Ingredients

  • 2 Lemons
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 Fennel bulb
  • Tsp Cayenne pepper
  • Splash white wine vinegar 
  • 3 shallots
  • 2 leeks
  • 2 carrots 
  • 8 medium waxy potatoes 
  • 2 pints passata
  • Small lump of parmesan
  • Big bunch of flat parsley 
  • Pinch of saffron
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 eggs
  • Stale Bread
  • Langoustines
  • Red Mullet
  • John Dory 
  • Gurnard
  • White wine 
  • Pernod 

Method

Tip: Place a wet cloth underneath your chopping board to prevent the board from slipping.

Place the fish onto a cloth and trim and fillet.  

Next, prepare the vegetables.  Slice the fennel, shallots, leeks and carrots. Chop all the vegetables roughly the same size, this will allow them to cook at the same speed. 

Peel and slice the garlic.

Next, add extra virgin olive oil to a large pan.  Add the chopped vegetables and a pinch of salt and allow the vegetables to sauté.  

Add a large splash of dry white wine, mix well and allow the alcohol to burn off.  

Add a pinch of saffron and a large splash of Pernod.  

Add passata, 2 pints of water, langoustines and the fish heads, bones and shells.  Once the mixture begins to bubble, set a timer and for 24 for minutes – 4 minutes to bring it up to heat and 20 minutes cooking time.

Once the 20 minutes is up crush the mix thoroughly with the end of a rolling pin to mush up the shells and bones. Now pass the mix slowly through a sieve to extract the juice but leave the bones behind. 

Rouille:

Take 3 cloves of garlic and crush, using the back of a knife, add some coarse salt and crush again.

Add a pinch of saffron to a small bowl of hot water.

Add egg yolks, a splash of white wine vinegar and lemon juice to a bowl and whisk together. 

Slowly pour in olive oil and vegetable oil and continue to whisk.

Then add the garlic, saffron (from the water) and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Next, peel the potatoes.  

Add the potatoes to the pan with the sieved soup mixture. They will cook in the soup and go a lovely saffron colour.

Cheesy croutons:

Cut bread into small chunks 

Heat some oil in a frying pan.  Add a clove garlic and the chunks of bread.   Cook until the oil has been absorbed and the bread is golden.  

Sit the bread on a cloth to drain off any excess oil.  Place the bread back into the hot pan and grate over some Parmesan.

Dredging the fish fillets:

Heat olive oil in a frying pan.

Season some flour with salt and pepper. 

Place the fish fillets, skin down, into the seasoned flour, then into the hot pan. Fry 3/4 of the way through on the skin side and then turn over.

Remove the potatoes from the soup. Slice them into ¼ inch slices. 

Lay the slices in soup bowls and pour fish soup over them, add the fish, and sprinkle with parsley. Sprinkle a few croutons onto each bowl and finish with dollops of rouille. 

Serve,