Remove the fillets from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature. Return the pureed soup to a clean pot and bring to a simmer. Otherwise add the fish fillets along with their marinade and simmer for five to ten minutes, just until they turn opaque. An elegant way to serve the soup is to lift out the cooked chunks and lay several at the bottom of each soup bowl, decorate them with chopped fennel tops, and bring the soup to the table in a tureen to be ladled into each bowl. In Provence bouillabaisse is at least a two-course meal.
Diners take more soup and more bread and aioli and carry on.
I prefer simply serving toasted country bread drizzled with olive oil and, for garlic-lovers, rubbed with a fresh halved garlic clove, even if raw garlic at serving time is untraditional. Few things are as elemental and Mediterranean as bread, tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. Al.l rights reserved.