Brittany Fish Stew (Cotriade)

Brittany Fish Stew (Cotriade) is just one of many traditional recipes from the region in France. Brittany is on the western coast of France, therefore is stands to reason their diet is dominated by seafood on the coast.

Fish is really good for you, and extremely healthy, it's a crying shame that the attitude in Britain prefers fish in batter. Have a go at cooking this simple fish stew, you might surprise yourself!!


serves:- 6-8, preparation time:- 10-15 mins, cooking time:- 30-35 mins,


Ingredients

* 1.5 kg or 3lb of conger eel, cut into 1 inch slices
* 500g or 1lb of bass, gutted, washed and cut into 3 inch chunks
* 1.5kg or 3lb of wrasse, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g or 1lb of mackerel, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g or 1lb of whitting, gutted, washed and cut into 3 pieces
* 500g or 1lb of sardines, gutted and washed
* 200g or 7oz of butter
* 3 large onions, 1 stuck with 2 cloves and the other 2 chopped
* 2kg or 4lb of peeled potatoes
* 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bayleaf, parsley)
* salt and pepper
* croutons.


Method

* melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the chopped onions

* add the whole onion, potatoes, bouquet garni and eel

* cover with 3 litres of water, add salt and plenty of pepper

* bring to the boil and cook for 15 mins

* add the bass, wrasse and mackerel and cook for a further 5 mins

* finally add the whiting and sardines and cook for another 5 mins

* remove all the fish and potatoes from the pan except for 3 potatoes

* 2 chunks of conger eel, a piece of mackerel, a piece of whiting and 3 sardines

* strain the bouillon and keep warm over a low heat

* discard the bouquet garni but save everything else in the sieve and put into a motar

* crush everything together, put back into the bouillon and sieve again

* this should now be a thickened soup

* save some of the sauce to serve with the fish and the potatoes

* serve the rest as a soup with the croutons as a starter

* or just eat your Brittany Fish Stew all at once :)