French · Brittany · soup

Cotriade

Cotriade reads salinity 6.0, richness 5.8 and umami 5.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Brittany soup, about 47 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 6.8 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 1.6 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 4.7 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.2 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 6.0 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.3 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 6.0 · Richness 5.8 · Umami 5.1 · Sourness 4.4 · Allium 3.8 · Funk & Ferment 3.1 · Herbaceous 3.0 · Smoke 1.9 · Warm Spice 1.5 · Sweetness 1.4 · Earthy 1.1 · Floral 1.0 · Bitterness 1.0 · Heat 0.9 · Citrus 0.9 · Nutty 0.8 · Fruity 0.5

What's in it (16)

• mixed sea fish — 1500 g
• potatoes — 1000 g
• onions — 450 g
• butter — 80 g
• water — 2000 g
• thyme — 2 g
• bay leaf — 1 g
• parsley — 240 g
• garlic — 16 g
• salt — 15 g
• black peppercorns — 5 g
• country ham — 320 g
• cider vinegar — 44 g
• olive oil — 82 g
• dijon mustard — 5 g
• parsley — 4 g

Time & effort: about 47 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 36.4 kcal, 2.2 g protein, 1.7 g fat, 3.3 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. A cotriade was made on the boat or on the beach out of whatever the crew kept back from the catch, and it is deliberately a mixture — at least three species, oily and white together. If you can only get one fish, make something else; the balance between an oily mackerel and a lean whiting is the dish.
2. Melt the salted butter in a large pot and cook the onions over medium heat for 10 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured. Add the garlic for the last minute.
3. Add the potatoes, the water, the thyme, bay, parsley stalks, salt and peppercorns. Bring to the boil and cook 15 minutes, until the potatoes are almost tender but still resist the point of a knife.
4. Now the fish, in order of firmness and with the pot lowered to a bare simmer: the conger and gurnard first for 6 minutes, then the whiting for 4, and the mackerel last for 4 more. Do not stir once the fish is in — turn the pot instead, or lift and rock it. Stirring breaks everything into rags.
5. Whisk the vinegar with the mustard, a pinch of salt and the olive oil into a sharp vinaigrette while the fish cooks.
6. Serve it in two goes, as it is served on the coast. Put a slice of stale bread in each bowl and ladle the broth over it first, and eat that. Then bring the fish and potatoes to the table on a platter, with the vinaigrette poured over and the parsley scattered.
7. The vinaigrette is not a modern flourish. Broth, butter, potato and oily fish all pull in the same rich direction, and something sharp is needed to cut across them; on Breton boats it was cider vinegar because that is what there was.
8. Substitutions: 60 g (4 tbsp) lard can stand in for the salted Breton butter; extra melted salted butter can stand in for the olive oil.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Salade Lyonnaise — French · Lyon
• Cervelle de Canut — French · Lyon
• Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas — Tex-Mex
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon — American
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup — American

Keep reading: what salinity, richness, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.