Bouillabaisse

Ingredients

• 2 kinds Fish (halibut, cod, bluefish, or sea trout)
• 3 pints Water
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 1 bouquet Herbs
• 3 Bay leaves
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 3 sprigs Parsley
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 6 Allspice
• Salt and pepper Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoonfuls Olive oil
• 1/2 bottle White wine
• 6 large Fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 Lemon
• 1 pint Fish stock (strained)
• Cayenne Cayenne pepper
• A pinch Saffron
• As many slices as fish Toast
• Butter Butter

Instructions

1. Prepare the stock: Boil the fish trimmings, heads, and one sliced onion with a bouquet of herbs in three pints of water until reduced to one pint. Remove fish heads and herbs, then strain and set aside.
2. Season the fish: Rub each fish slice very well with salt and pepper. Make a fine mixture of three minced bay leaves, three sprigs each of thyme and parsley, three minced cloves of garlic, and six allspice pounded to powder. Rub this mixture thoroughly into the fish slices—the seasoning must penetrate completely through the fish.
3. Cook the fish: Heat two tablespoonfuls of olive oil very gently in a wide pan. Add two chopped mild onions and cook them a little without browning. Lay in the fish slices so they do not touch one another. Cover the pan and let the slices smother for about ten minutes, turning them once to cook each side partly. Take up the slices and lay them separately in a large dish.
4. Make the sauce: Pour half a bottle of white wine into the pan and stir hard. Add six large fresh tomatoes, sliced very thin, and let boil a few minutes. Add half a lemon in very thin slices and a pint of the strained fish stock. Season well with salt, pepper, and Cayenne to taste. Boil all together until reduced almost by half.
5. Finish: Lay the fish slices in the sauce, taking care they do not touch, and boil briskly for five minutes. While boiling, chop fine a pinch of saffron, put it in a small deep dish, and mix smooth with a spoonful of the boiling liquor. Dissolve the saffron very well. When the fish has cooked its five minutes, spread the saffron on top.
6. Serve: Fry in butter as many slices of toast as you have slices of fish. Lay the fish on the toast, pour the sauce over it, and serve immediately, very hot.