fish stew

As I’ve been com­pelled to email this very good bouil­l­abaisse-like recipe from Ondi to myself a num­ber of times over the past cou­ple of years, it seems more con­ve­nient and socia­ble to put to put it on the blog.  Here goes.

• An onion.

Fry in olive oil.  Add:

• Cumin seed
• Corian­der seed
• Sev­er­al sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Fen­nel seed
• Sev­er­al cloves gar­lic (pressed or fine­ly chopped)
• Saf­fron
• Sea salt to taste
• Pern­od.

When onions are gold­en add:

• 1 can of San Marzano DOP toma­toes (can be chopped before­hand, and can sub­sti­tute fresh Roma toma­toes if suf­fi­cient­ly good ones are avail­able)

Cook down for a good 20 min­utes.  Then add:

• Chick­en broth or fish stock till the base is as thick or thin as you like.
• When that’s cooked about 20 min­utes, add assort­ed seafood.  Typ­i­cal­ly:
• Monk­fish
• Salmon, in chunks cut from a steak is eas­i­est
• Spot prawns
• Clams
• Mus­sels

I use the prawn shells and heads to make the stock.

For extra joy, I also add sea scal­lops at the end, which I’ve seared in but­ter and flamed with Pern­od.

This should be served with a crusty bread.