In Search of the Real Bouillabaisse, Marseille's Gift to the Fish Lover
'During a yearlong celebration of its food, the city is filled with odd versions for tourists and fancy variations for the well-heeled. Finding an authentic specimen took some legwork.
MARSEILLE, France — In this ancient port city on the Mediterranean, there is no escaping the dark, hot, earthy fish concoction known as bouillabaisse.
All around the Vieux Port, restaurants with multilingual menus lure tourists with the promise of an authentic taste of the city’s signature dish. One advertises in bright white lights a “bouillabaisse royale” with lobster on the side; another features a “petite” bouillabaisse at a bargain price. A third has created a “milkshake of bouillabaisse,” while yet another proposes a “bouillabaisse hamburger,” a fish fillet in a bun accompanied by fish soup and French fries.
Newsstands sell postcards bearing a recipe for bouillabaisse in French and English. Shops offer jars of concentrated bouillabaisse stock and prepared rouille, a sharp, garlicky mayonnaise with olive oil and a blend of saffron and other spices that is used to enliven the bouillabaisse broth.
In truth, few native Marseillaises eat bouillabaisse, and certainly only at home, never in a restaurant. Many snicker at those who come here and want the dish. The most inventive cuisine in the city these days, they say, is the pizza prepared on food trucks and the couscous served in North African restaurants.
Bouillabaisse sometimes seems as old-fashioned as coq au vin or blanquette de veau. Here, and all over France, it is often said you can no longer find a classic rendition of the dish, which is something between a soup and a stew.
Yet there is also a rumor that bouillabaisse survives, especially in this city, which is celebrating its food this year with an initiative called Marseille Provence Gastronomy 2019 that includes cooking lessons, dinner concerts, wine-tastings, art exhibits and markets. To mark the occasion, a group of elementary-school students painted two large outdoor “bouillabaisse” murals featuring the rockfish necessary for the dish.
So when I decided to seek out and taste the real thing, I came to Marseille.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/dining/bouillabaisse-marseille-france.html?