The Classic Aioli
Aubergine en Caton
Carbonade de Mouton
La Morue en Raïto
La Soupe de Poissons
Le Tian Provençal
Les Huîtres Chaudes
Muge en Papillote de Feuilles
Pissaladière
Poule au Pot
Summer Fresh Fruit Tart
Tarte Tatin aux Poires
Tian de Courge - Baked Squash
Terry making the famous soup.
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La Soupe de Poissons
des Rôches - Spicy Provençal Fish Soup  A recipe that succeeds every time. It is based
on the small fish caught amidst the rocks in the shallows off
the Northern shore of the Meditteranean. These are primarily
herbivore fish. There is also the variant of small fish caught
in the big nets along with the major catch of tuna and sword
fish and more out at sea (soupe de chalut). Though the fish "rascasse"
considered essential to this soup is unobtainable other than
in the Meditteranean... you can still approximate a delicious
fish soup at home with the help of your fish monger.
This soup is special as a first course, or quite nourishing simply with salad and good crusty bread. Preparation time: Preparation time: 20 minutes plus 20 minutes; cooking time 1 hour Serves 6 persons.
In a large casserole dish, pour in the olive oil and add the sliced onions,
let simmer till translucent, then add the fish (head, fins, scales and all-
only the largest fish, over 6 inches, need to be gutted). Cook and brown for
about 4-5 minutes till some of the flesh starts to fall from the bones. Add the tomato,
 the water, the crushed garlic,
the dill and thyme branches (or the star anise), a pinch
of coarse sea salt. Do not add the safron yet.
Simmer uncovered for at least a good hour, adding more water as it evaporates, to keep all the ingredients covered. While the soup is bubbling away, prepare the rouille and the croutons The Rouille (spicy, garlicy mayonnaise)
 Prepare the pureed garlic: on a small plate, squeeze the lemon juice, sprinkle the pinch
of fine salt, take a sharp pronged fork and place the prongs flat on the plate, take a
peeled garlic clove (the larger the easier to handle) and scrape it back and forth on
the tips of the prongs. You will produce a fine puree that will be lightly cured by the
acid of the lemon juice, ideal for cold sauces and salad dressings.
In a round-bottomed bowl place your egg yolk and the teaspoon of mustard with the pinch of salt. Take a fork or whisk (as you prefer) in one hand, and the olive oil in the other, and as you stir gently and continuously, pour in the olive oil in a steady thin stream, adding it and mixing it into the egg yolk mixture. When all the olive oil is in, test for thickness. If the mayonnaise is still a bit on the runny side, add more olive oil, gently until it thickens permitting your fork to nearly stand straight. Add your pureed garlic, your paprika and your hot pepper, blend them all in. Taste for hotness. If you'd like more garlic or pepper, by all means, add them in. The croutons are simply prepared by taking day old baguette, slicing it and toasting it lightly in the oven.
Take your strained soup and place it back in a casserole dish. Bring up to a boil again and let simmer 5 minutes. (This is an essential step). Pour the soup into your soup server, add the saffron and swirl it around, bring to the table.
At the table, each diner should have a shallow soup bowl and a couple croutons.
Additional condiments are several raw peeled garlic cloves, grated gruyere or swiss
cheese, and the rouille. Each person should take a garlic clove and scrape it on their
croutons. Then take a spoonful of the rouille and dab it on the croutons. Then serve
a ladle or two of the soup into their bowl, and then they can sprinkle as they want
some grated cheese. A few grains of coarse salt sprinkled on top may be good too.
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The classic mixture in Provence includes the rascasse, the grondin (gurnard),
flying fish, merlan (whiting), lotte (angler or monk fish), St. Pierre (John Dory),
rouget (red mullet), sea cicadas (like small cray fish). You might try adding some
lobster shells or heads, some small crabs, shrimp, extra fish heads and bones from
your fish monger, etc., to improve and enrich the flavor.
If an hour has passed, your soup is ready to strain. Take either a vegetable strainer
(applesauce maker) or a "chinoise" strainer and bit by bit pass the soup through.
You want to have a smooth broth with a bit of pureed fish in it.
Erick & Madeleine Vedel
Arles, France
33 (0) 4 90 49 69 20
actvedel@wanadoo.fr