Cotriade, a Breton fish stew, is my French Fridays with Dorie choice this week.
Ciopinno. Bouillabaisse. Cotriade.
Odds are that you recognize two out of three of these fish stews. Cotriade, maybe not. Ciopinno was created by Italian fishermen who had migrated to San Francisco in the mid-1800’s. It’s a tomato broth stew loaded with fish sourced from the Pacific Ocean. When you visit the City by the Bay, it’s a must-try.
But if you’re in Marseille, walk over to the old port where their world-famous Bouillabaisse, a Provençal fish stew, is the speciality. What sets traditional Bouillabaisse apart from others is the Provençal herbs and spices used in its broth with an assortment of bony Mediterranean fish.
Cotriade, my French Fridays recipe choice this week, is a traditional, coastal fish soup originating from the French province of Brittany. It’s the staple that Breton fishermen made aboard their boats while at sea for days or, maybe, weeks. The secret (and, filling) ingredient here is potatoes. In Dorie’s Around My French Table cookbook, she entitles this recipe, Simplest Breton Fish Soup.
The mussels are put into the fish mixture at the last 2-4 minutes. Discard any closed mussels before serving.
After a 1,053-mile road trip to California this past week, I arrived safely in Cambria, picked up keys to my rental house and literally dropped my bags in the garage. Then I dashed eastward to Templeton where I found all the necessary Cotriade ingredients at Trader Joe’s and Pier 46 Seafood. (Not mentioning that it was an additional 50-mile roundtrip – food blogger-journalist-deadline – a crazy combo.)
Although their are only two main ingredients added to the broth, fish and potatoes, the onions, shallots, garlic cloves, celery and leeks add flavor and depth. A Bouquet Garni, salt and pepper, are all the spices you need but I also added saffron. Love that aroma and taste. What Dorie suggests also is a red or white wine-based vinaigrette to drizzle over the fish before it’s served. Unique, delicious with the drizzle and a wonderful first-night dinner.
It is traditional with this dish, which Dorie calls Simplest Breton Fish Soup, to bring the kettle to the table and ladle the soup into bowls which have a toasted baguette slice already at the bottom.
Although I’ve been vacationing in Cambria with my family for the past eight years, this is only my second winter here. Cambria is a drowsy, quaint seaside village of 6,000 people, primarily retirees, located on the spectacular central coast and sitting among a native stand of Monterey pines. If you want excitement, stimulation and élan, if you will, Cambria’s probably not for you.
It’s a good choice for me, perhaps, and here’s why. Cambria is everything that Aspen is not. Two years ago when I had the responsibility of recreating my Life, the realization was I better get it right. Me being me, and, that’s not always good, I gave myself a year to do it. That deadline thing, you know. Two years later, I’m still tweaking, the plusses, minuses, the want-to-do’s, forget-that’s and what-was-I-thinking’s?
I love Colorado and the whole crazy, invigorating and challenging Life I lead there. Aspen is home and friends and organizational commitments and social activities. I visualize Cambria, amusing as it may seem to you, as a sabbatical, retreat, time-out and rest. A period to be selfish with my own time and be quiet. Do you get that? It’s almost anti-American to want to be alone, isn’t it? Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading my blog as I take you along on my winter adventure. Solitude does not translate to boring, I promise.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group cooking it’s way through Around My French Table. To see what my colleagues made this week, go here. If you want a copy of this week’s recipe, Simplest Breton Fish Soup, go here.
Would love Cotriade (except that husband is allergic to Mussels) — wonder if clams would be a sub? Have you tried Brodetto (an italian version of these soups).
If Mike is allergic to mussels, try scallops, shrimp, sardines, mackerels or just three different varieties of fish. I’ve never heard of Brodetto but will find the recipe. That’s a new word to me. Thanks.
Mary, you are Wonder Woman. And I won’t even mention that I am glad you didn’t mention the 50 mile RT to the grocery.
Hugs and miss you, TTR
Aren’t you glad I keep those asides to myself. Haven’t seen you for seven days. Miss you too. DWB
Good for you Mary for getting all the ingredients together. Looks lovely (and I don’t even like mussels!). I enjoyed this sans mussels…
Mary..I KNOW you are Wonder Woman. Glad you made trip safely…recipe sounds yum. Have a great winter. We also have two lives…at this age it’s necessary for one, to have the other.
Maybe that’s the whole key to this…having one to live the other.
Why oh why did I open your Blog? I knew better! I’m on my “start the New Year right Cleanse” (4th of 9 days) and I’m drooling on my computer. Your Cotriade looks totally delicious and I do love Mussels. Although I gave up cooking many Lents ago, I’m always tempted to cook after reading your blogs. Have a wonderful time in Cambria but don’t forget your home is in Aspen!
Only 5 more days to go, my dear. I believe any type of food I would have blogged about this week would look totally delicious to you! I appreciate being missed. Hang in there, .
This looks amazing! I would love a bowl of this.
I am planning on making the cotriade next week. If I’m already buying mussels for currying, I might as well save a few for soup. I’m happy you made it to Cambria safely. Enjoy your retreat – sounds like something I would enjoy as well.
You’ll like the soup and that’s exactly what I did — made one big mussels purchase.
So glad you made it safely to Cambria. I think this will be my FFwD selection for this coming week. Finally time to get back in the saddle. Since Bill won’t eat mussels of any kind, I might as well pick my favorite from what I’ve missed 🙂
Welcome back from New Zealand where you all seemed to be having a great time together. What memories you are making. This is a delicious fish stew, really different from Ciopinno and Bouillabaisse. It’s easy to half the recipe which I did or even “third it”. Suffering jet lag, I suspect.
I’ll be heading back to Sedona for the rest of the winter on the 20th. Hmmm, why is it we ladies from Manchester feel the need for 2 lives?! Our Sedona home is “my” escape from the brutal Michigan winters, social activities, clubs etc. just like you apparently. I kick back, read, walk a lot, hike a bit, paint en plein air with friends and play golf with Jim when he gets here. When we get back to our peninsula on Lake Michigan in May, the snow is gone and we’re both ready to rock and roll again. Life is Good, isn’t it? And now that you’ve joined our ranks of the over 70 crowd, you’ll love it.
Sorry you didn’t escape the Michigan weather before this last blast, Mary, Mary. Enjoy Sedona and thank you for reading Lights on Bright so loyally.
Aspen and Cambria sound like a good balance. Makes perfect sense to me. Enjoy your winter on the coast. Sounds like you have found the perfect location to work through all those fishy recipes we still have to get through:-)
My thinking, exactly, Rose. Next up, Curried Mussels. I’m off to the fishmonger today to purchase fresh shellfish.
Your Cotriade looks fabulous, Mary! This was definitely one of my favorites! It was even good the next day!
Your photos are really lovely! New camera? Love the first one!
Glad you made it to Cambria safely! I woke to a snowy, icy mix today, Florida is starting to look very good! We will be heading south in February! It’s always nice to take a break from the cold!
Look forward to reading about your adventures! Hugs!
New camera that’s been sitting in the box too long, Kathy. A Cambria project. Thank you for knowing!
Welcome back to California and a snow free environment. A good soup to come back too. I liked it just not the mussels. I will be skipping our next mussel recipe too. But luckily I have so many make-up recipes to choose from.
What a perfect meal to welcome you to your winter in Cambria. Your stay is off to a great start!
I’m glad to know you made it to your winter home safely. Say hi to Cambria for me. What a great idea to save this recipe for a “Welcome to Cali” meal. So perfect while you are right at the coast. Looks wonderful! Thanks for your encouragement on my run.
Oh do I ever GET IT that you need time to yourself, time to be alone, create your own schedule, time to be quiet and do nothing! For most of our married life Gary has been gone 1/3 to 1/2 of the time. I consider that the perfect marriage! Time together was special and time apart was too. Now he’s retired and we spend most of our time together. We are still learning how to do that, but I have to say, Gary is very easy to live with:) Still, when he was gone last week, I enjoyed being the only one to structure my time. When my boys were growing up I used to tell them the one thing you could ALWAYS count on in life was change. Sometimes I wish that weren’t quite so true! Beautiful soup Mary!
You see, I have this mental image of a tired, road weary Mary arriving at her destination. Suddenly, Mary realizes she has a French Fridays deadline and bursts into action as she races to the nearest well-supplied store 🙂
I hope you enjoy your time on the coast. XO