A Fish Soup Any Other Name (2024)

What did I know?

I'd never been to Marseille, France, where the dish is famous. I don't even speak French. Nobody had ever told me that you can't make a true bouillabaisse without a fish called rascasse or that the authentic recipe would never include a shrimp or bivalve. I didn't have a clue that the dish I savored and dreamed about and that cost a whole week's food budget was a francophilian fraud.

It wouldn't have mattered.

I looked it up in "Larousse Gastronomique." The classic Bouillabaisse a la Marseillaise must have rascasse, it said, and saffron. Rascasse is not to be found in American waters and back then saffron was about $4 a pinch. A steak in a good restaurant cost less.

Eventually, with the prized saffron in hand and a very respectable rockfish standing in for the impossible rascasse, I dared to proceed with the Larousse recipe. After a wonderful dinner and still basking in the glow of my guests' accolades, I spotted my saffron packet on the kitchen table. Unopened.

It didn't matter.

The dish I had prepared included the freshest ingredients I could obtain. They were handled with care. The components were complementary and cooked to their most succulent state. It sang.

The proper preparation of bouillabaisse and similar fish concoctions generates as much controversy as that surrounding Brunswick Stew or barbecue. Their aficionados can be as feisty as a chili cook-off crowd.

But take heart! The origins of these dishes are not in elitism, but in ordinary people using the common things around them to prepare exceptional foods.

Cioppino, bourride, brodetto, cacciucco, zarzuela, gumbo. Fish soup. Shellfish stew. Beyond a wealth in tradition, what they have in common is the use of several varieties of fish or seafood cooked in one pot with vegetables and aromatics. Most recipes include a bit of tomato and some, such as cioppino, a lot.

I like to make these complex treats when I have six or eight hungry people hanging around the kitchen. For fewer, it is difficult to get a good balance of seafoods. For any more, there just seems to be too much in the pot!

In addition to tasting very good, the recipes I have tried are uncomplicated, most of the work can be done well ahead of serving time and cleanup is minimal. Serve the requisite good bread for mopping up all the wonderful juices, follow with a salad and a good chunk of cheese and you'll have a gala event.

So, what are the trouble spots? Well, paying for all that fresh seafood, perhaps, but you can work around that one. There are a lot of good fresh fish in local markets that do not rupture the budget. In recipes that call for them, minimize the expensive lobster and crab and add flavor by making a stock using shells. At the risk of sounding like a real drag, I'll tell you that whenever my family enjoys the luxury of a lobster dinner, I always boil the shells and freeze the stock. Even the most accomplished picker leaves flavorful bits behind to enhance the brew.

What else to watch out for?

Freshness. Insist upon it.

Temperature. Control it. These classic seafood soups and stews are prepared with olive or vegetable oil. For maximum results, the oil must emulsify with the broth. This means that it must bubble away for a few minutes. But cook it too long and you will have goop.

Don't use a lot of oily fish. A small amount of salmon or bluefish can add a flavor boost, but they shouldn't account for more than 10 to 20 percent of the fish in the dish.

Confidence. These splendid, simple foods have no complicated procedures to befuddle the cook. If you are afraid that some people will say, "You think this is bouillabaisse?" just don't call it bouillabaisse.

It doesn't matter. They'll call it delicious.

Almost Bouillabaisse

(6 main-course servings)

I saw a rascasse once in an aquarium in Europe. Next to it, a catfish would look like Miss America.

Nonetheless, the rascasse, also known as scorpion fish, is abundant in the Mediterranean and a must in authentic Provencal bouillabaisse. I'm not sure that I'd want to get in the kitchen with a rascasse.

Authentic or not, this rascasse-less rendition of bouillabaisse is very good. I developed it with some help from "Larousse Gastronomique" (Crown Publishers, 1961).

If you wish to cut down on the sodium, reduce the salt and use fresh tomatoes or a low-sodium canned variety.

1 cup chopped onions

1 leek (white and light green parts), thinly sliced

1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes

8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 sprig fennel

3 sprigs parsley, smashed

1 bay leaf

2-inch piece fresh or dried orange zest

11/2 pounds lobster tails (may substitute additional amounts of firm- or soft-fleshed fish), quartered

21/2 pounds firm-fleshed fish fillets (preferably two different kinds of fish), such as tuna, monkfish, halibut, flounder or catfish

11/2 pounds soft-fleshed fish fillets, such as rockfish, sole, whiting or turbot

2/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads

1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 loaf French bread, cut on the diagonal into slices 1 inch thick

1 bunch parsley, preferably Italian flat-leaf, stems discarded

In a large stock pot, place the onions, leek, tomatoes, garlic, fennel, parsley, bay leaf and orange zest. Set aside.

Halve or quarter the lobster tails (including the shells); set aside. Cut the fish fillets into 2-by-4-inch or 4-by-4-inch pieces, being careful to keep the firm and soft fish separate. (If the fish are not uniformly cut, the presentation will be more attractive.) Place the lobster tails and firm fish in the pot and add the oil, salt, pepper to taste, saffron and enough water to cover the mixture completely. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the soft fish and shrimp and cook until the fish begins to flake, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Place 1 or 2 slices of bread in each soup bowl. Spoon the fish and broth mixture over the bread. Sprinkle with the parsley leaves and serve immediately.

Per serving: 756 calories, 80 gm protein, 33 gm carbohydrates, 32 gm fat, 172 mg cholesterol, 5 gm saturated fat, 1,452 mg sodium, 4 gm dietary fiber

Seafood Creole Gumbo

(6 main-course servings)

In the American South, the seafood stew of choice is the tomato-tinged Creole gumbo. Similar to its cousins from other shores, this amalgam of regional delicacies is likely to vary depending on what is available or what the cook fancies on a particular day.

My Creole-style gumbo does not rely on a roux. It's easy to prepare and makes great use of seasonal oysters.

If you wish to cut down on the sodium, reduce the salt, use fresh tomatoes or a low-sodium canned variety and use a low-sodium fish stock.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, chopped, with juices

1 pound okra, trimmed and sliced (may use frozen; no need to defrost)

3 cups fish stock (may substitute an 8-ounce bottle clam juice and 2 cups of water)

1 pound crab meat, picked over to remove shell fragments

1 pint shucked oysters, with their liquid, picked over to remove shell fragments

1 pound large, raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions, bell pepper and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and release their juices, about 7 minutes. Add the thyme, garlic, bay leaf, cayenne and black peppers and salt and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juice and the okra and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the crab, oysters with their liquid and shrimp and stir gently. Cook until warm and the shrimp are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Adjust the seasonings to taste and serve immediately.

Per serving: 311 calories, 38 gm protein, 20 gm carbohydrates, 9 gm fat, 187 mg cholesterol, 1 gm saturated fat, 1,319 mg sodium, 6 gm dietary fiber

Julia's Cioppino

(6 main-course servings)

This San Francisco treat traditionally features large Dungeness crab native to the West Coast. My adaptation, with crab legs and blue crab meat standing in for their hard-shelled relative, works equally well. Serve this fish stew with bread (sourdough, of course!).

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 cup chopped onion

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups dry white wine

1 cup fish stock or clam juice

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 bay leaf

28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, chopped, with juices

1 pound snow crab legs

24 mussels or hard-shelled clams, well scrubbed

1/2 pound crab meat, carefully picked over for shell fragments

1/2 pound scallops

11/2 pounds catfish or cod fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and bell pepper and cook until softened but not brown, about 10 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes, wine, stock or clam juice, oregano, basil, bay leaf, tomatoes and crab legs and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the mussels or clams and cook until the shells open, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove and discard any mussels or clams that do not open. Add the crab, scallops, fish and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to medium, cover and cook until the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Adjust the seasonings to taste and serve immediately.

Per serving: 490 calories, 52 gm protein, 16 gm carbohydrates, 19 gm fat, 197 mg cholesterol, 3 gm saturated fat, 830 mg sodium, 2 gm dietary fiber

Jane Adams Finn is a legal consultant and an avid cook living in Chevy Chase.