My Bouillabaisse using Queensland seafood
Keeping with French theme, I made my first ever Bouillabaisse using all Queensland seafood. I used the recipe in the current Gourmet Traveller Magazine which is their annual French issue. The recipe is in the 'Fare Exchange' article where readers write in to ask for a recipe from their favourite chef. This particular Bouillabaisse recipe comes from none other than Brisbane's very own Thierry Galichet from his famous Montrachet restaurant in Paddington. For those of you who are not familiar with Thierry, he is known for his easy relaxed French cooking and his love of fresh seasonal ingredients. He earned legend status when he decided to only open his busy Brisbane restaurant from Monday to Friday so he could better live a balanced life. At the time many said he was mad and he'd soon go broke but he proved them all wrong and Montrachet is packed 5 days a week. Reservations are hard to get but well worth the wait. I had the pleasure of meeting Thierry at a Black Pearl cooking school where he taught me to make his famous caramelised onion and Gruyere souffle which I now make regularly.
My iPad with Gourmet Traveller app and my Mise en Place
Today I'm also testing my new iPad as a recipe book. I downloaded the current issue of Gourmet Traveller using their iPad app. It's so easy to use and the iPad sits up nicely on the kitchen bench and the picture quality is excellent. Congrats to Gourmet Traveller for being one the first Aussie magazines to go iPad.
As I mentioned I used all Queensland seafood for this recipe which wasn't hard to source at all. One stop to my local fish monger (Aussie Seafood on Blunder Rd, Durack) and I came away with plump Harvey Bay scallops, Gold Coast Tiger Prawns (See me previous blog on GCMA), Coral Trout caught in the waters off Cairns and finally Queensland's very own Moreton Bay Bugs - not to be confused with Balmain Bugs. You can easily tell the difference between Moreton Bay and Balmain - Moreton Bays have their eyes set wide apart on the edge of the shell and the Balmain Bug had its eyes set more in the middle of the shell.
I found this recipe quite easy to make and the result was very very tasty. A couple of tips for you:
1. Use really good quality and very ripe tomatoes as these give the dish a lot a flavour and colour.
2. You could add more Pernod if you like that aniseed flavour. I thought 20mls was a bit light on.
3. Don't be tempted to skip the Rouille (Mayonnaise). It adds a lot to the dish. If you don't like the zing of raw garlic you could blanch it before blending to take the edge off.
4. In the unlikely event you have some left overs make sure you reheat it very, very gently.
5. Thoroughly pin bone the coral trout and double check you have all the bones before cooking.
July's French issue of Gourmet Traveller
Click here to go the the Gourmet Traveller recipe for Thierry Galichet's Bouillabaisse with Rouille.
Fleur
Your bouillabaisse looks soooo good, I only wish I could just reach out & grab that prawn.
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