Serves 4
Ingredients
Char with smoked eel
1 fresh char (about 600g)
200g smoked eel
250ml veal stock base
Dried cod brandade
125g dried cod (watered for two days, changing water four times)
1 garlic clove (peeled and without seedling)
50ml milk
30ml cream
¼ bay leaf
¼ sprig of thyme
½ large cooked jacket potato (ca. 200g)
40ml Ligurian olive oil
Some pepper, salt and juice of one lemon
Sautéed baby spinach
250g baby spinach
1 shallot, finely diced
¼ garlic clove, finely diced
¼ lemon zest
10g pine nuts
25g butter
Some salt, pepper
Raw apple beads or cubes
1 green apple
1 lemon
300ml water
Elderflower and apple foam
200g shallots
0.5l white wine
0.5l apple juice
0.3l elderflower syrup
50g butter
1l milk
Salt
Potato apple cream
300g floury potatoes
100ml apple juice
100ml cream
50g butter
Some salt, pepper and nutmeg
Spinach cream
1kg fresh spinach
100g shallots, finely diced
50g butter
20ml cream
Some salt, pepper and lemon zest
Method
Char with smoked eel
Wash the fresh char under running water and dab with a cloth. Fillet from head to tail, gently pulling the bones with fish bone tongs. Cut off the head of the eel completely and slowly remove the skin from the head end to the tail end with a sharp knife. After that, carefully scrape off the coat of fat with the back of the knife. Carefully dab the eel and fillet from head to tail with a sharp knife (keep the bones for the stock). Cut up half of the eel into strips and the other half into squares (which will later be glazed in the veal stock).
Place a char fillet on some cling film and place the eel strips in the middle. Then place the second fillet on top and roll up tightly in the film so that no air bubbles can be seen. Finally, wrap again tightly in aluminium foil. Bring a pot of water to the boil and place the char and eel roll inside. Take the pot off the heat and leave for 10-12 minutes. Take off the foil, cut in four equal parts and serve immediately. Carefully glaze the square eel pieces in a pot with veal stock and serve.
Dried cod brandade
Cook the garlic clove in milk or cream until soft. Infuse bay leaf and thyme in the hot liquid before removing them. Remove bones and skin of the dried cod and infuse the pure meat with the aromatic milk at ca. 75-80C for 5-8 minutes according to the thickness of the fish.
Discard the liquid, then mix together the peeled potatoes, dried cod and garlic into a firm mixture. While mixing, add as much olive oil as the mixture can take.
Sautéed baby spinach
Wash the baby spinach and gently pat dry. Heat up the butter in a pan and add the finely diced shallots and garlic. Add the chopped pine nuts and spinach, briefly sauté them and add lemon, salt and pepper to taste.
Raw apple beads or cubes
Peel the apple and put it in water with the lemon juice. Either cut out little beads or fine cubes, which will be served lukewarm.
Elderflower and apple foam
Peel the shallots and sauté in butter. Deglaze with white wine and boil down by half. Top up with the apple juice and again reduce by half. Add the elderflower syrup and milk. Mix together with a blender. Pass the foam, season to taste and froth up before serving.
Potato apple cream
Peel the potatoes and boil in salted water, let them cool and pass them through a fine sieve. Slightly heat the milk and apple juice and pour over the potato mixture. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix until you get a smooth cream.
Place a potato ring as decoration and serve the brandade in it. For this, take a floury potato, pass it through a spaghetti machine and place round a ring, then bake it in the oven.
Spinach cream
Wash and clean the spinach and gently pat it dry. Sweat the shallots in butter and top up with cream. Quickly add the spinach and mix everything to a fine cream. Season with salt, pepper and lemon zest and serve lukewarm.
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