In the Kitchen with Charity: The feast of seven fishes in one fragrant bowl

When Julia Child made television food history with The French Chef in the 1960s, she introduced Americans to bouillabaisse, the rustic fish chowder of maritime France.

The dish gets a fast boil (bouillir) at the end of a long, slower cooking process (abaisser), and thus the name. It’s a dish with many variations, but proximity to fishing is required because bouillabaisse requires the cooks to get whole fish and shellfish, and use every bone, claw, and shell in the soup. The result can be anything from a hearty stew that would satisfy a ravenous peasant, to a refined and aromatic creation of vegetables and delicately cooked fish that would distract Marie Antoinette from her cake.

At Vine Street Café, chef/owner Terry Harwood brought bouillabaisse from the Provencal area to the Peconic area and put it on the menu every Monday night for over 20 years. His bouillabaisse is on the refined end of the spectrum.

“Years ago, my Aunt Kathy and one of her best friends, who lives in the South of France, were in the dining room for our very first bouillabaisse Monday,” he said. After a few Pernod cocktails, her friend loudly declared, “This is not bouillabaisse! It is too good to be bouillabaisse!”

Aunt Kathy’s friend was reacting to Mr. Harwood’s non-traditional interpretation of the rustic fish chowder from Marseille. But the mantra, “It’s too good to be bouillabaisse” has stuck with the Vine Street staff. “We’ve consistently served it the same way for all these years,” Mr. Harwood said. “Every seaside village from Collioure on the Southwest coast, to Séte, in the middle, to Marseille in the East, have versions of this fantastic seafood stew. It began centuries ago in Marseille, where fishermen would simmer the by-catch and that day’s unsold fish in large cauldrons from their boats. Eventually, these dockside stews migrated into the villages, and became restaurants entirely dedicated to the art of bouillabaisse.”

Mr. Harwood’s bouillabaisse style has its roots in Séte, where he studied the process — talking, and working with chefs and restaurateurs. The soup base is the foundation of his approach, but instead of more humble fish, he uses salmon and lobster to bring it up a notch. “I bring in the heartiness of the Marseille style, combined with the freshness that I associate with the French Mediterranean.”

He has adapted his dish to the local fish. “In Séte, the chefs primarily use monkfish, so we use it anytime it’s available, along with other seasonal fish,” he said. “The Rouille and Bruschetta we serve next to the bouillabaisse round it out, almost stealing the show. Of course, the broth contains pieces of fish but also a variety of shellfish, including half of a Maine lobster and an infusion of fennel, saffron, and roasted peppers. We finish it with our VSC Basic Tomato Sauce, which is available in our market.

“The preparation of the broth takes a great deal of time, and there are no shortcuts. There is no ‘high boil’ until the customer’s order hits the kitchen and we create a little flair on the final pick-up,” Mr. Harwood said. “The selection of the seafood and everything else we make from scratch is all part of one big, gentle procedure.”

For the determined home cook, with a local fisherman on speed dial, I offer my recipe based on Julia Child’s pivotal television bouillabaisse, with locally available fish. Or you can go to Vine Street Café on a Monday night and see how it’s really done.

Shelter Island Bouillabaisse

Serves 6-8

6-8 pounds of whole fish and shellfish, such as flounder, cod, porgy, monkfish, littleneck clams, mussels and lobster. Clean and fillet the fish, scrub the shellfish, and cook the lobster just long enough to extract the meat. Set aside all the fish bones, heads, lobster shells etc. for the soup base; you should have 3 or more pounds. Refrigerate the fish fillets, shellfish, and lobster meat while you prepare the soup base.
For the base:

• ½ cup of olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion, chopped
• 1 cup rinsed and chopped leeks,
  white parts only
• 3 cups chopped tomatoes
• 4 cloves mashed garlic, coarsely
  chopped
• 2.5 quarts of water
• 6 sprigs of parsley, 3 sprigs of thyme,
  a bay leaf, and a big pinch of fennel
  seed, tied into cheesecloth
• 2 pinches of saffron
• Salt
• Black pepper
  For the final dish:
• 1 pound of potatoes, peeled and
  sliced into pieces 1 inch thick.
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley

1. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy, 8-quart pot. Sauté the onions and leeks. Add the tomatoes and garlic, continue to cook until the tomatoes break down.
2. Add the shells, bones, and fish carcasses, the water, and cheesecloth spice bundle and the saffron to the pot and bring to a slow boil. The water should just cover the bones and vegetables. Cook uncovered for about half an hour, cool a bit and taste for seasoning, adding salt as needed. Strain and discard the solids.
3. Heat the strained soup base back to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil for five minutes, then add the littlenecks. Cover the pot and boil for another five minutes. Uncover, add the monkfish, cod, and lobster. Cook until the potatoes are tender, the fish is fork-tender, and the shellfish have opened.
4. Serve in a deep platter, with the potatoes, fish and shellfish in the soup. Sprinkle chopped parsley.
5. Spoon each serving of bouillabaisse into a wide soup dish over slices of crusty French bread and mix in a dab of Rouille.
   Note: An optional condiment called Rouille is very nice with bouillabaisse. To make it, combine 4 crushed and chopped garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of hot pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs in a food processor and dribble in 3 tablespoons of olive oil as you mix it all to a paste.