French cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Bourride from Sète

White fish soup from Sète, its broth finished creamy at the end with a bold garlic aioli.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 800 g monkfish fillet (or cod fillet)
• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 onions
• 1 leek
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 egg yolks
• 150 ml olive oil
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 1 strip orange zest (untreated)
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 slices baguette
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Crush four garlic cloves with a pinch of salt in a mortar to a fine paste, stir in the egg yolks and whisk in 120 ml of the olive oil first drop by drop, then in a thin stream, until a thick aioli forms; chill.
2. Cut the fennel, onions and leek into thin strips, slice the remaining two garlic cloves and cut the fish fillet into 5 cm pieces.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in a wide pot and sweat the vegetables in it over medium heat for 8 min. until soft, without browning.
4. Add the white wine, 700 ml water, orange zest, saffron and bay leaf and simmer the broth uncovered for 15 min., then season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the fish pieces and poach at very low heat just below simmering point for 6-8 min. until the flesh is white and translucent; lift out the fish and vegetables and keep warm.
6. Stir half the aioli in a bowl with two ladles of hot broth, pour back into the pot and bind over low heat, stirring, for 3 min. without boiling - then pour over the fish, vegetables and toasted baguette, and serve the remaining aioli alongside.