It's been a couple of years since we went on a Mediterranean cruise. One of our favorite stops was St. Tropez, where we had a fantastic lunch. Every course was wonderful, but the highlight was the fish soup, which I would have been completely satisfied with. I understand that the area is famous for this fish soup. I expected that it would be a clear soup. Instead it had some body and texture -- just delicious.

Does anyone have a good recipe for this specialty?

I took a local cooking class here in San Francisco, and one of the things that the chef demonstrated was Soupe de Poisson - Fish Soup. We have it quite often on the Cote d'Azur & were hoping we could find a recipe here similar to what we had in France (my wife has probably has had over 40 servings of Soupe de Poisson). The first thing the chef stated is that we can't get the same fish here as they have in France. Warm water Medeterranian saltwater fish. There is actually a prescribed set of different fishes that goes into Soupe de Poisson. There is a specific name for this "set" in France - I think it may be Poisson de Roches.

I think we have a postcard with the recipe on the back - I'll look for it.

Stu Dudley

As Stu rightly points out, while you cannot duplicate the famed fish soups of the French Mediterranean, you can come reasonably close if you have a good supply of fish. I used Julia Child's recipe; she advises that you have at least two types of fish - one that will stay firm and in chunks when cooked and one that will be tender and break apart.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people...llabaisse.html

I opted for fresh halibut and red snapper. Also added clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp.

Tyler Florence also has a good recipe on Food Network web site, and I liked his additions of fresh tomato, leek and fennel which were not strained out as in Julia's recipe.

Bon Appetit!

The indispensable ingredient in the soup is rascasse, which can be any of several kinds of scorpion fish. You can do a reasonable facsimile with American fishes. The most important thing about the soup for me is the rouille, though. Without the toasts smeared in rouille it doesn't begin to resemble a French fish soup.

Our soup did not have any chunks of fish in it at all. It was a broth, though not clear, but thickened, I think, with fish. My mouth waters just thinking of it.

I will research further by following your suggestions.

Stu: if you can find your recipe, I'd love to have it.

StCirq: I wonder what kinds of Hawaiian fish might do.

This is the recipe that I think mimics the real thing best. It's a LOT of work!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle6977984.ece

St.Cirq- I'm with you 100% on the rouille - what ingredient makes that so tasty? saffron?

Here is what my wife translated from the back of a Soupe de Poisson postcard we picked up while in France

Soupe de Poisson

Serves 6
1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of Poissons de Roche (fish), such as:
- congres (conger eel – a large ocean fish resembling a fresh water eel)
- rascasses (scorpion fish – in the rockfish family)
- rouquiers
- girelles
As well as 2 dozen little crabs

In a pot, stir a big glass of oil, 2 onions (chopped, I assume), 2 cloves of mashed garlic, then add tomato puree, fennel (bulb - chopped I assume), summer savory, bay, salt, pepper.

Add the fish & 2 liters of water & boil for 15 minutes.

Force it through a large food mill to get a rich/thick puree.

Put the puree back in a pot & bring it to a boil again

Stu’s note:
When we made some fish stock while in France, the fishmonger gave us a bunch of fish I had never heard of & told us not to fillet the fish or cut off its head or tail – use the fish “as is” (after gutting & cleaning). I suspect the same with the fish for this recipe. When I took the cooking class in the US, the chef used an eel purchased from a local Asian market. Also, several of my cooking instructors plus Madelein Kamman & Perla Meyers stressed that you should not cook a fish stock too long or it will become "tinny". Probably the same with fish soup. 45 mins seemed to be the max cooking time for stock.

Of course, add the toast rounds rubbed with garlic & topped with rouille.

Stu Dudley

sue, I've never put saffron in the rouille (plenty of that in the soup itself), just hot chilis, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a tiny bit of fish liver (I know, sounds gross, but that's what gives it the distinctive taste). Grind them all into a paste in a mortar and pestle.

Thanks, All. The experiment begins!