Bourride (French Fish Soup)
4 servings
150 minutes
An old southern French recipe, stuck somewhere between a soup and a stew. Unlike bouillabaisse, bourride only uses white fish of various varieties. Eric Le Provost, chef of the Le Carré restaurant, cooks the broth with sea bass , dorado, cod and red mullet, but the set can be any, the greater the variety of fish, the better. The soup gets its rich taste thanks to the flambé technique - that is, at a certain stage of cooking, you will have to pour cognac into the contents of the pan and set it on fire . Bourride is served with croutons and aioli sauce. This can be done in different ways - either put the crouton on a plate and pour the soup over it, or simply serve the sauce and toasted bread separately.
1
Clean the fish, gut it, and rinse. Cut off the head and remove the gills. Fillet it, keeping the spine, head, and bones. Rinse the heads and bones thoroughly under cold running water.
- White fish: 500 g
- White fish: 500 g
2
Chop the garlic finely. Clean and chop the celery, leek, carrot, and onion into large pieces. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.
- Garlic: 3 cloves
- Celery stalk: 20 g
- Leek: 20 g
- Onion: 60 g
- Carrot: 80 g
- Tomatoes: 270 g
3
Chop fish bones and heads into large pieces and brown well in olive oil in a large pot. Add vegetables (except garlic and tomatoes) and sauté for another 20 minutes.
- White fish: 500 g
- Olive oil: 50 ml
- Celery stalk: 20 g
- Leek: 20 g
- Onion: 60 g
- Carrot: 80 g
4
Add garlic and reduce the heat to low. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and simmer, stirring, for 10-15 minutes.
- Garlic: 3 cloves
- Tomato puree: 50 ml
5
Add chopped tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Tomatoes: 270 g
6
Pour in white wine and let the liquid reduce to half its volume.
- Dry white wine: 60 ml
7
Carefully pour cognac over the contents of the pot and ignite.
- Cognac (brandy): 25 g
8
When the fire goes out, pour water into the pot three fingers above the contents.
9
Tie fennel, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley with string and add to the pot. Also add tarragon. Salt and boil for 45 minutes.
- Fennel: 20 g
- Thyme: 4 sprigs
- Bay leaf: 2 pieces
- Parsley: 15 sprigs
- Tarragon (estragon): 5 sprig
- Salt: 10 g
10
Fry the fish fillet in olive oil in a separate pan until a nice golden crust forms. Pat the fillet dry with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Olive oil: 50 ml
- White fish: 500 g
11
Strain the soup through a sieve, add pieces of fish fillet, and cook for another 15 minutes until the fish starts to break apart. At the end, add cayenne pepper. The soup should be quite spicy, but adjust to your taste.
- Ground cayenne pepper: to taste
12
Slice the baguette and dry it in the oven.
- French baguette: 1 piece
13
Serve the soup with croutons, grated cheese, and aioli sauce.
- Emmental cheese: 100 g
- Aioli: 120 g
