So warm and comforting. Every mouthful a hug. It was cobbled together a bit from other recipes but approximately this:

  1. Make a roux. I took it to a dark hazelnut level of colour.
  2. Add finely chopped onion, celery, and green pepper to the roux and fry, stirring often for a few minutes…
  3. Add chopped garlic and fry, stirring often. I was going to add some anchovies at this point, but couldn’t find them, so I didn’t.
  4. After a couple more minutes, push the veggies to one side then add a decent squeeze of tomato puree to the clear half of the pot, stirring it to release the aroma, then mix it in with the rest of the veggies.
  5. Add spices and aromatics. I went with a Cajun spice mix (called ‘Slap Ya Mama’), salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and a couple of bay leaves. But really you could do pretty much anything at this point depending on the spice profile you fancy - saffron or smoked paprika would both work really well here to give a more Spanish feel for example.
  6. Add some dry white wine, or beer, slowly, stirring. The roux will glob up, but just keep gently stirring and adding liquid until it’s started to loosen. I’d guess I used about 250-300ml. Keep on the heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes to let the alcohol cook off a bit.
  7. Add chopped tomatoes - fresh or canned.
  8. Add more liquid. I went with a bottle of beer and 500 ml of fish stock, but just fish stock would work fine.
  9. Gently simmer for an hour, or so, stirring every 15-20 minutes, letting it approach the consistency you want because it’ll thicken over time.
  10. Adjust the seasoning.
  11. Add chopped fish / prawns / other shellfish. Stir gently because you don’t want the fish to break up. I gave it about five minutes and the fish was perfect, but adjust depending on what you’re adding.
  12. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and spring onion, and plenty of lemon for people to squeeze over.
  13. Serve with fresh baked, crusty bread to mop up the juices.