Bourride Sétoise

Peel the prawns, reserving the shells and heads. Cut the monkfish and sea bream into portions. Slice the fennel, leeks, onion, garlic, potatoes, and carrot. Bloom the saffron by rubbing the threads between your fingers into a small bowl and adding 2 tablespoons of warm fish stock; set aside for 10 minutes.

Make the aïoli: pound the 6 garlic cloves with ¼ teaspoon salt in a mortar until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and Dijon mustard. Drip in the olive oil drop by drop at first, whisking constantly, then in a thin steady stream until a thick, glossy mayonnaise forms. Whisk in the lemon juice. If too thick, loosen with cold water. Cover and refrigerate.

Toast the prawn shells and heads in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil, stirring, until they turn deep orange and fragrant, about 4 minutes.

Add the onion, leek, fennel, sliced garlic, and carrot to the pot and sweat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not coloured, about 8 minutes.

Pour in the white wine and let it bubble until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.

Add the drained tomatoes, fish stock, bloomed saffron with its liquid, orange peel, bay leaves, and thyme. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon white pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes to develop the broth.

Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean wide pot, pressing firmly on the solids to extract every drop of flavour. Discard the solids. Return the strained broth to medium heat.

Add the potato slices to the broth and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and distribute among four wide, deep bowls.

Reduce the broth to a bare simmer (do not boil). Slide in the monkfish steaks and poach gently, checking with a meat thermometer, until the thickest point reaches 63°C, approximately 8 minutes.

Add the sea bream pieces and peeled prawns to the simmering broth and poach until the prawns are just pink and opaque and a meat thermometer confirms the fish has reached an internal temperature of 63°C, about 3 minutes. Remove all fish and prawns with a slotted spoon and divide among the bowls with the potatoes.

Ladle about 400 ml of the hot broth into a separate bowl. Whisk half of the aïoli (approximately 125 ml) into this hot broth a spoonful at a time, then pour the aïoli-thickened broth back into the main pot, stirring constantly over very low heat until the soup thickens to the consistency of loose cream and coats the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Do not allow it to boil or the aïoli will split.

Ladle the thickened broth over the fish and potatoes in each bowl. Scatter with fennel fronds. Serve immediately with toasted bread and the remaining aïoli on the side for spreading.