Recipe no. 42 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 29.
Ingredients
- small sea bream, sea bass and sar, sévéréous or other white fish
- 5 or 6 potatoes cut into slices
- a sliced onion
- a sliced tomato
- 2 crushed cloves of garlic
- a bay leaf
- a sprig of fennel
- a sprig of orange peel
- a bunch of celery and parsley
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- boiling water
- slices of bread
Preparation
- Gathering the fishGather a few varieties of white fish in a saucepan and cut them into sections if they are large.
- Adding vegetables and aromaticsAdd potatoes, onion, tomato, garlic, bay leaf, fennel, orange peel, celery and parsley; season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.
- Cooking brisklyMoisten just to cover with boiling water and cook briskly as for bouillabaisse.
- ServingPour the broth over slices of bread prepared on a dish, and dress the fish on another.
Reboul's text
Gather in a saucepan a few varieties of white fish, such as small sea bream, sea bass and sar, sévéréous or any others. If they are at all large, cut them into sections. Add 5 or 6 potatoes cut into slices, a sliced onion and tomato, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, a sprig of fennel and of orange peel, and a bunch of celery and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil; moisten just to cover with boiling water, and cook briskly as for bouillabaisse, to serve it the same way; that is, the broth over slices of bread prepared for the purpose on a dish, and the fish on another.
Aïgo-saou may be varied endlessly, that is, it may be prepared with a single variety of fish or with several, and with or without potatoes; but usually certain enthusiasts have it accompanied with rouille, a vigorous sauce with a flavour all its own, which comes to add to the goodness of all these eminently southern dishes.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul himself gives certain Provençal names in this recipe: Aïgo-Saou (“brine” in the dictionary). The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the other words used, in mistralian spelling: each of these forms is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary, and the link opens the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| peis | white fish |
| aurado | sea bream |
| tros | section |
| trufo | potato |
| rusco | orange peel |
| òli | olive oil |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 42, page 29. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.