Ingredients

Serves 4-6

This recipe was taught to Mary by a French/Australian friend, Richard D'Erceville, who in turn learned the secret from his mother. The first time Mary made it with him was at her beach house in Jervis Bay using local fish, and it has become one of the family staples, known affectionately as the Dick D'Erceville Stew.

Ingredients
Stew:
2 tbsp of good olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 large tomato
1kg waxy potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
6 saffron threads dissolved in ¼ cup of boiling water
1-2 litres of fish stock
Salt and pepper
1-1.5 kg fish (mix bone-free varieties including salmon, perch and flathead), chopped into bite-sized chunks
Parsley, finely chopped for serving

Fish stock
1-2 litres cold water
1 fish head
Bay leaf
4 black peppercorns
Stick of celery, including foliage
½ onion, roughly chopped

Method

The aim of this soup/stew is to combine different types of fish flesh in a rich stew of stock and vegetables. Like all recipes where only one cooking pot is involved, it relies on the wonderful exchange of flavours.

The fish stock can be made the same day because unlike meat or chicken stock, there is no fat to be skimmed off