This stuff is fantastic, a combination of one French and one Spanish recipe that went down incredibly well at Nik and his Dad's birthday feast a few years ago (they shared the same birthday). It's robust, yet sophisticated, and makes a great one-pan dish if you are feeding lots of people. The prawn and lobster shells add to the stock's flavour. The Pernod, by the way, is essential...

A light oil for frying

2 medium onions, chopped

Whites of two leeks, chopped

4 celery sticks, finely sliced

1 Fennel bulb, finely sliced

Zest from half an orange - finely grated

750g fresh tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped

1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

1 generous pinch of saffron

2 sprigs of thyme

4 bay leaves

2.5 litres stock - we use 1 litres of shellfish stock, 1 litre of veg nage and 500ml water

1600g cod, haddock, hake, monkfish or other suitable non-oily fish, cut into 2.5cm chunks. Season with salt, pepper and a pich of cayenne

1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tbsp Pernod or Ricard (not optional)

500g fresh live mussels

a glass of white wine

A good handful of large raw prawns, shell on

2 lobster tails (optional!), raw and cut in half

Cayenne pepper (optional)

3 tablespoons chopped curly parsley

Salt and pepper

Good quality bread and butter to serve

• Heat two tablespoons of ground nut olive oil in a wok or the largest pan you can find. Add onions, leeks, bay leaves, celery and fennel. Cook until soft (about 10 minutes)

• Season with a little salt and pepper, then add orange peel, tomatoes, chilli, saffron, thyme and water (or water/stock mix). Bring to a boil and simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes. Strain the vegetables, and return the stock to the wok

• Add the lobster to the wok, and the oregano. Cook for two minutes. Add the fish. Simmer for 7-8 minutes. Add the prawns, simmer for a further minute

• Remove the fish and shellfish from the wok and keep warm

• Add the Pernod to the stock and boil rapidly to reduce by a third over a high heat - this takes about 10 minutes

• Meanwhile, heat a decent sized saucepan with a close fitting lid till it’s good and hot. Throw the mussels in, followed by the white wine, put the lid on tightly, and cook on a medium heat for 4 minutes. Take off the heat, and set aside

• Check the seasoning of the reduced soup, adding more cayenne if you fancy

• Add the fish and the mussels to the soup, mix carefully, doing your best not to break up the fish, and scatter with the parsley

• Serve with bread and butter, and finger bowls with loads of serviettes, and a debris bowl for empty shells