A Pig in Provence by Georgeanne Brennan

Author:Georgeanne Brennan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781452119229
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The quai de Belges, bordering Marseille’s Vieux Port, is still the place to buy the freshest fish and shellfish right off the fishing boats. Many that pull up to the quai are registered in Marseille, indicated by the letters “MA,” for Marseille, following the registration numbers lettered on the sides of the boats. A lot of them are owned by families that have been fishing for generations. Knowledge of the secret places where the rocky shorelines shelter the rascasse and eels, the exact locations and fathoms for St-Pierre and dorade, and which stretches of sandy open spaces along the bottom hold the flatfish, has been passed down from father to son.

Marseille has been an important port ever since it was founded in the sixth century b.c.e. It is at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and through it at one time flowed all the foodstuffs and goods of the known world. Pilgrims set sail from here to the Holy Land and immigrants arrived here from France’s once-extensive colonies. The flavor and taste of the city’s exotic history come together in bouillabaisse, its most famous dish.

Like all traditional dishes, bouillabaisse is saturated with lore and history. Every family, every port, and every neighborhood along the coast between Marseille and Toulon prepares a version. There is even a Marseillais legend that says Venus fed it to her husband, Vulcan, so that, once satiated, he would sleep while she carried on a dalliance with Mars. According to some stories, the soup was brought to Marseille by Greek mariners from Phocaea, in Asia Minor, who founded the city. These fishermen, and those who followed over the centuries, were purported to have boiled the leftover, unsalable, even spoiled bits of their catch in sea-water. Scholars have found no mention in historical documents that would substantiate this tale. Some say that because the water of the Mediterranean is so salty, such a soup would be unpalatable, if not inedible.

The name bouillabaisse is thought to have originated from bouillir, to boil, and abaisser, to turn down. Abaisser also means, in culinary usage, to reduce, which makes sense in this context because as the soup boils it reduces. Although the primary meaning of abaisser is to lower, the heat must be kept on high not only to reduce the contents but to create the essential liaison of olive oil and broth that, along with impeccably fresh fish and saffron, defines a good bouillabaisse.

Travelers in the 1800s, including Mark Twain, Émile Zola, and Gustave Flaubert, mentioned bouillabaisse when describing their sojourns in Marseille, as did the famous French gastronome Curnonsky, who called it soupe d’ôr, golden soup, and raved about its essence and flavors.

By the mid-1800s, Marseille and the Côte d’Azur had been discovered by the rich, and fancy hotels and restaurants vied with one another for fame and for the customers who were passing through their city. During this period, the golden soup as it is now classically made emerged, flavored not only with olive oil and garlic, but also with saffron, fennel, orange peel, onion, tomatoes, and aromatics.

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