Name: Mussel and Saffron Soup
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: thick (double/heavy) cream or crème fraîche, to serve; freshly ground pepper; 4 garlic cloves, pounded with a little sea salt; 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) extra virgin olive oil; ½ red onion, finely chopped; 1 baby fennel bulb, finely chopped; 1 small leek, washed and finely chopped; 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) mussels; 2 fresh or dried bay leaves; 50 g (1¾ oz) butter; 2 litres (70 fl oz/8 cups) chicken stock; 3 flat-leaf (Italian) parsley sprigs, plus extra, to serve; 4 vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) delicate white fish fillets, cut into 1 cm (½ inch) dice; 1 thyme sprig; ½ teaspoon saffron threads, simmered for 1 minute in 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) water

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food I Love

By Neil Perry

Published 2005

About

This is a classic French soup and remains, to this day, one of my favourites. I first started making it back in 1983 at Barrenjoey House on Sydney’s northern beaches, my first posting as head chef of a restaurant. So in terms of my professional career, I guess this was one of my first recipes. It has gone on to inspire me to lots more soups that involve mussels. I love the juice that they give off, and now, at Rockpool, we consider it an important part of many dishes. It is the best natural