Name: Robert Sisca's Winning Bouillabaisse
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 lb fennel bulb, sliced thin; 1 large onion, diced; 6 garlic cloves, minced; 1 cup dry white wine; 1 can (28 oz) San Marzano tomatoes, crushed; 4 cups fish stock, simmering; 1/4 tsp saffron threads, bloomed in 2 tbsp hot water; 2 bay leaves; 1 tsp fennel seed, toasted and crushed; 1/4 cup good olive oil; 1 lb firm white fish (halibut or cod), cut into 2-inch chunks; 12 oz littleneck clams, cleaned; 8 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined; Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste; Pinch cayenne pepper; 8 slices baguette, toasted; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard mixed with 1 minced garlic clove for rouille

Bouillabaisse is the dish Marseille uses to gatekeep Marseille. There are seven fish required, a rouille on the side, and a precise order in which everything goes into the pot. Get it wrong and the locals will tell you about it.

Robert Sisca runs Bistro du Midi in Boston and oversees Grill 23, The Banks, and Harvest under the Himmel Hospitality umbrella. Midi has been doing bouillabaisse for years — long enough that he didn't have to think about the order. He just cooked.

Bobby cooked too. The judges chose the one that smelled like Marseille.