AlwaysLearning: Bouillabaisse

April 08, 2009

What it is: A traditional Southern French Fish Stew housing a menagerie of cooked fish and shellfish.

Where it comes from: It was first created by French fishermen who wanted to make an inexpensive meal when they returned to port. The city most well known for Bouillabaisse is Marseille. They were so serious about their soup that in 1980, they passed the Marseille Bouillabaisse Charter, which clearly outlines the official ingredients.

Fish: Scorpion Fish, Red Mullet, White Scorpion Fish, John Dory, Conger Eel, or Skate. Spiny Lobster is optional. (4 of them, in any combination, is necessary)

Other ingredients: Salt, Pepper, Saffron, Olive Oil, Garlic, Onions, Fennel, Parsley, Potatoes and Tomatoes.

There are many great places to get Bouillabaisse in Marseille, but the most famous (and quite possibly the best) is actually located further East along the Cote d’Azur in Golfe Juan (near Antibes). The restaurant is called Tetou and it is truly a Bouillabaisse Restaurant. Along with the few options of grilled fish or salad, there are really only 2 main choices on the menu: Bouillabaise or Bouillabaise with Lobster. Of course, the Bouillabaisse is served in the traditional style: Rouille (Garlic-Chili Pepper Aioli) and Croutons (toasted bread) on the table, then the bowl of soup, then each type of fish, filleted and plated, course by course.

Where can you get it in NY: Bagatelle and Balthazar (top right) both serve their bouillabaisse as a daily special on Fridays. Similar to their famous Lobster Rolls, Mary’s Fish Camp and Pearl Oyster Bar both have competing versions of the old school stew to showcase their fresh shellfish.

Starting tomorrow you’ll be able to enjoy Allegretti’s acclaimed Provençal Fish Soup (above). Although there is no shellfish present, the gourmet dish features the fragrant broth of bouillabaisse alongside the traditional accompaniments: rouille and croutons. An addition of gruyere cheese makes for a French onion soup-like finish. Meant to be eaten using the “kitchen sink approach”: garlic from the crouton and the rouille seasons the herbaceous broth. Awarded best soup by New York Magazine in 2009, the complete effect makes for a light and vibrant dish, though we cannot consider it a competitor for best new soup.

Featured Restaurant: Flex Mussels

March 18, 2009

Luckily for owners Bobby and Laura Shapiro, their Prince Edward Island import has been packed since opening day. The instant buzz over their cutesy moniker garnered serious press and sent people flocking to “82nd and Flex”. You can barely move in the bar area where the seats are first-come, first-serve and entertainment is provided by the quick hands of oyster-shucking champion, Robert Daffin. The spacious back dining room features an open kitchen where Chef Micheal Bicocchi executes the seafood-heavy menu. While the Upper East Side is a far cry from Canada, the beauty of P.E.I is portrayed through nailed-up paintings of the sea that adorn every wall. The specialty of the house is obviously mussels, but on this particular Friday evening, the bar menu became noteworthy as they featured a take on the infamous “Fatty Melt” (a hamburger sandwiched between two grilled cheeses, which we at AlwaysHungryNY experiment with on a regular basis).

Specials aside, Flex Mussels is all about elevating this namesake dish beyond the typical red and white preparations, and the Classic (white wine, herbs, and garlic) is pretty anticlimactic considering the alternatives. While an obvious reference to physical muscles, the name’s double entrendre also reflects how the couple has flexed their creative muscle to amass outrageous flavor combinations. P.E.I mussels are offered in 23 different sauces such as the Thai (curry coconut broth, lemongrass, coriander, lime, garlic, ginger), San Daniele (prosciutto, caramelized onions, white wine, garlic), and Maine (lobser, corn, white chowder, parsely) variations. When the lids to each iron pot are first opened, fragrant wafts of steam allow you to smell the flavor before digging in, and the best bites force you to utilize your mussels shells in order to scoop up all the goodness on the bottom. Perfect french fries and crusty bread sop up all the savory juices, and simple desserts like meyer lemon-stuffed donut holes offer a sweet finish to every meal.

Menus Made Simple: Archipelago

The Gluttoness — October 07, 2008

Mille-Feuille: French for “one thousand sheets,” refers to a dish that has several layers alternating with a filling that is usually sweet but can be savory as well

Ikura: Japanese for “salmon roe,” the large reddish-orange eggs have a very salty flavor

Lily Bulb: the starchy bulb of a lily; the shape resembles a garlic clove and houses a mild onion flavor

Kinzanji: unique type of miso made by fermenting vegetables and soybeans with koji (fermentation starter), inoculated wheat, and salt; served as a condiment

Tofuyo: fermented tofu made by soaking dried tofu in a mixture of malted rice and awamori and letting it sit for an extended period of time; sometimes called “Cheese of the East”

Tomalley: soft, greenish-gray liver found in the ‘head’ or upper part of the lobster; acts as the lobster’s liver

Onigiri aka Omusubi: Japanese snack made of shaped rice cakes that are wrapped in seaweed (nori)

Sabayon: light, frothy sauce made by continuously whisking egg yolks with some liquid (water, vinegar) in a bain-marie over simmering water until it becomes thick and triples in volume; can be served alone or as the base for something else

Triggerfish: brightly colored, aggressive fish with sweet, firm white flesh that is close in flavor to crab and great for ceviche applications

Grunt: named for the sounds it makes when cooking, a grunt is a casserole of stewed berries (usually blackberries) topped with large dollops of biscuit dough and baked until golden; the dough can be steamed from the heat of the stewed berries alone

Concassé: French term denoting that an ingredient has been ground or roughly chopped, most commonly used in reference to tomatoes

Abalone: large-sized edible snails, considered a great delicacy for their adductor muscles which must be tenderized through pounding before cooking; fresh abalone should come alive and will have a sweet flavor and firm, yet silky, texture