Food for Friends

Jane Grigson's Bouillabaisse - Serves 6 - 8



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"The interesting thing about bouillabaisse ... is that the fish is removed from the soup, but served with it; and the enrichment is provided by large bowls of ailloli and rouille. The bread is toasted, then fried in olive oil, and finally rubbed iwth garlic before being put into a basket for the table. As the soup itself doesn't take long to cook, prepare all the accompanying dishes first".

Ingredients: 3 Kg of fresh fish*, 110 grams olive oil, 2 large onions (chopped), white part of 2 leeks (chopped), 4 - 6 cloves of garlic, 2 large beef tomatoes (peeled and chopped), parsley, fennel, small chilli, good pinch of saffron filaments, cayenne pepper, salt, 4 potatoes (sliced), 3 litres of water (warm).
Garnish: 12 slices of French bread toasted lightly in the oven, fried in olive oil and rubbed with garlic. A bowl of
rouille. A bowl of ailloli.

1. Sort out the fish and clean them. Put oil, vegatables (except potatoes), herbs, and seasoning into a large pot. Add the thickest fish (conger, monk, angler) on top of the vegatables and top with slices of potatoes. Gently pour on the water, bring to the boil and boil hard (this enables the water and oil to thicken together). After 5 minutes add the crawfish. After another 5 minutes add the Dunlin Bay prawns, and John Dory. After another 5 minutes add the rest of the fish and the mussels. Boil for another 4 - 5 minutes.

2. Remove the fish and potatoes to a hot serving dish, split the crawfish head in two and slice away the tail. Prawns and mussels are left in their shells. Taste the soup and correct the seasoning. Boil hard for a few moments, then pour through a strainer into a soup tureen. Serve immediately with the fish and potatoes, the bread and sauces.

* Use the following kind of fish: rascasse or scorpionfish; monk or angler-fish; conger ell; John Dory; weaver; galinette or gurnard; crawfish or spiny lobster; Dublin bay prawns or scampi; mussels.