Retired Principal In The Kitchen

Bouillabaisse is one of the national dishes of France and it was the second dish of my 2026 challenge of cooking national dishes from around the world. Specifically, it is traditional fish stew from Marseille, France, located on the Mediterranean coast, hence its proximity to a bounty of fish and seafood. Many recipes call for building and creating a seafood broth from fish bones and shrimp shells. I didn’t have those, so I used seafood bouillion for my base. I added cod, clams, mussels, scallops, and shimp in my stew and they all worked well. One of the ingredients for an authenic Bouillabaisse is saffron, one of the world’s most expensive spices. Thankfully, I only needed 1/4 of a teaspoon of saffron strands. Using prepared seafood stock, this dish was fairly easy to make. Besides the seafood and stock, I used garlic, leeks, fennel, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. Many Bouillabaisse recipes recommend serving this fish stew with crusty bread topped with a rouille, a thick French sauce using garlic, roasted red bell peppers, lemon juice, olive oil, mayonaise, and cayenne. It was a great accompaniment. Hopefully, this will spark your interest in trying Bouliabaisse.