Riviera Fish Soup

Per Nana~

Okay, now I have to make a trip back to France.

 I ran out of my stash of Pastis. 

Is that a good enough excuse ? We think so......

Preparing this week's recipe of Riviera Fish Soup I used fresh cod 

instead of the Red Snapper that Dorie suggested. It smelled so delicious 

after just the first five minutes of cooking that I was already to dig in.  

I told Jim that I didn't want to puree the soup since it looked so good as is. 

Due to last week's miserable weather I used up all the little onions from 

the last recipe and in place of the fennel I used leeks. It worked, but I am sure

 that the fennel would have been a much better match with the pastis. 

The soup was quite good, perfect on a cold wintery day,

 but I am not sure I would make it again. 

Per Tricia~

I also came up with a substitute for the Red Snapper since my grocery 

store was out, and I went with Tilapia.  Not being a fan of fish, I didn't 

expect to enjoy this recipe. Down to my hubby and myself as taste testers

 I did the math to make a half portion. 

 I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the recipe smelled while 

being prepared and was quite excited to give it a taste test. 

Like Nana, I also thought the soup looked wonderful when the cooking was

 finished on the stove and I hesitated to grind it all up, per the recipe. 

I split the difference and kept half of it "chunky" while putting the rest into

 the Cuisinart. The verdict is that we liked the texture of the chunky version

 better, but since I tend to like my soups ground finely (esp vegetable ones) 

I was happy to have tried the comparison. We were surprised that the distinct 

aroma of the fennel and Pernod did not end up with an overwhelmingly anise

 flavor - it was actually quite subtle. My hubby did not add any additional 

seasonings but I gave my bowl a few hits of Tabasco sauce for even more heat.

While not all are on "team anise", I personally have wonderful memories

 of my first sips of the sweet liquor Anisette while sitting on my Italian 

grandfather's knee. I was very lucky to have grown up with big Sunday 

family meals where there were many courses and no rush to finish.   Dessert 

always included fruit, among other options, and while I am sure there was a 

cookie or two involved in the ritual, my memories focus on the fork full

 of melon slice that I would enjoy while hoping for a sip of Anisette. 

Another fond memory involves a 2007 trip to Paris when my folks joined us 

as we took our young sons along on my husband's  business trip.  My folks 

were phenomenal tour guides and whizzed us all around the "City of Lights". 

I love this picture of my family ! (sans poor working hubby !)

With hubby at work, the rest of us explored the famed "Rue de Rivoli" and 

Louvre while  Grandpa- who had "been there, done that" reported he would 

catch up with us later. We later circled back to locate him and I will never 

forget my younger son's squeals of disbelief as he reported where he had 

found Grandpa. While peeking in the window of the fancy Hotel Regina, 

he spied Grandpa sitting on the fancy velvet settee in the marble lounge, 

enjoying a cocktail and snacks ! My son could not imagine being inside 

such a fancy place, let alone sitting there and looking quite at home....

Pastis for Grandpa, Kir Royale for Nana and coffee for me. The boys only wanted the chips...

 And the drink ? 

Of course he was simply enjoying his afternoon Pastis :) 

We all went in to join him and enjoyed quite the moment and quite the memory ~

Happy French Friday ~