Bourride
Photo: Véronique PAGNIER · Public domain

History

Bourride was the everyday fisherman's stew in Marseille from the 19th century, cheaper than bouillabaisse because it used a single white fish (often monkfish, anglerfish or sea bass) rather than the four rock fish of the bouillabaisse charter. The broth is bound with aioli rather than rouille, which gives it the creamy yellow colour. Chez Fonfon and Chez Michel both cook it, and Le Miramar serves the bourride as a one-fish alternative to bouillabaisse on the same menu.

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Common allergens: Fish, Eggs, Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1kg monkfish or sea bass fillet
  • 500g fish heads and bones
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
  • 1 strip of dried orange peel
  • Bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley)
  • 150ml dry white wine
  • Pinch of saffron
  • For the aioli: 6 garlic cloves, 2 egg yolks, 350ml olive oil, lemon, salt
  • Toasted baguette croutons

Method

  1. Make the fish stock: simmer the heads and bones with leek, onion, fennel, orange peel, bouquet garni, wine and 1.5 litres of cold water for 45 minutes. Strain and reserve.
  2. Pound the garlic to a paste in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Whisk in the egg yolks, then drizzle the olive oil in slowly whisking to emulsify. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.
  3. Season the fish and poach in the strained stock at a bare simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until just cooked through. Lift out and keep warm.
  4. Take 400ml of the hot stock and whisk it slowly into half the aioli in a clean bowl. Return the mixture to the pan over very low heat and stir constantly until thickened and creamy (do not boil or it will split).
  5. Pour the bourride into deep bowls with the fish on top. Serve with croutons and the remaining aioli on the side.

Tip from the editors. Do not let the bound sauce return to the boil after the aioli goes in; it will split. Hold it just below a simmer until you serve it.

Where to eat bourride

Bourride in Marseille

Chez Fonfon ★ 4.8

€€€ Provencal Seafood7e

Chez Fonfon in Marseille's 7e sits in the Vallon des Auffes cove and has cooked bouillabaisse for the Mounier family since 1952, the fish landed each morning.

OrderThe bouillabaisse for two, served in the traditional sequence of broth then carved fish.

TipClosed late January for two weeks; book a sea-side table at lunch for the cove light.

Directions Book

Chez Michel ★ 4.8

€€€ Provencal Seafood7e

Chez Michel in Marseille's 7e has cooked the oldest bouillabaisse in the city since 1946, the Visciano family now in the third generation at the Catalans.

OrderThe bouillabaisse at €80 per person, two-person minimum, the canonical reference in the city.

TipReservation only; cash and card both accepted. Closed Sunday evening and Monday lunch.

Directions Book

Le Miramar ★ 4.6

€€€ Provencal Seafood2e

Le Miramar in Marseille's 2e was founded in 1965 and is a founding member of the Bouillabaisse Charter, Christian Buffa in the kitchen running fish.

OrderThe bouillabaisse at €80, served quayside with Notre-Dame de la Garde over your shoulder.

TipClosed Monday; the front terrace looks straight at the cathedral on the hill.

Directions Book

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