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Cooking with Raymond

Fish soup with aioli sauce

When you think of fish soup immediately the heady flavours from Provence spring to mind. On the Atlantic, we do not have as many rock fish as there are in the Mediterranean but you can still do a lovely fish soup. You will need a fine sieve, 30cm Ø casserole to make this dish. A liquidiser is optional.

Name of dish:Fish soup with aioli
Preparation time:35 mins
Cooking time:45 mins
Serves:4-6 people
Fish soup Photo © Shy Man/iStockphoto

Ingredients

  • 1 large Spanish onion, chopped fine
  • 1 bulb of fennel, chopped fine
  • 1 small stick of celery, chopped fine
  • 1 carrot, chopped fine 1 cm
  • 5 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 100g olive oil (Chef's note 1)
  • 500g gurnard (Chef's note 2)
  • 500g grey mullet
  • 300g tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 pkt saffron, powder
  • 300g dry white wine, boiled for 30 seconds (Chef's note 3)
  • 1.2 litre cold water (Chef's note 4)
  • 4 pinches of sea salt
  • 3 pinches of cayenne pepper
  • 1 tbsp Pernod

For the aioli (all ingredients must be room temperature):

  • 2 egg yolks (Chef's note 5)
  • 3 gloves of garlic, puréed
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 250g Extra virgin olive oil (Chef's note 6)
  • ¼ lemon juice
  • 1 pinch of cayenne pepper

For the garnish:

  • 30 Toasted croutons
  • 100g Gruyere cheese, grated

Method

  1. Sweaten (Chef's note 7) the onions, fennel, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme and bay leaf in 100g of the olive oil for 5 minutes, add the saffron, stir, add chopped fish and stir again and cook for 5 mins.
  2. Add the tomatoes, white wine and cold water and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Taste. Lastly add the Pernod, bring to the boil for 2 mins, skim and barely simmer for 20 minutes on top of the stove.
  3. Take off the heat, leave to cool, and you can either strain the soup by passing it through a fine sieve or you can give it far more flavour and texture by lightly liquidising it. (Chef's note 8)

Method for Aioli

  1. This is a simplified version of a rouille which normally contains potatoes or bread but is just as delicious. Aioli is a mayonnaise with garlic and olive oil. This little sauce illustrates the magical power of egg yolks.
  2. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the garlic and salt, pour the olive oil in a steady trickle until the oil is absorbed and thickens. Whisk in lemon juice, cayenne pepper. Taste and correct seasoning.

Serving

  1. Heat the soup and serve the aioli separately, (or with a hand blender, liquidise the aioli into the soup) and serve with the croutons and gruyere cheese. (Chef's note 9)

Chef's notes

  1. Don't use your best olive oil for this as a lot of molecules of flavour will disappear whilst cooking. Keep your extra virgin olive oil for warm or cold sauces.
  2. Gurnard is a good tasting fish which will make an excellent soup and our seas are full of this variety.
  3. We boil the white wine to remove the alcohol.
  4. Whilst heating the cold water, it will trap and coagulate some of the protein which will rise to the surface. Skim it off. That is done at full boil then immediately lower the heat to a mere simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Egg yolks contains a protein called lecithin which will emulsify and absorb the droplets of oil making it a firm and smooth sauce. If your sauce is too stiff, add a bit of warm water to thin it down. If the sauce starts to separate, pour in a little bit of hot water down the side of the bowl and whisk it in, this will bind the sauce.
  6. It is now the time to use your best extra virgin olive oil to get the best flavour from your sauce. If you find the olive oil too strong, replace some of it with a neutral oil such as rapeseed or sunflower. It is interesting to know that extra virgin olive oil (not refined) can kill bacteria and salmonella.
  7. This must be done on a medium heat without colouring the vegetables; the aim is to convert carbohydrates and starches into sugars, it will also add more flavour. The English language has a lovely word for it, sweetening.
  8. You can either keep it as a clear soup, or you can grind up the fish and the soup together which will give you a richer textured and more flavoursome soup. When using the liquidiser, use the pulse button (for no more than 2 seconds at a time), pulse 3 times. Beware, you don’t to puree the soup or you will lose half of it, just break it down a little of the fish and vegetables.
  9. Gruyere cheese strangely enough comes from Franche Comté and Switzerland, the north east counties. Yet it they work very well together.

The Menu

Raymond Blanc

A recipe for success

Raymond prepares a Croque Monsieur.

The Inspectors' verdicts

David Moore and Sarah Willingham

"They're a really strong couple"

David and Sarah on the winners.

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