Bouillabaisse

Method

1. Get everything ready before you light the stove, because the fish cooks fast at the end. Thinly slice the onion and fennel, finely chop the garlic and dice the tomatoes. Peel the potatoes and slice them 1 cm thick. Cut the fish into 5 cm chunks and pat dry. Scrub the mussels under cold water and pull off the beards; throw away any that are cracked or stay open when tapped.

2. Heat the olive oil in a 20 cm pot over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel and garlic and cook for 7 min, stirring often, until soft and translucent but not browned.

   Add in this stepExtra-virgin olive oil 2¼ tbspOnion 1Fennel bulb ½Garlic cloves 3

   medium heat

3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, saffron, orange peel, thyme and bay leaves and stir until fragrant. Pour in the stock, add the potatoes, season with salt and pepper and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. A hard boil blends the oil into the broth, and that is where the name bouillabaisse comes from. Lower to medium heat and simmer for 15 min, until a knife slides easily into the potatoes.

   Add in this stepRipe tomatoes 2Tomato paste 1 tbspSaffron threads 1 pinchWide strips of orange peel (no white pith) 1Fresh thyme sprigs 2Bay leaves 1Fish stock 700 mlWaxy potatoes 240 gSalt to tasteBlack pepper to taste

   high heat→medium heat

4. Meanwhile, brush the baguette slices with olive oil and toast them in the oven at 200°C for 6 min, until crisp and golden. Halve half of the rouille garlic and rub it over the warm toasts. For the rouille, finely grate the rest of the garlic into the mayonnaise, then stir in the cayenne and 1 tablespoon of the hot saffron broth until smooth and orange.

   Add in this stepExtra-virgin olive oil ¾ tbspBaguette slices, 1 cm thick 6Garlic cloves (for the rouille and toasts) 1Mayonnaise 3 tbspCayenne pepper 1 pinch

   oven

5. Keep the broth at a lively simmer over medium heat, slip in the fish and cook for 4 min. Don't stir; gently shake the pot instead so the fish stays in pieces. Lay the prawns and mussels on top, cover and cook for 4 min more. It's ready when the prawns are pink, the mussels have opened and the fish is white all the way through and flakes easily. Throw away any mussels that stay closed, then taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

   Add in this stepFirm white fish fillets (monkfish, hake, cod, gurnard) 300 gRaw shell-on prawns 5Mussels 200 gSalt to tasteBlack pepper to taste

   medium heat

6. Fish out the thyme, bay leaves and orange peel. Serve the Marseille way: put a rouille-spread toast in each wide bowl and ladle the hot broth over it, then bring the fish, shellfish and potatoes to the table on a platter, scattered with parsley.

   Add in this stepFlat-leaf parsley, chopped 1 tbsp