Mediterranean Sea in a Pot

I’m excited to share one of my all-time favourite recipes: the bouillabaisse-style sauce and soup that has become a staple in my restaurant over the past few years.

We originally developed this recipe during the Covid lockdown, while creating one of our home meal kits inspired by the flavours of Marseille. The goal was ambitious: to recreate the iconic bouillabaisse. It had to include the signature notes of aniseed, fennel, saffron, and Pastis—but above all, it had to taste of the sea. Not just “fishy,” but truly reminiscent of the Mediterranean.

Our first approach was a seaweed broth made from kombu. It brought intensity, but the flavour skewed too grassy and slightly metallic. So we swapped kombu for nori, which mellowed things out but made the broth flat—too one-note, and lacking acidity.

After many rounds of experimenting, we finally landed on the version you’ll find below. It was a breakthrough. Suddenly, we had a deeply savoury, sea-scented sauce with real complexity. Thanks to the lentils, it also had that slightly coarse texture—a nod to the original bouillabaisse’s rustic soul. It changed everything for us.

Marseille Bouillabaisse Sauce

• Ingredients:

  For the seaweed broth:

  • Green algae (Caulerpa) 100g (for the seaweed broth)

  • Nori leave 100g (for the seaweed broth)

  • Red dulse 100g (for the seaweed broth)

  • Irish Kombu 100g (for the seaweed broth)

    Add all the algae together, cover with COLD water and cook for 20 minutes. Let simmer until cool and then pass thru very fine sieve.

  • Potato: 0.1kg

  • 1 aniseed

  • Shallot: 1 (small)

  • Leek: ½ (chopped roughly)

  • Carrot: ½ (chopped roughly)

  • Lentils: 0.05kg (raw)

  • Saffron: 2g

  • Pastis: 8cl

  • Fennel: ½ bulb

  • White wine: 20cl

  • Concentrated tomato: 1 tablespoon

  • Bay leaves: 2

  • Plant Cream: 20cl

    Begin by pan-frying the chopped potato, shallot, carrot, leek, and fennel in a dash of olive oil until they start to soften and caramelize slightly. Stir in the saffron and aniseed to release their aromas.

    Next, add the tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring gently to coat the vegetables and deepen the flavour. Pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce until nearly evaporated.

    Add the Pastis and carefully flambé to burn off the alcohol, infusing the mixture with that distinctive aniseed note. Then pour in the sea broth and cream, and let everything simmer gently for at least 30 minutes—just until the lentils are tender and the flavours have melded beautifully.

    Finally, blend the mixture thoroughly and pass it through a coarse sieve to achieve a rustic, velvety texture that still retains the heartiness of a traditional bouillabaisse.