Finnish bouillabaisse

On Thursday Rob went fishing with Ollie and Emma. With a small Angry Birds rod and spincast reel they managed to get four pikes and one perch. So I had to fulfill my promise to cook bouillabaisse. This turned out to be a full-day job.

I cleaned the pikes at the seaside, and let the perch back to freedom – Ollie didn’t want to hurt it. Then we drove to Salo with JD for shopping some ingredients for the seafood stew, such as Norwegian salmon and cod, onions, carrots, and fennel. Our fishermen couldn’t catch clams and shrimp, so we bought frozen ones. 



On the way to Salo Citymarket, we stopped by Perniön Liha to buy 2.5 kgs little sausages for next day’s meal andKemiö bakery’s rye bread.

Meanwhile, Rose fetched Siikli potatoes from the farm we always buy potatoes and strawberries.  

 

 

Finnish bouillabaisse for 10  

• 1 dl extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 bunches of onions, white and green parts, diced
• 2 fennel bulbs
• 8 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 8 tomatoes, cut into small dice
• 8 baby carrots
• 1 kg Siikli potatoes
• Little Tabasco
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of saffron threads
• 2-3 liters of fish stock (and water, if needed)
• 1 kg skinless salmon
• 0.5 kg skinless cod
• Boneless pike or perch
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground  black pepper
• 1 package of frozen clams
• 0.5 kg frozen large shrimps
• 3 dl Riesling

First thing to do in bouillabaisse is to make a good fish stock. I used the pikes for the broth and cooked them with heads and skin in plenty of water for an hour, and added black pepper, salt, parsley and fennel in the water. Small pikes have so many bones that they have to be removed, and if you do it, there’s not much to eat. For this reason I strained the stock and hand-picked some pike flesh for the stew (not much really).  

Next, I dipped the tomatoes in boiling water to remove the skin. Then I chopped the onions, baby-carrots, fennel, potatoes and garlic, took a large pot and sautéed the vegetables in virgin olive oil. Tomato and fish stock was added next with the seasoning: saffran, sea salt, thyme and black pepper. I added potato cubes a bit later. In a traditional bouillabaisse there are no potatoes and carrots, but they are so lovely at this time of the year and fit well in this stew.

The different seafood is added when the vegetables are almost cooked. I also added some Riesling for the perfect finishing touch. (The same Riesling is served with the stew!)

 

The Finnish bouillabaisse is served outside by the sea when it’s cold and windy and eaten with dark rye bread and butter. It was exactly like that, windy and cold, at 10 pm when we had dinner outside. Everyone preferred the dessert (apple pie with vanilla sauce) inside the house.