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Bouillabaisse a la Marseillaise

A historical recipe from A guide to modern cookery, by Escoffier, A. (Auguste) (1907).

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A historical recipe

A guide to modern cookery, by Escoffier, A. (Auguste) (1907). Project Gutenberg eBook #71395.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

France

Known as a French recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

Ingredients 5 ingredients

  1. two lbs. of fish
  2. a pinch of powdered saffron
  3. two tablespoonfuls of oil
  4. one-third oz. of salt
  5. one small onion

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Boiling water and steam. Turn pan handles inward, away from the edge of the hob. Lift lids away from you, and pour hot water away from your body: steam burns too.
  • Sharp knives. Cut on a board that doesn't slip (a damp cloth under it helps), and curl the fingers of the hand that holds the food.

Method

  1. The fish for Bouillabaisse are rascasse, chapon, dory, whiting, fiélas, boudreuil, spiny lobster, red mullet, gurnet, &c.
  2. Cut the larger fish into slices;
  3. leave the smaller ones whole, and with the exception of the whiting and the red mullet, which cook more speedily than the others, put them all into a saucepan.
  4. For two lbs.
  5. of fish, add one small onion, the chopped white of one leek, one small, peeled, pressed and chopped tomato, two crushed cloves of garlic, a large pinch of concassed parsley, a pinch of powdered saffron, a bit of bay, a little savory and fennel, and two tablespoonfuls of oil.
  6. Moisten the fish with just enough cold water to cover it, and season with one-third oz.
  7. of salt and a pinch of pepper per quart of water.
  8. Set to boil, and cook over a brisk fire.
  9. At the end of eight minutes add the pieces of whiting and red mullet, and leave to cook for a further seven minutes.
  10. Pour the liquor of the bouillabaisse over some slices of household bread lying on the bottom of a deep dish;
  11. set the fish on another dish with the sections of spiny lobster all round, and serve.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Saucepan
  • Baking dish
  • Chef's knife
  • Cutting board
  • Vegetable peeler
Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From A guide to modern cookery, by Escoffier, A. (Auguste) (1907). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #71395 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71395). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.