Bouillabaisse
Marseille fish stew: a broth of rockfish, saffron, fennel and orange, poured over thick pieces of fish and served with rouille and toasted bread.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 1 hr 45 min
- Difficulty
- A bit of work
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Treat yourself$28+ USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Bouillabaisse is two courses from one pot. First a broth: fish heads, frames and small whole fish fried in olive oil with onion, leek, fennel, tomato, garlic, saffron and orange peel, boiled hard so the oil emulsifies, then pressed through a sieve. Then the good fish, in thick pieces, poached in that broth for a few minutes with potatoes. The broth is served first, over toasted bread spread with rouille, a garlic, saffron and chilli mayonnaise thickened with potato, and the fish follows on a platter. At home the broth is the part to take seriously. Buy whole fish, have them filleted, and keep every head and frame.
What you'll need
26 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Broth
- Fish
- Rouille
- To serve
Ingredients
Broth
- Firm white fish, heads, frames and small whole fish such as gurnard or small bream, gills removed, rinsed1.2 kg
- Olive oil100 ml
- Onion, sliced1 medium
- Leek, white and pale green, sliced1
- Fennel bulb, sliced1
- Garlic, crushed4 clove
- Tomato, chopped3 medium
- Tomato purée15 ml
- Orange zest, wide strips of peel, fresh or dried2
- Saffron, half at the start, half after sieving2 pinch
- Bouquet garni, thyme, bay and parsley stalks, tied1
- Fennel seeds, or a splash of pastis at the end4.9 ml
- Water, boiling2 l
- Salt9.9 ml
Fish
- Monkfish, tail on the bone, cut into thick steaks600 g
- Firm white fish, gurnard, John Dory, red mullet or bream, filleted skin-on or on the bone, in large pieces1 kg
- Potato, waxy, peeled, in 1 cm slices600 g
Rouille
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Heat the oil in a stockpot and cook the onion, leek, fennel and garlic over medium heat for 8 minutes without browning. Add the tomato, tomato paste, fennel seeds, orange peel, bouquet garni and half the broth saffron and cook 2 minutes. Add the fish heads, frames and small fish and stir hard over high heat for 5 minutes until they start to break up.
15 min
Step 2
Pour in the boiling water and the salt. Boil hard, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
20 min
Watch: It must be a rolling boil. The fast boil is what emulsifies the oil into the broth; a gentle simmer leaves it thin with oil floating on top.
Step 3
Pass everything through a food mill, or press it through a sieve in batches with a ladle, crushing the heads and small fish to get all the pulp. Throw away the bones. Return the broth to the clean pot, add the rest of the saffron and taste for salt.
15 min
Tip: The broth can be made to this point a day ahead, or frozen.
Step 4
Bring the broth back to a simmer and add all the potato slices, including the small potato for the rouille. Cook about 10 minutes, until nearly tender. Lift out the rouille slices and take the pot off the heat while you make the rouille; the potatoes finish cooking with the fish.
10 min
Step 5
For the rouille, pound the garlic with the salt to a paste in a mortar. Add the cooked potato, the soaked saffron, the cayenne and the egg yolk and work smooth. Add the oil a few drops at a time, then in a thin stream, until thick and glossy. Loosen with a spoon of broth.
10 min
Watch: The yolk is raw. Use a very fresh or pasteurised egg, or make the bread rouille in the substitutions, if anyone eating is pregnant, very young, elderly or has a weakened immune system.
Step 6
Bring the broth and potatoes back to a simmer. Put in the monkfish and cook 4 minutes. Add the other fish, thickest pieces first, and cook 3 to 4 minutes more until just opaque. Shake the pot rather than stirring so the fish stays whole. Meanwhile toast the bread on a tray in a 200°C oven for about 8 minutes and rub it with the cut garlic.
10 min
Step 7
Lift the fish and potatoes onto a warm platter and moisten with a little broth. Serve the broth first in soup plates, over toast spread with rouille, then bring the fish to the table.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 1102 kcal
- Protein
- 103.8 g
- Carbs
- 40.4 g
- Fat
- 57.8 g
- Saturated fat
- 9.8 g
- Fibre
- 5.5 g
- Sugar
- 7.4 g
- Sodium
- 1751 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Fish
- Eggs
- Wheat
- Pescatarian
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Egg yolk rouille → Bread rouille: crustless bread soaked in broth, pounded with garlic, saffron, cayenne and oil
The older form and egg-free. It is grainier and holds less oil.
Food mill → Sieve and ladle
Slower, and you get a little less pulp, but the broth is the same. Do not blend the bones.
Tips
- Ask the fishmonger to scale, gut and fillet the fish and to give you every head and frame. That is half your broth for nothing.
- Rouille is strong. A teaspoon on each piece of toast is enough; put the rest on the table.
- Marseille cooks often add a splash of pastis to the broth at the end instead of fennel seeds. It lifts the anise without tasting of drink.
History & culture
In Marseille it is a restaurant dish and an occasion, often ordered a day ahead at the places around the Vallon des Auffes and the Corniche, served in two courses and priced accordingly. Fishing families made it from the bony catch nobody would buy. People eat it at lunch, slowly, with a bottle of white from Cassis.
The story goes that it began with fishermen boiling unsold rockfish in seawater on the beach. The name joins the Provençal words for boil and lower, for the fast boil and then the turned-down heat. In 1980 a group of Marseille restaurants signed a charter fixing the fish list, mainly to protect the name from tourist versions.
Regional variation — The Marseille charter asks for at least four of rascasse (scorpionfish), weever, gurnard, John Dory, monkfish and conger, plus small rockfish for the broth, all from the Mediterranean and cooked in thick bone-in pieces. Outside the Mediterranean you will not find rascasse or weever. Use gurnard, John Dory, monkfish, red mullet, bream or bass, and for the broth any lean white fish heads and frames plus a few small whole fish. Avoid salmon, mackerel and other oily fish. Mussels and prawns turn up in versions elsewhere and are not part of the Marseille dish.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Bouillabaisse take?
1 hr 45 min all in — 45 min prep, 1 hr cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 6 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
A bit of work.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish, Eggs, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Pescatarian, Dairy-free, Nut-free.
8 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Treat yourself — about $28+ USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Stockpot, Mortar and pestle, Chef's knife, Cutting board, Baking tray, Oven.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 2 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Egg yolk rouille → Bread rouille: crustless bread soaked in broth, pounded with garlic, saffron, cayenne and oil. The older form and egg-free. It is grainier and holds less oil. Food mill → Sieve and ladle. Slower, and you get a little less pulp, but the broth is the same. Do not blend the bones.
What should I watch for?
It must be a rolling boil. The fast boil is what emulsifies the oil into the broth; a gentle simmer leaves it thin with oil floating on top. The yolk is raw. Use a very fresh or pasteurised egg, or make the bread rouille in the substitutions, if anyone eating is pregnant, very young, elderly or has a weakened immune system.
Any tips from this recipe?
Ask the fishmonger to scale, gut and fillet the fish and to give you every head and frame. That is half your broth for nothing. Rouille is strong. A teaspoon on each piece of toast is enough; put the rest on the table. Marseille cooks often add a splash of pastis to the broth at the end instead of fennel seeds. It lifts the anise without tasting of drink.
Can I prepare this ahead?
The broth can be made to this point a day ahead, or frozen.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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