The best-known version of France’s famous seafood soup—bouillabaisse—comes from Provence, in the south of the country. But Provence also has its own smooth, creamy version of fish soup, which happens to be much more suitable for babies and young children. Traditionally, this soup was made by fishermen’s wives. As the boats came in, they would carefully separate the catch. The “noble” fish would be taken to market, and the rest—typically smaller fish of less value—would be cooked at home. My brother-in-law’s parents, who live just outside of Aix-en-Provence, make this soup with the fish they catch themselves in the Mediterranean. Madame Georges’s recipe is adapted from the oldest French cookbook in continuous print (for well over a century): La cuisinière provençale.
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions
1 garlic clove, crushed
6 large tomatoes, chopped
½ pound boneless white fish (see below)
2 bay leaves
3 fennel stalks, whole
1 piece of orange peel (unwaxed)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon saffron
1. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, sauté the onions in the olive oil. When the onions start to turn golden, after about 3 minutes, add the garlic. Wait one more minute, and then add the tomatoes. Raise heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.
2. Next, add the fish, the bay leaves, the fennel, and the orange peel. Cook at medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, and then add 2 liters of boiling water, as well as (if desired) a dash of salt and pepper. Add saffron, and simmer (close to a rolling boil) for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the bay leaves, fennel, and orange peel. Blend the soup with a hand blender (any remaining bones should be so small as to simply dissolve).
Tip: If serving to very young children, you may wish to slowly pour the soup through a fine sieve before blending (in order to check for bones). Most of the fish meat should have dissolved, and will pass easily through the sieve.
Note: The onion is important for reducing the acidity of the tomatoes; it makes the soup more creamy. Trust me: don’t leave it out!
Tip: Purists argue that the soup’s distinctive flavor requires fish heads, but I don’t use them myself. Traditionally, French families use a mix of white fish and small fish with an intense taste, like sardines. I simply suggest that you use a mix of fish that suits your family’s tastes. Ask at your local fish store for whatever is in stock: my local fishmonger often has smoked salmon scraps, as well as bits of sole and other white fish. Ask for pieces without bones, but note that cooking will soften the small bones sufficiently that they will dissolve into the soup.
Zesty Orange Salad
Preparation: 5 minutes
Servings: 4 adult servings (or 8 child-size servings)
This dessert salad is a great way to introduce a new flavor to children. The sweetness of the orange offsets the bitterness of the orange zest. Children will be reassured by the familiar (the pieces of orange) and so hopefully will be more willing to try something new: the thin, almost playful curlicues of sweetened orange rind.
Have your children watch you prepare this dish, and let them sample if they are curious. When serving, remember that eating can sometimes be about encountering new tastes rather than consuming large quantities.
Serve this dish in a quiet moment when you have the time to sit and discuss the ingredients with your child. Questions are usually helpful (and helpfully distracting): How does the orange “zest” taste? Does it taste orange-y at all? How does it taste when you nibble a tiny bit? Place a tiny piece on your tongue? What does it smell like? If your child doesn’t want to eat any, that’s fine too, but try to encourage them to taste it.
Our daughters graduated from this to eating grapefruit, which they now enjoy as a breakfast “treat.” Claire, our younger one, will purse her lips and say: “Ooohhh, Maman, c’est amer (it’s bitter)!” And then continue eating with delight.
4 seedless oranges
4 tablespoons sugar
1. To make the zest, wash 1 orange, dry it, and use a paring knife to carefully peel the outer layer, taking only the very outside of the rind and avoiding any of the white pith underneath. Slice the zest into very thin strips.
2. Make a sirop (syrup) by mixing ½ cup water with the sugar in a small saucepan and cooking it over medium heat just until it bubbles. Add the zest, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the zest is tender and the sirop is golden but not brown or caramelized.
3. Peel the remaining oranges, removing the zest and pith so that you have just the fruit itself left. Slice the oranges crosswise and place them in little salad bowls. Pour the zest and sirop on top. Serve immediately!
Tip: Because of its sweetness, the French would serve this as a dessert, even though it is called a “salad.”
Pain d’épices
(Spice Bread)
Preparation: 10 to 15 minutes
Cooking: 50 minutes
Servings: 1 loaf
This “spice bread” (which tastes more like cake) is a French favorite for after-school snacks. Adults eat it too, but for l’aperitif, toasted and topped with thin slices of foie gras. This sweet treat is so beloved by the French that there is even a museum dedicated solely to the pain d’épices in Alsace (northern France). The Breton version has a high proportion of honey (sometimes half of the cake by weight!) and was sold freshly made every week at the honey stall at our local market. The honey also helps to preserve the loaf (which can last for weeks if well wrapped and frozen). Traditionally, pain d’épices is made with rye flour and dark buckwheat honey, giving the loaf a rich, nutty taste.
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour (or dark rye or buckwheat flour)
2½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Optional: ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon anise seeds, ¼ teaspoon ginger
1½ cups honey (use an
