In bouillabaisse, dueling fish stories

Regarding “The Golden Bowl,” by Daniel Young [Sept. 29]: As I argued in my book “A Mediterranean Feast,” bouillabaisse did not come into the world “as a simple meal assembled by hungry, resourceful fishermen.” It is more than likely a 19th century restaurant invention, because fish is expensive in the Mediterranean and fishermen sell their catch and don’t eat it.

Rascasse, rather than being “unsaleable,” is one of the most expensive fish in the markets. The traditional dish of the fishermen is soupe de poisson, not bouillabaisse.

Clifford A. Wright

Santa Monica

Daniel Young replies: Historical evidence disputes Mr. Wright’s hypothesis. In the “Dictionnaire de la Provence et Comte-Venaissin,” published in Marseille in 1785, bouilhe-baisso is defined as “a fisherman’s term, a sort of ragout consisting of boiling some fish in seawater.”