Method:

First prep and marinade your fish:

1. The bulk of the flavour of this dish comes from the bones and trim. If you don’t know how to prep a fish, buy them whole but ask the fishmonger to fillet it and give you the bones/trim.

2. Start by chopping up your trim/bones and put into a small bowl of ice water.

3. Cut the Monkfish into large, bigger-than-bite-sized chunks and the Sea Bass into small portioned fillets (depending on size). Leave the Red Mullet fillets whole.

4. Finely slice the leek, fennel, onion and celery for the marinade into a large bowl. Mix with the olive oil, star anise and saffron, massaging it all together using your hands.

5. Place half of the marinade in a baking tray/container, spreading it across the bottom. Lay the fish on top of the marinade, be careful not to overlap it. Spread the second half over the marinade over the fish, covering it completely. Cover, and leave to infuse in the fridge for at least two hours.

Next make the bouillabaisse broth:

1. First rinse off your fish bones/trim and place on a tray with kitchen towel to dry off.

2. Prepare your onion and shallot by finely slicing them. Crush the garlic cloves and prepare your bouquet garni. (see here for how to do this) Chop your tomatoes into chunks, so they break down more easily when cooking.

3. Next, chop your velvety swimming crabs in half using a cleaver. (if you can’t manage to get these, try to get crab bones for stock - can often find in your local fishmonger)

4. Bring large a heavy-based pan to a high heat with the olive oil. You want it to be almost smoking hot. Add the chopped-up crabs, giving them a quick stir to coat them in the oil, then leave them for about a minute each time to cook and caramelise before stirring again. You are looking for a dramatic change in colour all over the crabs. If some begin to colour too much, simply remove them from the pan.

5. Once happy with the amount of colour on the crabs, pour into a chinois/sieve over a bowl to strain off the fat. Set this aside, do not throw away the oil.

6. Add the fish trim to the pan and cook until it starts to turn white. Remove from pan - you can just pour these in with the crabs.

7. Add the onions and shallots to the pan with a pinch of salt to help release their juices. This should help de-glaze the bottom of the pan and incorporate the crab flavour. Add the garlic cloves for a minute or so, then add the tomato puree and let it cook out a bit. (this helps reduce some of the bitterness)

8. De-glaze the pan with the Pernod, then add the chopped large ripe tomatoes. When they begin to break down, put the fish trim and crabs back in, and cover with water, just high enough so you can skim off the surface. Add your Bouquet Garni and the 3 pieces of orange peel and bring to a simmer.

In the meantime, get your potatoes ready:

1. Depending on size, first wash and then chop them into roughly bite-size pieces. Blanche the potatoes in salted water (start from cold).