There are countless variations on bourride, a traditional Mediterranean seafood soup/stew. This one, prepared by our friend Mellen and served over Israeli couscous, was the best thing we ate by far on a weekend trip to Washington, DC. Recipe below.
When I started Blue Kitchen way back in the fall of aught-six, I had great plans for having occasional guest cooks do posts here. So far, I’ve failed miserably. Aside from Marion [a co-conspirator here, really, not a guest], I’ve only had one guest cook, the lovely Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen, who made her delicious Brazilian Rice and Beans. When I smelled this wonderfully fragrant stew percolating in Mellen’s kitchen, I knew it was high time I made good on my plans.
Our friends Mellen and Steve live in a beautiful 1800s house in the historic, convenient and cosmopolitan DuPont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. The neighborhood is home to foreign embassies, ethnic restaurants, art galleries and shops—and is the center of DC’s vibrant nightlife. So when they invited us to come visit them for a long weekend, it took very little arm twisting to get us there. Mellen and Steve—and Mellen’s kids Madeleine and Taylor—were gracious hosts. Madeleine even gave up her room for us. The whole weekend, conversation flowed like wine. So did the wine, often on their rooftop deck.
In today’s second post, I’ll talk about some of the DC stuff we did on our visit, with a focus on food. But now I’m going to concentrate on this delicious seafood stew/soup. A bourride [boo-REED] is a Mediterranean fish soup, something like a bouillabaisse but with a consistency more like stew. There are probably as many variations on it as there are cooks who make it, and options vary wildly, from suspiciously quick and simple to complex and slow-cooking. Many use thick slices of toasted bread as a base, others call for potatoes. Mellen uses large, pearly Israeli couscous. One common thread among all recipes, though, is making the most of plentiful fresh seafood in the region. Continue reading “Seafood Bourride: A delicious, creative mix of Mediterranean flavors”