HOW TO MAKE A BISQUE
Bisque recipes are usually making the use of crustaceans, like shrimps, crayfish, or lobsters. Bisque is therefore a kind of seafood soup, although some modern versions with other ingredients have appeared in the culinary world. The traditional way of making a bisque is to use the shells of the crustaceans, often pulverized, as the main flavor-giving ingredient, and then add some aromatic vegetables or pre-made seafood stock with some classic seasoning in form of thyme, garlic, parsley, pepper, etc. Bisque is also thickened with some starchy flour, e.g. rice flour, but also other ingredients can be used, including rice and potatoes that naturally contain enough starch to make the bisque more thick. At the end of cooking, the bisque is puréed into a creamy soup and the bisque is served, sometimes with some garnishing - the most preferable being the real food that the soup was made of, that is, nice pieces of shrimps or lobster, as well as some cream or milk. In other words, the ways to vary a bisque compositions are endless and everyone has one's own prefered way to make a nice bisque.
To get into more details of bisque making let's consider the fine points that will get your soup to a higher level of delightness. First of all, since you'll be using crustacean shells (if you don't make a purely vegetable bisque that is) then these shells must be clean! Dirty, gritty shells will leave behind some sand corns in between your teeth, which is not very pleasant, especially if you invite some people for dinner. Secondly, when you use a pre-made stock of an unknown source (read: not home made) then check its flavor when HEATED up. Some stocks taste awful and sour when hot, especially the old stocks made of fish and shellfish. Be careful there, but to be safe, make your own stock as you cook the bisque - it's simply a matter of sautéing some veggies and shells and then removing them from the pan. The nice fresh flavor will then be left in the pan for you to enjoy.
All vegetables should be clean and chopped before use. They will provide the nice aroma to the bisque. Other flavorful ingredients you can use include white wine, brandy, or tomato paste. And, to finish things off, you'll need some nice pieces of fresh crustacean meat and perhaps some cream.
Here is a common recipe for a bisque:
For one liter/one quart of bisque you need:
250 g/0.5 lb crustacean shells or the unused parts of crustaceans
1 liter/1 quart of shellfish stock (or make it as you cook the bisque)
some rice flour or starchy vegetables
150 g/5 oz mirepoix (onion, celery, carrots) plus one or two garlic cloves
some seasoning like thyme, pepper, parsley, salt is good to use as well
for finishing: fresh crustacean meat and some cream
To make the bisque:
1. Cook the shells in the fat in a moderately hot pan until they become pink/red, then remove from the pan. You should smell the shellfish aroma being extracted into the fat.
2. Add the mirepoix and cook it for about 20 minutes. Add tomato paste if you want.
3. Add the rice flour or the thickening vegetables to the pan and pour in the stock. If you don't have a stock, pour in water together with 500 g/1 lb of new mirepoix and crustacean shells. Let it simmer for 30 minutes or so, then add the seasonings.
4. Now you have a choice of pulverizing the shells and purée the vegetables (all ingredients should be tender by now). If you don't want to do that, just strain the bisque through a finely meshed sieve and serve garnished with the fresh crustacean meat.