bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse without fish but full of ceremony

Bouillabaisse without fish but full of ceremony

If there's one subject more contentious in Marseille than the sanctity of the Olympique football team, it's the proper recipe for bouillabaisse. Some sources argue that it's a poor fisherman's stew made up of bycatch, while the charter of the Marseille Bouillabaisse organization specifies at least four kinds of fin fish and two optional shellfish. That the dish is usually served in two courses and spiced with pricey threads of saffron argues that maybe it was always a dish for the wealthy. Most of those fish species are expensive imports where we live, so we're always happy to find another way to enjoy the dish. Nina Olsson, the force behind Britain's NourishAtelier.com, has provided a really striking vegetarian alternative for bouillabaisse in her recent cookbook,...Read More
Enjoying everything fishy in Marseille

Enjoying everything fishy in Marseille

When a magazine assignment took us to Catalunya last fall, we decided to extend our trip by taking a train to Marseille. After all, it was the only one of the three great port cities of the western Mediterranean that we didn't already know and love. Its history is deeply entwined with Barcelona and Naples. What Marseille has that the others lack is a long slot harbor where small vessels are well-sheltered from the weather. Le Vieux Port (“old port”) forms the picturesque waterfront of historic Marseille. The anchorages here primarily host pleasure craft, but every morning small one- and two-man fishing boats—primarily seiners and trawlers—tie up at the Quai des Belges and unload their overnight catch. In many cases, the fishermen's wives meet the...Read More