Chaudrée Charentaise (Chaudrée fourasine)
Overview
Chaudrée charentaise, also called chaudrée fourasine after Fouras, is the fish soup of the Charente-Maritime coast. Cuttlefish, called sèches locally, are the essential ingredient, cooked with pieces of small local fish such as sole, skate, gurnard or eel. Onions and garlic are softened in plenty of butter, and dry white wine, often from the Charentes vineyards, and water are added with a bouquet garni and potatoes. The cuttlefish go in first because they need longer cooking, then the fish, and the soup simmers gently until everything is tender. It is finished with more butter and chopped parsley and served with slices of bread rubbed with garlic.
History
The word chaudrée comes from chaudière, the cauldron in which fishermen cooked their catch, the same root as the English chowder. In Charente-Maritime the soup is closely linked with Fouras, a small port opposite the Île d'Aix and Fort Boyard, and with the fishermen of the Pertuis d'Antioche, who cooked the fish they could not sell. Unlike the bourride or bouillabaisse of the south, it uses butter instead of olive oil.
Main ingredients
Cuttlefish, white fish, potatoes, dry white wine, garlic, butter. The soup is built on buttery white wine fish broth and is usually served hot. Diet: pescatarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Fish and seafood soups · Potato soups · More soups from France
Recipe
Method
- 1
Soften the onions and garlic in half the butter.
- 230 min
Add the cuttlefish, wine, water and bouquet garni and simmer for 30 minutes.
- 315 min
Add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes.
- 410 min
Add the fish and simmer gently for 10 minutes until just cooked.
- 5
Stir in the rest of the butter and the parsley, season and serve with garlic bread.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 30m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
