“This Bouillabaisse a noble dish is
A sort of soup or broth, or brew,
Or hotchpotch of all sorts of fishes,
That Greenwich never could outdo;
Green herbs, red peppers, mussels, saffron,
Soles, onions, garlic, roach, and dace;
All these you eat at Terre's tavern,
In that one dish of Bouillabaisse.”
Thackeray (1811-1863), “Balada unei Bouillabaisse”

Well, yes, the Bouillabaisse is a Muse and richly deserves the verses of the gourmand poets.
The complicated concoction full of sea food, with spices has an unctuous and full taste and is, as many connoisseurs might say, ”la reine de la cuisine”.
The European cuisines that border the sea or the ocean have versions of it, let`s call it ….soup, but nobody is able to overtake the skillful and busy cooks in Marseille!
The history of Bouillabaisse starts, as it seems, in the Roman mythology, with the goddess of beauty and  the god of fire and continues in the XVI th century, with a version that is very close to the the present one, a stew/soup containing a great variety of fishes, actually all the fishes that the fishermen couldn`t sell till the end of the day: gilt-head bream (dorada fish) cod, brill, grey mullet, shell fish, sea food, crabs, mussels, and other juicy marine living creatures.
As the years passed and as the tastes of the demanding French grew more and more refined, there appeared langoustines(scampi) and lobsters in the soup.
It is said that the mix of the Provençal herbs sprinkled in the lovely dish is essential for a perfect taste; and the way of presenting it is not less important, the fish being served separately, on a plate and the proper soup being brought with bread and Rouille sauce, a kind of mayonnaise with saffron, olive oil and garlic and some cayenne pepper.

I tasted it at the famous Chez Fonfon in Marseille,

but also at Chez César in Cassis,

both of them were very good.
It whets your appetite, doesn`t it? Come to the kitchen! Shall we try? 
You need:
 
At least 3 different types of fish fillets
I kilo of mussels
500 g of squid or crab
¼  cup of olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 pieces of leek, mainly the white part needs to be sliced into thin pieces
¼ bulb of fennel or a teaspoon of fennel seeds
2 crushed cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes sliced into bigger pieces
1 laurel leaf
3 tiny branches of fresh thyme
1 larger piece of orange skin
½ teaspoon of saffron
2 teaspoons of salt
¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
French bread, plain or toast

After all vegetables have mixed together and have combined all their terrific flavours, you add the fishes, let it boil a bit, put the remaining ingredients, you let it cook for 10 minutes, to melt into each other, you take out the laurel, the thyme and the orange skin and dish it up, as I have already told you.
Good luck with your bouillabaisse!

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