Clean the fish and cut it into pieces of about 5–6 cm. Keep the firm fish (scorpionfish and monkfish) separate from the delicate ones (sea bass and gurnard or John Dory).

Ingredients

• 600 gFish, rockfish, Pacific, mixed species, raw
• 500 gFish, monkfish, raw
• 400 gFish, sea bass, mixed species, raw
• 300 gFish, scup, raw
• 300 gOnions, raw
• 16 gGarlic, raw
• 300 gTomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average
• 100 gFennel, bulb, raw
• 2 gThyme, fresh
• 0.2 gSpices, bay leaf not counted – removed
• 3 gOrange peel, raw not counted – removed
• 0.3 gSpices, saffron
• 90 mlOil, olive, salad or cooking
• 10 gSalt, table
• 1 gSpices, pepper, black
• 1.5 lBeverages, water, tap, drinking
• 600 gPotatoes, flesh and skin, raw
• 10 gParsley, fresh

Method

1. Clean the fish and cut it into pieces of about 5–6 cm. Keep the firm fish (scorpionfish and monkfish) separate from the delicate ones (sea bass and gurnard or John Dory).
2. Thinly slice the onions and crush the garlic. Blanch, peel and deseed the tomatoes and chop them. Thinly slice the fennel and chop the parsley. Peel the potatoes and cut them into slices about 5 mm thick.
3. Put the onions, garlic, tomatoes, fennel, thyme, bay leaf, orange peel, saffron, 10 g of salt, the pepper and 90 ml of olive oil into a wide pot (5–6 litres) and lay the potatoes on top. Meanwhile bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil.
4. Pour the boiling water over the vegetables and boil hard, uncovered, over high heat for 10 minutes so that the potatoes are half cooked.
5. Add the firm fish; the broth should just cover it, so top up with a little boiling water if needed. Boil hard for 5 minutes: the rolling boil binds the oil into the broth as a lightly cloudy emulsion, whereas a gentle simmer would leave the oil floating on top.
6. Add the delicate fish on top and boil hard for another 5–7 minutes until the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily and the potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaf and orange peel and sprinkle with parsley.
7. Serve at once in two dishes: lift the fish and potatoes onto a warmed platter with a slotted spoon and pour the broth into a tureen over slices of toasted bread. Serve the rouille separately.