the backs. Put half of the shrimp meat in cold water, add fish heads, ridges and bones.

   

   Peel the shrimp and place them in a pot with fish heads and spines

2. Carrots, onions, herbs, black peppercorns - there too.

   

   Add carrots, onions, peppers, herbs there.

3. Turn on medium heat under a saucepan, wait for the water to boil and cook for about half an hour. As soon as the broth starts to boil, throw a bunch of garni into it.

4. Chop the onion, celery stalk, heads of garlic into small cubes.

   

   Chop onion, celery and garlic finely

5. Cut the fish fillet into small pieces, squid into rings divided in half.

   

   Cut fish and squid fillets

6. Beat the tomatoes with a mixer or blender so as to achieve a uniform consistency.

   

   Use a blender to puree the tomatoes

7. Take a thick-bottomed pot. Heat a small amount of olive oil in it, fry the chopped vegetables.

   

   Saute vegetables in olive oil

8. Add tomato puree to them.

   

   Add tomato puree there.

9. Stew the vegetables a little more with tomato puree and pour the broth into them. Leave to simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.

   

   Pour the broth into the vegetables and cook for 15 minutes

10. Put the fish and red meat into the soup first.

    

    Put the fish with red meat in the soup first

11. Add the white fish after 2 minutes.

    

    Add white fish

12. After another 3 minutes, send the other half of the shrimp with squid there.

    

    Add shrimp last

13. Heat the soup for another minute, try it with salt. If you see fit, add salt and remove the pan from heat. Let the soup sit for 5-10 minutes.

Royal bouillabaisse

You will have to cook Royal Bouillabaisse the way it is done in expensive restaurants - longer than the previous ones, and using certain products, some of which are not cheap here. And even the rui sauce will require more attention than usual. No deviations allowed, but the Royal Bouillabaisse is well worth it!

Royal bouillabaisse

You will need:

• 250 g cod fillet;
• 300 g flounder fillet;
• 250 g salmon fillet;
• 200 g shrimp;
• 1 leek onion;
• 1 fennel onion;
• 4 potatoes;
• 1 can of canned tomatoes;
• 1 onion onion;
• 1 bunch of parsley;
• 1 carrot;
• 3 bay leaves;
• ½ glass of dry white wine;
• 8 strings of saffron;
• 6 peas of black pepper;
• ½ bunch fresh thyme;
• 2 tbsp water;
• 3 cloves of garlic
• sea salt to taste.

For fish broth, take:

• 500 g of fish scraps, fins, heads;
• 3 bay leaves;
• 6 peas of black pepper;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 onion.

Prepare foods for the sauce:

• 1 egg yolk;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 1 chili pepper;
• 2 bell peppers;
• 2 slices of white bread;
• 65 ml olive oil;
• 50 ml of milk;
• lemon juice to taste;
• sea salt to taste.

Are all products in place? Let's get started.

1. First of all, you need to soak the saffron in advance by pouring 2 tablespoons of boiling water over it.

   

   Soak saffron in a little boiling water

2. Prepare a broth from the fish heads: fill them with cold water and cook for 20 minutes after boiling over a fire a little over medium. Be sure to add carrots, 1 onion, peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt to the broth as soon as the water starts to boil. When the broth is finished, strain it and set aside for a while.

   

   Boil and strain the broth

3. Chop the fennel, leek and onion with a knife. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and fry the vegetables in it.

   

   Chop fennel, leek and onions and sauté in olive oil

4. Peel and dice the potatoes and place them in a saucepan with the onions, fennel and leeks.

   

   Chop potatoes and add to onions, fennel and leeks

5. Mash canned tomatoes (no spices - this is important!) And send them to the same saucepan. You can also take fresh tomatoes, but do not forget to scald them with boiling water and remove the skin.

   

   Add shredded tomatoes to vegetables

6. While the whole mass is stewing, chop the thyme and pass the garlic through a press. Put with vegetables, stir.

   

   Chop the thyme and garlic, add to the pan

7. Pour in dry white wine.

   

   Pour in white wine

8. Wait a little for the liquid from the workpiece to evaporate slightly, then pour in the fish broth and saffron infused in boiling water. Season with salt, add peppercorns, simmer over low heat for 7 minutes.

   

   Pour in broth, add saffron and pepper, cook for 7 minutes

9. When the time is up, start laying in the chopped fish and peeled shrimp, following the sequence: cod, flounder, salmon, shrimp.

   

   Add fish and seafood to the soup

10. Increase heat to medium and wait for the liquid to boil. Reduce heat again, add chopped parsley to the soup, cover the pan with a lid and leave to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

    

    add chopped parsley and let the soup simmer

11. In the meantime, start making the sauce. Pack the bell peppers in a baking bag and place them in the oven at 200 ° C for 20 minutes.

    

    Wrap the bell peppers and bake in the oven

12. Wait for the pepper to cool, remove the film and scrub the seeds to leave clean pulp.

    

    Peel the baked peppers, remove the seeds

13. Cut the baked peppers into large pieces.

    

    Cut the peppers into pieces

14. Also peel hot peppers and cut them into smaller pieces.

    

    Finely chop hot peppers

15. Beat the yolk in a mixer, gradually introducing olive oil in a thin stream. Continue whisking until you get the consistency of thick mayonnaise.

    

    Whisk the yolk with the olive oil

16. Soak the rolls in warmed milk.

    

    Soak pieces of bread in warmed milk

17. In a blender bowl combine sweet and hot peppers, salt, soaked bread, garlic. Whisk into a smooth puree. Combine with mayonnaise mass, mix thoroughly (preferably in a blender).

    

    Whisk all ingredients for the sauce in a blender

Everything is now ready. All that remains is to pour the bouillabaisse soup into bowls and serve with croutons and sauce.

Detailed video recipe from the "Food" channel

We hope that the recipes we offer will please you and will take their rightful place among your culinary masterpieces. Try making your own bouillabaisse once and fine French cuisine will be a frequent guest in your home! Share your ways and secrets of making this wonderful fish soup with us in the comments. Bon Appetit!