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Bourride – ‘Provencal Sunshine’

Words & photography by Francois de Melogue

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The Origins of Bourride

I am surely going to piss off my Marseille family and bouillabaisse purists alike with this one. To put it simply, bourride is bouillabaisse’s troubled half-sister. While they certainly share a common lineage, there are stark characteristics that differentiate the two. Classically, both start with a pureed broth made from onions, fennel, garlic, orange peel, saffron, tomatoes, olive oil and small rockfish.

Eating bouillabaisse is a carefully choreographed religious ceremony, usually requiring 24 hours notice, whose consumption is performed in two sacred rites ending perhaps with genuflexion to the sacred cauldron. Bourride, on the other hand, is more like a courthouse marriage done on a whim over an office lunch break, still a covenant and very satisfying but with far less ceremony and planning.

Bouillabaisse is traditionally served in two courses starting with the broth ladled into warm bowls and served with garlic croutons, shredded Parmesan, rouille and aioli. After seconds are offered, the whole fish poached in the broth are presented to the table, than fileted and served glistening in more broth. Bourride is made from fish filets cooked in the broth and enriched by a liaison of egg yolks and aioli whisked in at the last moment.

According to Alan Davidson in the ‘Oxford Companion to Food’, the first mention of a bouillabaisse-like soup of French origin appears in print in ‘La Cuisine de Santé’ authored by Jourdain Le Cointe in 1790. He describes a scene where fishermen and their wives are on a riverbed boiling a cauldron full of ingredients very reminiscent of bouillabaisse. The recipe given is called ‘Matellote du Poisson’. It’s not until 1830 when ‘Le Cuisinier Durand’ is written that we get a dish actually called bouillabaisse.

Traditionally, bourride is an emulsified fish broth made from small unsellable rock fish thickened with Aioli, but I prefer making a lighter broth and thickening with rouille. Provencal flavours are bolder and more assertive than in other parts of France. Rouille just adds an extra kick of spice I love. I make the broth far lighter by leaving the vegetables julienned and omitting sieved rockfish. A mentor once told me “people do not eat methods, people eat results.” The result is an easy to make and share version of a Provencal classic.

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Use whatever fish you can find at your local fish market. I generally like to find at least one meatier fish and some kind of shellfish.

Ingredients:

For the marinated fish:

1 codfish, cut in four pieces
1/2 bay scallops
1 Manila clams, scrubbed
1/2 shrimp
60 ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
big pinch saffron
small handful basil
1 orange, zested/juiced
60 ml pastis

For the broth:

1/2 fennel bulb, julienned
1/2 onion, sliced
2 thin carrots, julienned
1/2 pepper, julienned
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp saffron
4 San Marzano tomatoes, chopped
480 ml white wine
950 ml fish broth
120 ml Pastis

For the rouille:

2 egg yolks
2 tsp sea salt
Large pinch saffron
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp Blis hot sauce
2 tsp red vinegar
120 ml canola oil

To finish:

1 egg yolk
8 new potatoes, boiled/peeled
12 slices baguette, toasted


The full article will provide more narrative and cooking method.