Hello,

Here is my latest story on Romantic Monaco (p. 265-278) from WeddingStyle magazine. Enjoy the bouillabaisse recipe below!

Bouillabaisse   (Adapted from The French Chef Cookbook, by Julia Child, Knopf, 1968)  Serves 6-8                                                                                                                                  Fish for bouillabaisse should be lean, and of the best and freshest-smelling quality. Here are some suggestions: bass, cod, conger or sea eel, cusk, flounder, grouper, grunt, haddock, hake or whiting, halibut, perch, pollock, rockfish or sculpin, snapper, spot, sea trout or weakfish, wolffish. Shellfish—crab, lobster, mussels, clams, scallops.

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 cup sliced yellow onions

1 cup sliced leeks, white part only

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, or 1¼ cups drained canned tomatoes

4 cloves mashed garlic

2½ quarts water

6 parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf

½ tsp thyme or basil

1/8 tsp fennel

2 big pinches of saffron

A 2-inch piece or ½ tsp dried orange peel

1/8 tsp pepper

1 quart fish stock or clam juice and 1½ quarts of water

6 to 8 lbs. assorted lean fish, and shellfish (see above)

6 slices sliced baguette

1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks and saute 5 minutes without browning.

2. Stir in the tomatoes and garlic, and cook 5 minutes more. Add the water, herbs, seasoning, and clam juice to the pot. Bring the soup base to boil, skim, and simmer uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes.

3. Strain soup and adjust seasoning.

4. Just before serving, add lobsters, crabs, and firm-fleshed fish. Bring quickly back to the boil and boil rapidly, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Then add the tender-fleshed fish, and the clams, mussels, and scallops. Bring back to the boil again for 5 minutes. Do not overcook.

5. To serve, immediately lift out the fish and arrange on the platter. Carefully taste soup for seasoning, place bread in a soup tureen, and pour in the soup. Spoon a ladleful of soup over the fish, and sprinkle parsley over both fish and soup. At the table, each guest is served or helps himself to both fish and soup, placing them in a large soup plate.