Brown scorpionfish

Rascasse brune

What it is

The charter drawn up by Marseille restaurateurs in 1980 makes it compulsory in a bouillabaisse - a soup defined, unusually, by a document. The fish is nearly all head: the fillet yield is derisory, and that is exactly the point, because the head is where the gelatine and the flavour are.

In the kitchen

Never fillet it - head, bones and all go into the pot, then through a mouli and a sieve. Press hard on the solids: most of what you paid for is in the head, and a soup strained gently leaves it behind.

Goes with

Saffron Fennel Tomato Garlic Olive oil Orange Potato Leek

Same species

Red scorpionfish (chapon)

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