Creole Fish Broth with Luffa – Bouyon Blan Pwason ek Pipangay

The Creole Fish Broth with Luffa –Bouyon Blan Pwason ek Pipangay -is a rich fish broth cooked with the ridge gourd that  imparts a faintly sweet and midly bitter taste and spongy texture to the dish.

The   bouyon, in all its forms, is probably the most popular dish among the Seychellois and is consumed almost daily.  It is always consumed with plain boiled rice, accompanied by a variety of chutney, including pumpkin or aubergine chutney, and a freshly made hot chilli sauce.

Bouyon defined

The Classical Bouillon

Bouillon comes from a 17th-century French word that means “liquid in which something has been boiled”. While it can be used as a base for making soups and sauces, bouillon itself is simply a clear, seasoned broth with no solid ingredients. Bouillon and broth are synonymous.

The Court-bouillon

To complicate matters we also have the word court-bouillon which, in the strictest sense, is a broth made by cooking various vegetables and herbs (a whole onion studded with whole cloves, celery, carrots, and a bouquet garni) in water for about 30 minutes. It is used for poaching fish, seafood, or vegetables and, in some cases, the broth is spiked with wine, lemon juice, or vinegar. “Court” is the French word for ‘short,’ and it describes the preparation time for bouillon, which is very short.

Bouillon Cube

The term bouillon also pertains to the condensed-cube and powder forms of broth, used to add a burst of flavor to some recipes.

Seychellois Creole Bouyon

In the Seychellois cuisine, the  bouyon is more than just a clear broth . It is in fact close to a bouillabaisse, which is a sea-food stew originating from Marseille, France. It is made with a variety of seafood flavoured with onion, garlic, tomatoes, fennel, saffron and fresh thyme.

The word “bouillabaisse” is a contraction of ‘bouillir’ (to boil) and ‘abaisser’ (to reduce), or “bouillon abaissé”, reduced broth. 

In seychelles we have three types of bouyons – the bouyon blan, the bouyon bred and the bouyon koko

Bouyon Blan

As the name implies, this bouyon is a white broth and is made with fresh fish flavoured with herbs, chopped green or ripe tomatoes, garlic, ginger and, as is this case, a neutral vegetable, luffa. Sometimes small cubes of potatoes are added to emphasise the white as well as to slightly thicken the dish. It has a slight tarty flavour which is obtained either from the tomatoes or from the  bilenbi ,also known as tree cucumber. Most fish can be cooked in a bouyon blan except the sharks and dark flesh fish like tuna.

Bouyon Bred

The bouyon  bred can either be a plain bouyon or a fish bouyon. The plain bouyon can be made with a variety of local spinach locally known as bred . The plain bouyon bred is in fact a soup and is at times flavoured with oil in which fish has been fried. The fish bouyon is made in the same manner as the plain bouyon bred with the addition of fried bite size pieces of fish.

Bouyon Koko

The bouyon koko is a curry which is made with coconut milk and which has a very thin sauce. It is usually made with tuna or bonito and flavoured with turmeric and cinnamon leaves.

Our choice of Fish

The most common fish used in bouyon in Seychelles is the cordonnier –kordonnyen-or rabbit fish also known as stinging bream, black spinefoot or happy moments. Other  fish, especially those from the emperor family especially the Red Snapper , are also popular. My preference is a bouyon made with the red snapper head. A dish that I like so much and the recipe of which I shall post soon.

As an alternative to the above fish, we have used the Atlantic Cod. It has a white, mild flavoured flesh with slightly sweet taste and large flakes that fall apart easily when cooked.

Pipangay -Luffa

The second main ingredient in this bouyon is the luffa- pipangay. (luffa acutangula). The luffa is the fruit of an annual creeper and there exists two types in the Seychelles. One is smooth-skinned, and the other has ten lateral, sharply acute ribs on the skin called the angled luffa or ridge gourd, and for the sake of simplicity we will call it luffa.  

Both have a spongy, fibrous flesh that has a bland, faintly sweet and bitter taste. When the fruit is fully ripened it is very fibrous and cannot be eaten. It is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens.

Although we have chosen the ridge luffa for this recipe, both types can be used, as the flavour and texture is the same. They both impart a mildly bitter-sweetish taste and the slightly spongy texture to the dish.

Always choose young, firm one that is no more than 45 cm. in length with unblemished skin. Before cooking, the ribs and skin must be removed with a knife, as shown in the picture above. The skin is not eaten in Seychelles although in Mauritius they do make a chutney with it. They call it ‘Chatini peau de  Pipangaille’.

Origin of Pipangay

The name Pipangay (fr. pipangaille) originates from the Tamil word  ‘peerkangai’ or ‘pirkangaille’ which is the name for the ridge gourd in Tamil Naidoo.

The bilimbi-belenbi

Another essential ingredient that is added to the bouyon  is the bilimbi. It imparts a slight sour taste to the dish and pairs well with fish.

The bilimbi fruit or tree cucumber, commonly found in most Seychellois family backyards, is a relative of the carambola (star fruit) family. It is a small finger like fruit growing in clumps on the tree. The light green acidic fruit, which is crunchy when unripe, is between 3 to 5 cm in length. It has a firm, slightly waxy skin and looks like a small under-ripe cucumber.

Preparing the Creole Fish Broth with Luffa –Bouyon Blan Pwason ek Pipangay

Clean the fish and pat dry. Cut into bite size pieces and season with salt and cracked black pepper.

Wash the ridge gourd and cut off the ends. Use a sharp small knife and peel off all the ribbed skin, as shown in the photo above. Wash and cut into cubes of about 4cm.

Heat oil in a large pot and sweat onion and then add ginger,and garlic , stir for a minute and add tomato, parsley and thyme and cook for about three minutes. Then add the fish and bilenbi, gently stir and let it steam for about three minutes by placing a lid on the pot. Finally, add about 1 litre of water, cover the pot with a lid and cook on moist heat for about 20 minutes.

Here is the Recipe for Creole Fish Broth with Luffa – Bouyon Blan Pwason ek Pipangay

Did you make this recipe?

I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.

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