A while ago when we were in England, we had a wonderful dish the restaurant called "white bouillabaisse". It bore a passing resemblance to the Provencal original, but it was a delightful take on it. Chef Jerry Pellegrino helped me flesh out this idea of making this dish.
I think a good point of departure would be to look at classic bouillabaisse and start making adjustments.
We're preparing a variation on the classic Provençal fish soup. The main parts are a broth, a selection of fish, some vegetables, and a garlic-based condiment. (And a note to you dedicated purists out there: this is not true bouillabaisse, it's an invented variation featuring local ingredients.)
For the broth, let's start with one cup of chicken stock and one cup of clam juice. In the broth, let's gently simmer our aromatics: onion, fennel, shallots, celery and sliced garlic cloves. A little salt and pepper would be a good touch. When it has simmered for about an hour we will strain the broth.
Instead of taking the broth to the red side with tomatoes, we'll be staying with white ingredients. This might include the famous Maryland fish pepper, picked when it is still white. Cut it into thin slices and add with the vegetables. We also might suggest a splash of white vermouth for extra flavor.
Now we will add some Maryland produce to the dish. I'm thinking of more onions and shallots, little white potatoes cut in half, white corn kernels, julienned leeks and fennel. Everything needs to be cut at least to bite-sized.
Keeping the broth just above simmer you can add a bouquet garni of thyme,
dill, rosemary and parsley, just letting it sit in the broth to work its magic.
And now the pièce de resistance, the seafood. Fish should hold center stage and I think rockfish is the obvious star. But let's add perch, Bay catfish, and flounder. For shellfish, mussels in their shells, lump crab meat, and shucked oysters would be good choices.
Add the finfish first, skinned and cut to bite size. And keep in mind they will cook quickly. The shellfish go in at the very end, since they need less than a minute to cook.
And in keeping with our theme of white ingredients we'll finish off with a cup of half and half along with some medium dry sherry to taste. A nice touch will be a tablespoon or two of Old Bay seasoning to pick up the flavors and put a real Maryland accent on the dish.
Following the Provençal tradition, we will want a garlic-based condiment to swirl into the soup. Instead of the reddish pasted called rouille, let's just go with a simple garlic aioli that you can whisk into the soup with a brush made of thyme sprigs.
