Rustic bouillabaisse with mixed white fish, mussels and orange zest in a wide earthenware bowl on a wooden table

Third Republic France · France

Bouillabaisse (Dumas Style)

Name: Bouillabaisse (Dumas Style)
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1.5kg mixed white fish (gurnard, monkfish, red mullet, John Dory); 500g mussels, cleaned; 1 large onion, sliced; 2 leeks, sliced; 4 tomatoes, chopped; 6 cloves garlic; Zest of 1 orange; 2 fennel bulbs, sliced; 1 tsp saffron threads; 1L fish stock; 150ml olive oil; 1 tsp thyme, 2 bay leaves; Salt, pepper, cayenne; Baguette and rouille to serve

From Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine · Alexandre Dumas · 1873

Verified from original source

The Marseille fisherman's stew, elevated by the author of The Three Musketeers — saffron, fennel, olive oil and any fish you have.

Historical note: Yes, that Alexandre Dumas — the novelist — was also a serious cook and wrote a 1500-page food dictionary.

History

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew from Marseille, France, dating to at least the 18th century. Originally a humble fisherman's dish using unsold rockfish and Mediterranean catches, it was boiled quickly ("bouille-abaisse" meaning "boil and lower") with olive oil, saffron, garlic, and tomatoes. By the 19th century, it gained prestige among French gastronomes. Alexandre Dumas included his recipe in his 1873 Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, helping codify the dish for bourgeois kitchens. Classic versions use rascasse, saint-pierre, and other Mediterranean fish, served with rouille and crusty bread. It remains Marseille's signature dish today.

Sources

Alexandre Dumas, Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, 1873
Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, 1999
Elizabeth David, French Provincial Cooking, 1960
Prosper Montagné, Larousse Gastronomique, 1938
Jean-Noël Escudier and Peta J. Fuller, The Wonderful Food of Provence, 1968

Serves

Prep

30m

Cook

45m

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients

· 1.5kg mixed white fish (gurnard, monkfish, red mullet, John Dory)
· 500g mussels, cleaned
· 1 large onion, sliced
· 2 leeks, sliced
· 4 tomatoes, chopped
· 6 cloves garlic
· Zest of 1 orange
· 2 fennel bulbs, sliced
· 1 tsp saffron threads
· 1L fish stock
· 150ml olive oil
· 1 tsp thyme, 2 bay leaves
· Salt, pepper, cayenne
· Baguette and rouille to serve

Method

1
Heat olive oil, sweat onion, leeks and fennel 12 minutes.
2
Add garlic, tomatoes, orange zest, thyme, bay, saffron. Cook 5 min.
3
Pour in stock; simmer 20 minutes.
4
Add firm fish first, then delicate fish 5 minutes later, then mussels last 4 minutes.
5
Do not stir vigorously — the fish should stay in pieces.
6
Season. Serve broth first (over toasted baguette), then fish separately, with rouille.

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