As much as Ontario has to offer food-wise, I often lament our landlocked (well, saltwater-wise, anyway) status. How hard is it to get a properly cooked piece of fish around here? A recent visit to Maléna, which debuted earlier this year as Toronto’s new answer to a proper seafood restaurant, only confirmed my general disappointment with the state of seafood in this town. As this review from Toronto Life suggests, even when well-sourced fresh fish is available, it takes so long to get here that maybe local chefs just cook the crap out of it anyway to be sure. The appetizers (an assortment of well-prepared crudos, the delicate and savoury smoked halibut cheek cakes, a perfectly-braised and grilled octopus salad) stole the show. The main event, however — this time a fresh piece of Atlantic black mullet grilled whole and served unadorned, Mediterranean-style — disappoints: slightly overcooked, lacking in flavour, needing the help of the trio of sauces served alongside it. We’re starting to simply accept that Toronto will never be a seafood town.
This doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t make a good seafood dish at home. Fish and seafood can be tricky to cook (and easy to overcook) and not particularly cheap, leading many to avoid it altogether. Poaching seafood helps avoid the overcooking, and the recipe below for a quick bouillabaisse (a Provencal fish stew) allows for flexibility in terms of your ingredients — you can splurge on shrimp and scallops, or skimp with some cod fillets instead. Always try and find the freshest possible, but chances are, your grocery store is going to carry flash-frozen seafood, which most of us settle for anyways.
The recipe for a “proper” bouillabaisse has apparently become so complicated that some French chefs refuse to cook it — modern versions require at minimum a lovingly prepared fish stock, and a garlicky rouille to spread on your crouton. This one is my own cheaty-pants version, which I will admit uses jarred clam juice and fish stock bouillion cubes: as much as I’d like to think of myself as a person who spends Sundays making her own homemade fish stocks and carefully freezing them for later use, it’s just never happened. Many fish markets will sell their own fish stock, so this is another option if you have a decent fishmonger nearby. I also skip the rouille altogether, preferring to make a simple garlic crostini that’s a bit lighter.
As for seafood, you can pick your favourites, but be mindful that cooking times will vary depending on your ingredient and its size. Medium-sized shrimp or scallops, or fish cut into two-inch chunks will poach in about 8-10 minutes; clams and mussels will generally be cooked in about the same. Adjust accordingly when you add the ingredients, so they are all finished cooking at the same time. You know fish is done when it flakes; scallops and shrimp should be opaque; clams and mussels will open up when cooked (avoid any that don’t open at all).
Quick Bouillabaisse
Serves 4
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped, fronds reserved
pinch crushed chilis
1 small green chili, chopped
1 strip orange zest
Large pinch of saffron threads (optional)
4 cups fish stock
1 cup clam juice
1 28 oz can peeled tomatoes, with juice *
1 bay leaf
1 lb cod fillets, cut into two-inch pieces
1 cup medium-sized scallops
Handful chopped fennel fronds
Handful chopped parsley
8 baguette slices
1 clove garlic, cut in half lengthwise
* If you don’t have a blender or hand blender, you can leave the soup chunky but use diced tomatoes instead of whole
1. Heat 3-4 tbsp olive oil in a large pot or Dutch Oven on low heat. Cook garlic, onion and fennel with chilis (red and green) gently for 5-7 minutes, until softened.
2. Add tomatoes, fish stock and clam juice, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add orange zest, bay leaf, saffron and a handful of fennel fronds (leaving a few for garnish), simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove orange zest and bay leaf, then blend soup to desired consistency. Add fish and scallops and poach gently at a low simmer, covered, for about 8-10 minutes or until just cooked through. Avoid boiling the broth!
4. Toast baguette slices lightly under broiler while fish is poaching, then rub with half a garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley and fennel fronds, serve each bowl with baguette slices.
Sara Chan is a newly called Toronto lawyer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday here on lawandstyle.ca.