After February, game-fish species are closed until mid-May— in Minnesota. Panfish, however, have a continuous season. This recipe utilizes the entirety of the fish, maximizing the yield of smaller fish, as well as creating an opportunity to use fish forgotten in the freezer. Considered quite the complex dish and aside from often being the culmination of many-a-culinary course, this fish soup has evaded standardization, despite the 1980’s Bouillabaisse Charter. Here’s a freshwater adaptation.
RECIPE
Fish fumet:
2 1/3 lbs of white fish skeleton(s), 1 carrot (peeled and cubed), 2 onions (peeled and cubed), 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and smashed), 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 bouquet garni (Fresh parsley stalks, bay leaves, fresh thyme, celery stalks, leek layer (to wrap all together)), 3/4 cup white wine (Sauvignon Blanc), Water to cover bones (about 10 cups), Salt to taste (very little, aim at under-seasoning)
Fumet instructions:
1. Melt the butter, using a low-medium to a high-medium heat, and don’t allow for coloration. 2. Add all the vegetables and garlic once the butter has melted. Sweat (remove excess water in vegetables) for a few minutes (3 to 4).3. Add fish bones with head. Stir with the vegetables and sweat for a few minutes. Ensure that there is no coloration.4. Add liquid and bouquet garni. Leave to cook at low-to-medium heat, shimmering for twenty minutes. 5. Strain. Lightly season with salt at the end.
Yield: about 2 quarts of stock.
Soup:
1/4 rind of an orange, 2 quarts of fish stock, 2.5 lbs of white fish fillets, 1 leek (diced), 3 celery stalks (diced), ½ cup fennel bulb (diced), 2 heaping tablespoons of tomato paste, 4 cloves of garlic (smashed and peeled), 1 bouquet garni, Saffron threads, 1 Star anise , Olive oil, Salt
1 Baguette, ¾ cups of grated cheese (cheddar or Gruyere)
Rouille:
4 garlic cloves (pressed, or extremely-finely minced), 2 egg yolks, 1/8 teaspoon of Cayenne, ¼ teaspoon of Paprika, Juice of 1 lemon, 1 1/2 cups of olive oil
Soup instructions:
1. Take fish fillets for poaching and cut into serving-size. Lightly coat with olive oil. Add minced orange rind and mix. Chill, marinating until ready for cooking. 2. On a medium heat, warm the olive oil. Enough for sweating the aromatic mix. Add fennel, leek, and celery. Sweat for about five-minutes.3. Add small fish fillets, about 1/2 lb. Let cook for a few moments, stirring. 4. Add stock, star anise, garlic, tomato paste, and Saffron. Season with salt. Bring to the boil. Let cook for thirty minutes on a low heat. 5. Blend the soup, and pass through a sieve. 6. Bring back to a boil. Add the remaining fish fillets and poach. Cook for more than fifteen-minutes.
Croutons and Rouille instructions:
1. Crush or mince the garlic.2. Add salt and pepper. Cayenne pepper and paprika. Lemon juice. And 2 egg yolks.3. In food processor, blend all ingredients together.4. Add olive oil slowly, blending.
Serving instructions:
1. Slice and toast the baguette.2. Cover toast with rouille and grated cheese.3. Ladle in soup finished soup into serving bowl. Place prepared croutons into soup.
Sources:
Clements, Carole and Wolf-Cohen, Elizabeth. (2006). Mediterranean Fish
Stew. In French: The Secrets of Classic Cooking Made Easy. Hermes
House.
Liebling, A. J. (1962, October 19). The Soul of Bouillabaisse Town. In The
New Yorker.
soul-of-bouillabaisse-town
Pepin, Jacques. (2011). Fish Soup with Rouille and Garlic Croutons. In
Essential Pepin: More Than 700 All-Time Favorites from My Life in
Food. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Music Credits (in order of appearance):
Emmit Fenn’s “Tangled”
The Mini Vandals’ “Anomalous Hedges”
The Mini Vandals’ “Shadoma”
Search engine stuff:
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