Makes 4 servings
Even before Rosa Jackson was my friend, she was an authority I turned to when I wanted to know more about the foods of Paris and Nice, the food-lover’s Eden on the French Riviera. Rosa arrived in France from Canada in 1995 and did what so many people dreamed of doing: stayed! She is well known for her tours of the Nice market and recently opened a cooking school, Les Petits Farcis, in a sun-filled studio in the Old City, so that you can shop at the market with her and head right to the kitchen. Which is what I did and how I learned to make this bourride Sétois, a fisherman’s stew from the seaside town of Sète.
The word bourride tells you that it’s a fish stew with aioli (garlic mayonnaise), sometimes referred to as the butter of Provence. In the traditional version, the fish is poached in broth; Rosa braises it with vegetables, making a stew — well, not really a stew, since it’s not at all soupy — that’s more colorful, more flavorful and surprisingly quick (as in weekday-quick) to pull together. At Rosa’s, we had the bourride with steamed baby potatoes, and that’s how I do it at home too.
a word on the bread and potato
The aioli is thickened with a base of bread or cooked potatoes. If you want to use potato, cut up a baby spud and boil it for 10 minutes or so, then drain and mash it. If you prefer to use bread, soak a slice of sandwich or country bread in a small amount of milk only until it’s thoroughly moistened, then remove it from the soaking bowl and squeeze out the excess liquid.
Working Ahead
You can make the aioli up to 1 day ahead and keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator.
To make the aioli: The aioli can be made using a mortar and pestle or a handheld (immersion) blender. To use a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with a pinch of coarse salt. Add the yolks. Squeeze out the milk from the bread, if you’re using it, then add it or the potato to the mortar and crush to mix coarsely. Drop by drop, add the olive oil — here Rosa cautions to always turn the pestle in the same direction. The mixture will thicken into a mayonnaise. (To use a handheld blender, first crush the garlic to a puree on a cutting board with the pinch of salt or push it through a garlic press; put it in a medium bowl. Mash in the yolks and the bread or potato, then blend in the oil by droplets. No matter which tool you used, squeeze in some lemon juice, then taste to see if you’d like more juice and/or salt. Season with pepper. (You can make the aioli up to 1 day ahead and hold it in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature before using.)
To make the bourride: Cut the carrot into small pieces — think cubettes. Slice the celery leaves, if using, and the chard, spinach or kale into thin shreds. Cut each leek lengthwise into quarters and thinly slice.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add all the vegetables and a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until they soften but don’t color, about 5 minutes. Season the fish with salt and pepper and add it to the pan. Cover and cook over low heat for 4 to 6 minutes on each side (cod and halibut cook faster than monkfish). Test it early by piercing it at the center with a small knife — cod or halibut will flake and be opaque; monkfish will cut easily and be opaque. (The cooked fish should measure about 145 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, though you can go a little lower, because the fish will rest a bit and the residual heat will cook it a tad more.) Transfer the fish to a plate; cover loosely and put in a warm place.
Stir the aioli into the vegetables and cooking juices. Add as much water or broth as needed to create a sauce that just coats a spoon; better to err on the side of a little thick than a little too thin. Taste for salt and pepper.
Serve the fish and vegetables in shallow soup plates with a sprinkling of celery leaves or fennel or dill fronds, if you’d like.
Storing: The bourride is a make-and-enjoy dish.
Choices: The aioli is stellar as a go-along with crudités, steamed vegetables, hot or cold hard-boiled eggs or potatoes and as a spread for sandwiches.