Bouillabaisse by Marc Chalopin

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My recipe share this week isn't something I cooked, but is something I got to taste last weekend.

Alain Ducasse Formation handpicked French chef Marc Chalopin as the ADF+Enderun executive chef, to maintain the standards of Alain Ducasse and ensure that the philosophy, culinary principles and techniques are properly transmitted to the students. Before joining Enderun, he has had 25 years of kitchen and teaching experience. He worked with two of the most exceptional and world-acclaimed chefs, Joel Robuchon first and then with Alain Ducasse.

Last Saturday, I "discovered cuisine" with a few fellow bloggers, where we got to watch a cooking demonstration by chef Marc Chalopin. He showed us step by step guide on how to make Bouillabaisse, a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille.

Bouillabaisse

Ingredients:

• 1 piece lapu-lapu fish (1kg)
• 1 piece red snapper (1kg)
• 0.3 kg squid (big)
• 2 pieces shrimp (big)
• 10 pieces clams
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 br dry fennel
• 2 L fish soup *
• 10 saffron pistils
• 2 pieces garlic cloves
• 1 pinch orange zest
• 1 piece small bayleaf
• 1/4 piece baguettes

* Ingredients - Fish Soup

• 1.5 kg small fish
• 1 piece sweet onions (about 50g)
• 4 pieces tomatoes
• 1 piece garlic head
• 1 t fennel seeds
• 10 pieces black peppercorn
• 1 L chicken stock

Ingredients - Spicy Provençale Sauce

• 1 piece small potato (50g)
• 0.25 L olive oil
• 1 piece garlic clove
• 0.15 L fish soup
• 1 pinch of saffron pistils
• 4 pieces sun-dried tomatoes
• 5 g sweet pepper
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation of the Seafood

• Scale and clean the fish. Cut of the fins, and remove the head and gills. Cut into 5 cm steaks.
• Clean and prepare the squid.
• Cook shrimp in boiling water with fennel seeds for a few minutes

Preparation of the Fish Soup

• Peel and slice the onions. Wash tomatoes then cut in six. Cut the garlic head in half.
• Heat up a cocotte with olive oil and sweat onions, fennel seeds, garlic and peppercorns while covered for about 10 minutes.
• Add the fish. Cook for 5 minutes over low heat without stirring or wetting and always covered.
• Add tomatoes. Press down lightly. Simmer covered for 5 minutes so the fish retain their juices.
• Cover with chicken stock to the same level of the fish. Simmer for another 20 munutes over low heat without cover. Strain through Chinois and set aside.

Cooking the Boullabaisse

• Pour soup into a cocotte then add saffron, four crushed cloves of garlic, orange peels, a bay leaf and 5 grains of black pepper. Bring the soup to a simmer.
• Gently poach fish 4-6 minutes depending on the size. Drain the fish and set aside.
• In a sauteuse, place the clams with a little stock and cook covered until they open up. When done, remove the shell without the meat and set aside.
• Remove soup from heat; strain.
• Sear squid quickly with olive oil and season with salt. Set aside.
• Return and reheat all the seafood in the soup.

Preparation of the Provencale Sauce

• Peel and cut the potatoes into four pieces. Cook them in the fish soup with the saffron and Espelette spices until they are completely soft and juice is reduced.
• Peel the garlic clove. Crush it in a mortar. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and crush it all together.
• Add the potatoes and its cooking juices. Mix well and grind again.
• In this paste, add the egg yolk. Mix well. Salt.
• Whisk in the oil with the paste until it reaches a mayonnaise-like thick texture. Set aside.
• Serve in a small bowl.

Finishing and Presentation

• Slice the bread at an angle into 5mm thick slices. Toast them. Rub with garlic on one side.
• Add the soup base in a large soup pan.
• Arrange the seafood.
• Pour the rest of the soup in a soup tureen.
• Serve the croutons.
• Serve the provençale sauce on the side.

Notes to Consider:

As chef Marc Chalopin was cooking this dish, I got to pick up bits of knowledge about cooking this dish.

• Follow the recipe. If it says "5 minutes," it should be 5 minutes. No more, no less.
• Use fish in your area. For instance, for the fish soup, he used the locally available bisugo fish.
• When getting the fish soup from the pot, don't disturb the fish. Don't stir the soup... just tilt the pot at an angle and get the soup. This will ensure that the soup is clear and not cloudy.
• Cut slits on the squid so it will curl, and when frying the squid, the side with the slits should be the part facing down.
• Depending on your preference, you can actually spoon some provençale sauce on the base of the bowl before adding the soup and seafood (when plating the dish). You can also add more olive oil to the bouillabaisse if you want to.

The whole cooking process took about two hours, but when we finally got to taste it, it was so comforting! I love the provençale sauce - it was spicy and such an awesome pair to the seafood. I was quite happy that time because I got to eat more than my share as my sister only ate the prawn and squid. She's not really into seafood, and I just took her fish and ate it with gusto.

So... why am I sharing this recipe? Well, while waiting for the cooking demonstration to start, they showed us a video presentation about the ADF+Enderun 15-month program, and one sentence that instilled in my mind (though not exactly the whole quote) was that "knowledge has to be passed on." It is this particular reason why I decided to share this, so you can also cook it, if you want to, of course.

Happy weekends, everyone!

*** Jenn ***