I am a big fan of stews, and I have a particularly fond regard for a well-crafted seafood stew. They can be tricky at times, but they offer so much in return for the effort. In addition to myriad flavor combinations, they also offer many essential nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty and amino acids, vitamins D and B2 (riboflavin), phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, silicon, sulfur, calcium, and other trace minerals, and high-quality proteins. Fish in all forms has repeatedly been shown to slow cognitive decline and improve memory. A good thing to remember! Fish stews also provide an opportunity to couple seafood with a rich variety of vegetables, especially potatoes, corn, cauliflower, and mushrooms. A quality fish stock will take any seafood stew up a notch or two. Add dulse and it becomes even more tasty when balanced with the flavors of various herbs, spices, and wine. Like all seafood stews, I always prefer it with plenty of garlic bread on the side to soak up the broth.
There are so many types of seafood stews to choose from and I have long been partial to those from the Mediterranean region. There is Kakavia, from Greece, named after the three-legged cooking pot the ancient Ionians took with them on fishing expeditions. In many ways it is a Greek version of French bouillabaisse using mostly small fish and prawns cooked in a vegetable stock with chopped tomatoes, oregano and chopped parsley. Saffron was originally used for color but tomatoes do the trick just as well.
Ekşili Balık, a popular Turkish seafood stew I enjoyed on the shores of the Bosporous in Istanbul, often includes haddock, cod, and mackerel served as fillets while others are cut into chunks. Prepared in a rich fish stock combined with potatoes, green beans, red pepper, and other vegetables, it is accented with a zesty lemon flavor which gives the dish its sour (ekşili) taste. Then come the saffron, capers, chopped dill, and a single chopped anchovy which in my opinion is the pièce de résistance of the entire dish.
Another delicious stew is Caldeirada from Portugal. It is full of fish – haddock, cod, and snapper are always good choices, while scallops, mussels and shrimp along with chopped potatoes or cauliflower work equally well. It is served in a simple saffron broth with herbs and spices added to taste.
Zarzuela de Mariscos from the Catalonia region of Spain is defined by an almond paste mixed into the tomato-based broth with saffron and garlic. Add to this some type of cured pork such as serrano ham, prosciutto, or chorizo sausage. It tends to focus more on shellfish than other seafood stews.
And who can forget Cacciucco, that wonderful Tuscan seafood stew? Like Kakavia, it uses fish that are not necessarily from the main catch, such as octopus and squid, although snapper, mussels, and shrimp can always be added to the mix which is cooked with tomatoes, wine, garlic, sage, red chiles, and herbs and spices to taste.
For this two-part “Eating Vicariously” adventure, however, I am going to focus on two of my favorite seafood stews – bouillabaisse, a hearty French concoction, and Italian-American cioppino – that have become my default choices, and two restaurants – one in Portland, Maine and the other in the San Francisco area – where I have enjoyed them. The broth is a distinguishing factor between bouillabaisse and cioppino; the former uses a white fish stock while the latter is tomato based.
I first learned of bouillabaisse from watching “Our Man Flint,” the 1966 James Coburn tongue-in-cheek secret agent vehicle to tag along on the popularity of the James Bond franchise featuring Sean Connery. When one of the characters in the film is killed with a poison dart, Derek Flint recognizes traces of bouillabaisse spices from a particular restaurant in Marseille that the assassin had left on the dart’s feathers. He finds the restaurant and goes on to save the world and get the girl.
Bouillabaisse, although a French seafood stew, is closely associated with Marseille, the Provencal port city on the Mediterranean. It is a simple stew originally made by local fishermen using fish they would not otherwise sell at market. The name bouillabaisse is attributed to the manner in which the dish is prepared and the fact that the ingredients are not added all at once. The broth is prepared first. It is first boiled – bouillir – and then the various selected seafood items are added to the broth one at a time, waiting each time for the broth to reboil. Once everything is added, the heat is lowered to a simmer – abaissa – until served thick with bits of fish and bone for flavored.
The traditional Marseille bouillabaisse is served in two steps. First, the broth is brought to the table in a tureen along with rouille – grilled slice of bread spread with aioli prepared with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, saffron, and cayenne pepper. Local families also have their own recipes for how it is prepared in the home. It can also be prepared with other fish and a variety of shellfish which are not part of the traditional dish made in Marseille. The fish is served separately over potatoes on a large platter and the diner can mix broth and seafood as preferred on a soup plate.
Bouillabaisse recipes have evolved in restaurants around the city, and each varies depending on what fish are available on any given day, and who is preparing it and where. As there have always been disputes on which recipe is the most authentic, a number of restauranteurs in Marseille decided several years ago to codify what can be used and how it is prepared. The 1990 edition of the Michelin Guide Vert -Côte d’Azur specified that bouillabaisse must use three specific fish: “rascasse [rockfish, or scorpion fish, caught just offshore], grondin [sea robin, or red mullet], fielas/congre [European conger eel].” Chapon/scorpène [red scorpion fish] is often added to the prescribed mix), with the addition of a proper fish stock broth with vegetables such as leeks, onions, fennel, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes are simmered together with quality olive oil, and saffron. What makes a true bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the bouquet garni – a selection of choice Provençal herbs and spices in the broth – and the method of serving.
I tried bouillabaisse for the first time in Marseille. It is not a dish often found anywhere in America’s Heartland unless one happens to come across it at a French restaurant. And it seemed only fitting that its traditional home is where I should have my first encounter. It was memorable. I have gone on to have versions of it in other places, but most frequently, I have enjoyed it at J’s Oyster along Portland, Maine’s Commercial Street waterfront. Oyster Bar, Raw Bar, Seafood Restaurants | J's Oyster | Portland ME (jsoysterportland.com) It is a rather cramped and dark space and very reminiscent of the Marseille café where I was first served bouillabaisse so many years before. The late Tony Bourdain visited Portland for an episode of his Discovery Channel food and travel show “No Reservations.” Bourdain called Portland “America’s foodiest little city” because of the number of restaurants per capita. Season 6, Episode 12 featured Maine and Bourdain sampled J’s Oyster’s famous steamer clams which he found difficult to find back home in New York and New Jersey. J’s was selected as Bourdain’s companion cameraman Zach Zamboni is a native of Maine and he claimed it was always the first place he stopped whenever he was in Portland. Zamboni liked the place because it never seemed to change, and Bourdain loved the place immediately, admitting he wished he had a similar place in his own neighborhood in New York. “To me, J’s Oyster bar is a place that I loved within two seconds of walking in the door,” he said in an interview with the Portland Press Herald. “I loved the people there. I loved the people who worked there, I loved the crowd, l loved the food, I loved the look. I loved everything about the place. I wanted to move in upstairs.” I know exactly how he feels; a “loud local joint with lots of raw shellfish, pints of cold beer, a good crowd.”
Yes, J’s Oyster is well known for its oysters and steamer clams and that is the reason I went there the first time. And don’t get me wrong. Being from Maryland I love oysters any time of day, be they fish shucked and raw (nude), fried, roasted, or served with other seafood. Bring them on. But knowing that Maine is known for its fine local oysters which had gained national, even international cachet, and this was what I had come to sample, I was just a little disappointed when I quickly learned that the oysters J’s was serving were from the Chesapeake Bay. Still, I had a dozen served raw over shaved ice to prime my taste bud with the briny essence of the sea and then I searched the menu for dinner. My eyes were soon fixed on bouillabaisse listed among the regular entrees and the decision was instantly easy.
The bouillabaisse at J’s Oyster is a Maine take on this delicious stew. It isn't like any other – lobster, shrimp, scallops, haddock & crab tossed over pasta shells with a light marinara both made with fish bones, shrimp shells, lobster bodies, and a variety of aromatics, including snippets of thyme, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and peppercorns – yet it is very, very good and I keep going back to it whenever I eat at J’s. Bouillabaisse is now served in several restaurants around Portland, each following its own recipe.
More recently I have sampled bouillabaisse a little closer to home. Not long ago we joined our dear Francophile neighbors for a wonderful meal at Le Grenier, a family-owned French-style bistro in a former townhouse along the now trendy H-Street Corridor in Northeast DC. LE GRENIER | Best French Restaurant in DC (legrenierdc.com) Its Bouillabaisse des Calanques is a rather traditional Marseille offering, combining cod, mussels, shrimp, and calamari which are served in a “saffron Chablis broth” with garlic croutons. It is named for the Massif des Calanques, the rocky cliffs and bays located along the Mediterranean south of Marseille.
My bucket list includes a return to Marseille for a true bouillabaisse coupled with a bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol, a most drinkable vin rouge from the celebrated terroir of this tiny appellation east of Marseille and the Calanques. It must be 50% mourvèdre, while the remainder is generally a blend of grenache and cinsault. Although Tempier Bandol is often coupled with smoked meats, it has proven to be equal to the task of washing down a proper bouillabaisse.
So feast on this for a moment and stay tuned for Part 2 – the wonders of cioppino.
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