beaujolais nouveau

the third thursday in November marks the French celebration of new wine, or Beaujolais nouveau.  from the Beaujolais region in France, new wine is bottled and sent around the world in anticipation.

i decided to celebrate by making my first bouillabaisse.  tips for pretending you are cooking in a remote French village:

-consult chefs with experience via bookpile:  winefood by dana frank & andrea slonecker, the french menu cookbook by richard olney, the sommelier prep course by michael gibson, one knife one pot one dish by stephane reynaud, and pig in provence by georgeanne brennan

-buy ingredients the day before, fresh from your local market (there are many bouillabaisse recipes, i chose *mussels, chopped clams, shrimp, and oysters for mine).  **Toulouse style includes saffron potatoes. (*easy rule of thumb, these are alive so closed before cooking=good, open after cooking=good, otherwise discard)

-turn off tech devices.  wake up without an alarm.  have an open-ended day if possible.  eat fresh figs and make French press coffee, collect eggs for a dutch pancake to sustain you while cooking.  awaken all five senses as you begin.  into the pan goes olive oil, stinging kombucha hot sauce (wholesale made by my friends the viteks) garlic, onion, cayenne & black pepper
 
-add lobster/fish & seafood stock, diced tomatoes, fennel fronds as you zest orange and lemon. i like citrus so i threw in half of each to add flavor (remove fronds & citrus when you like the taste)

-debeard mussels and boil potatoes in salt, take old crusty french bread out and open the wine to let it breathe (i chose a 2014 Beaujolais-villages, joseph drouhin).  sip on lime-mint-elderflower sparkling water

-add seafood in order of most to least cooking needed depending on your selection, turn off heat and let sit while you go for a walk, read, or take a bath

-light candles.  pour wine.  ladle bouillabase over sliced potatoes, top with fennel fronds and dip bread into the spicy broth and savor!