Bouillabaisse is a traditional French fish stew with a long history dating back to ancient Greece. It is made with a variety of fish and shellfish, vegetables, herbs, and spices, and is traditionally served atop slices of French bread with a spicy sauce called rouille. It is time-consuming and can be expensive to prepare.
Bouillabaisse is a traditional French fish stew originally created in the port city of Marseille. The word comes from the Provençal word bolhabaissa. The root words within bolhabaissa reveal the two main steps in creating the stew. The words bolhir and albaissar mean respectively “to boil” and “to reduce”.
Although bouillabaisse is generally considered a traditional Provençal dish, its history dates back to the ancient Greeks. In fact, it was the ancient Greeks who founded Marseille over two and a half millennia ago. At this time in history, a Greek staple was a simple fish stew called kakavia. Bouillabaisse has such a long history that it even appears in Roman mythology. According to these ancient tales, the Goddess Venus fed the Vulcan stew. She lulled Vulcan to sleep and Venus left to meet Mars.
Bouillabaisse is an aromatic stew made with fish and a variety of fish and shellfish. In classic recipes, almost a dozen types of fish are cooked in stew. The most common fish on the plate are monkfish, red mullet and conger eel. Of course, many other types of fish can be incorporated. Bouillabaisse gets its rich flavor from vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, leeks and celery, which are boiled and added to the stew. But it’s the blend of herbs and spices that gives the stew its wonderful aromatic quality. Garlic, bay leaves, fennel, orange peel, saffron and bay leaves complement the flavors of the bouillabaisse beautifully.
The types and quantities of ingredients that go into bouillabaisse greatly per region. Because the dish is so old, most chefs agree that it’s impossible to know the exact recipe for “authentic” bouillabaisse. However, if you ask a Provençal chef about his recipe, he’ll likely tell you that he created the “most authentic” version. It is traditionally served atop slices of French bread. Sometimes, the bread is topped with a spicy sauce made from chili peppers and olive oil. This sauce is known as rouille.
While bouillabaisse is a fantastic culinary delight, it is quite time consuming. If the cook doesn’t live in a place where seafood is plentiful and reasonably priced, it can also be quite expensive to prepare, depending on the types of fish and shellfish used. Because of these two caveats, the stew is often served when large groups of people can enjoy it together.
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