Name: Saffron Mussel Soup
Yield: Makes 12 First-Course or 6 Main-Course Servings
Ingredients: 1 bouquet garni; 2 medium-size onions, chopped; 8 pounds firm-fleshed fish such as red snapper, sea bass, striped bass, or grouper; 2 cups dry white wine; 2 shallots, finely chopped; salt and pepper; 1 cup heavy cream; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 4 large tomatoes, cut in half crosswise and seeds squeezed out; 3 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 small fennel bulb, chopped; 4 pounds cultivated mussels, well scrubbed and sorted, about 80; pinch of saffron threads, about ¼ teaspoon, soaked in 1 tablespoon water for 20 minutes; slices of French bread, toasted

Preparation info

Makes
12
First-Course

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

This soup combines the briny flavor of fresh mussels with garlic, fennel, and Mediterranean herbs. It is one of the deepest-flavored fish soups I know—probably because fresh whole fish is used to make the basic soup, which functions as a flavorful backdrop for the briny flavor of the mussels. Saffron threads tint it orange and give it a final pungent note of flavor.

This soup is complicated, but much of the work can be broken down into simple stages.