Serves 3
Ingredients
Spiny lobster
3 wild spiny lobster or “langouste royale”, tail only, head reserved for spicy broth, coral reserved to finish the sauce.
4l court bouillon
1 large metal skewer
Artichokepurée
250g sunchokes, peeled and quartered
80ml water
200ml cream
50g butter
10g sugar
8g fleur de sel
Spicy lobster broth
75g clarified butter
500g spiny lobster bones
75g whole butter
500g garden tomatoes, crushed
500g red pepper juice
1l lobster stock
100g green garlic
50g leeks
50g carrots
5g garlic
1 espelette pepper, whole-dried
10g sweet Genovese basil
5g English thyme
1 bay leaf
150ml cream
10ml lemon juice
Ground espelette pepper, to taste
Reserved coral
To serve
20 cerignola olive slivers
2tbsp spicy opal basil blossoms
6 pieces young violette artichoke confit
Salt
Method
Spiny lobster
In a 6l pot, bring the court bouillon to the boil and add the skewered lobster, making sure the skewer is the length of the lobster tail so that the tail remains straight when poaching. Cover the pot, remove from the heat and let the lobster steep. After 12 minutes, remove the lobster from the court bouillon and discard bouillon. Chill the lobster on a small service tray lined with a linen towel. Once chilled, remove the lobster from the shell with a small pair of scissors, being very careful not to damage or cut the lobster and discard the shell. Cut the lobster into 6 perfect medallions and reserve.
Sunchoke purée
Add all of the ingredients to a 2l pot and glaze rapidly over a medium heat. When perfectly tender, purée the mixture on a high speed in a vita prep blender. When perfectly smooth, season with fresh lemon juice, strain and reserve.
Spicy lobster broth
In a large rondeau pot, add the whole butter and place over a medium heat. add the lobster shells and sweat well until bright red and beginning to toast. add the clarified butter and allow to lightly foam. Add the mirepoix (leeks, onions, carrots and garlic) and allow to lightly color. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir together, and allow to cook down to a marmalade. add the pepper juice and aromatics and reduce down again. Next, add the lobster stock and cream and simmer gently for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes strain through a china cap and lightly press the solids to extract as much cuisson as possible. Further refine the cuisson by swirling it through a chinois. Reduce the final cuisson by a third and season with fresh butter, reserved coral, ground espelette pepper and lemon juice. Strain and reserve for serving.
To serve
Gently warm the spiny lobster medallion in clarified butter. Season with salt andplace a 150g dollop of sunchoke purée on one side of a flat soup bowl, and place the lobster on the other side. Place the artichoke in the middle and garnish with basil blossoms and olives. Serve piping hot broth at the table.