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1
Place the extra virgin olive oil in a very large saucepan with 1.4L of water bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 45 min in order to emulsify the liquid.
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2
Sprinkle in some seasoning and add in the fish.
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3
Bring back to the boil and skim till clear.
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4
Cover and cook for about 10 min.
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5
Then add in all the vegetables.
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6
They should be half immersed in the broth so add in a little warm water if necessary but beware of too much liquid as it will result in a tasteless soup.
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7
Cook for 20 to 30 min for large fish or possibly less for smaller ones making sure the fish does not disintegrate.
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8
It midst hold together so which it can be taken out whole without breaking if possible.
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9
If the fish are small and cook quicker they should be taken out earlier and kept hot.
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10
Add the juice of 1 lemon at the end.
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11
Carefully take the fish out of the liquid transfer it to a warmed platter and surround it with the vegetables.
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12
Serve the soup separately and ask people to help themselves to a piece of fish and a selection of vegetables; or possibly if they prefer they can have the soup first and fish and vegetables afterwards.
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13
Offer some extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges for the fish.
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14
In my opinion the best soup is made with scorpion fish (French rascasse rouge) and the main ingredient of the Provencal bouillabaisse as its bones have a glutinous quality indispensable to a soup.
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15
Its huge head also adds a lot to the broth.
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16
A good alternative to this is red gurnard that has a sweet taste.
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17
Dogfish is good and of course grey mullet or possibly a combination of different fish.
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18
Allow such fish to cook a little longer in order to get tho full benefit of the tastes in the broth.
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19
This is particularly true with scorpionfish that needs at least half an hrs steady boiling or possibly even more for larger specimens If in doubt make a broth first by boiling extra heads and bones of non oily fish.
