Court bouillon is not a stock. It is not meant to be sipped on its own or reduced into a sauce. It is a gentle bath, a fragrant environment where a piece of fish can cook slowly and remain exactly what it was: delicate, sweet, and true to itself.

The name means short broth, and that is precise. Unlike a stock that simmers for hours extracting every bit of flavor from bones, court bouillon comes together in twenty minutes. Wine, aromatics, a bay leaf or two. The goal is a subtle backdrop, not a starring role.

This is the foundation of respectful cooking. When you have a beautiful piece of salmon or a handful of shrimp from a fisherman you trust, you do not want to mask that flavor with aggressive technique. You want to get out of the way. A proper court bouillon does exactly that.