Mousselines d’Éperlans

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Food processor with a 1.5 L or larger bowl
• •Sturdy fine-mesh sieve or tamis
• •Large metal mixing bowl nested in a larger ice-filled bowl
• •30 cm wide shallow sauté pan with lid
• •Two ordinary tablespoons for shaping
• •Small saucepan for the velouté
• •Slotted spoon
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Parchment paper

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the working kit

   Put the processor bowl, blade, mixing bowl, sieve, fish, egg white, and cream in the cold for at least 20 minutes. Fill a larger bowl with the ice and nest the mixing bowl inside it. The food processor is the home equivalent of the mortar assumed by Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195), but the tamis work still matters: the fine sieve removes fibres and any overlooked bones while giving the forcemeat its satin texture.

2. 2

   Build the forcemeat

   Cut the 100 g smelt and 200 g sole or whiting into small cubes, keeping the exact one-to-two ratio. Process them in short pulses with the salt, white pepper, and nutmeg until the fish forms a smooth, tacky paste. Add the egg white in three additions, pulsing only until each disappears. This applies Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) to fish exactly as its formula permits. Push the paste through the chilled fine sieve into the bowl over ice, scraping the underside clean. If the paste begins to feel warmer than the chilled bowl, stop and return everything to the cold for 10 minutes.

3. 3

   Add cream and test

   Work the 375 ml cream into the fish paste with a wooden spoon, adding it in six or seven small portions and incorporating each completely before the next. Keep the bowl buried in ice. The mild sole or whiting is what allows the full measure of cream to enter without smelt becoming harsh. The finished forcemeat should be glossy, soft, and able to hold a rounded spoon mark. Poach a teaspoonful in water held at 80 to 85°C (175 to 185°F); it should set tenderly without releasing fat or spreading. If it spreads, chill the bowl for 15 minutes and test again. If the mixture looks oily, set it deeper in the ice and fold slowly until smooth. Ça se rattrape. If it still refuses to bind, spoon it into four buttered ramekins and poach them in a bain-marie; the shape changes, but the light mousseline survives.

4. 4

   Shape the mousselines

   Butter a wide, shallow 30 cm pan and one side of a parchment round. Cut the two reserved smelt fillets across the grain into 12 very thin raw slices. Following Mousseline de Saumon (No. 797), dip two ordinary tablespoons in cold water, gather a generous spoonful of forcemeat with one, and pass it between the spoons until it forms a smooth oval. Arrange 12 mousselines in the pan without letting them touch, then lay one fine smelt slice neatly along the top of each. Do not fuss over absolute symmetry. A clean oval poaches evenly; geometry beyond that is kitchen theater.

5. 5

   Poach without boiling

   Heat the poaching water to 80 to 85°C (175 to 185°F), then pour it carefully down the side of the pan until the mousselines are nearly covered. Lay the parchment buttered-side down over them. Hold the water at the faintest tremble for 10 to 12 minutes, never a boil, until the mousselines have swollen slightly, feel resilient at the centre, and reach 63°C (145°F) inside. If the water boils, pull the pan from the heat immediately and add a small splash of cold water at the edge. Ça se rattrape: a roughened mousseline still tastes splendid once cloaked with velouté. Lift them with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on a clean towel.

6. 6

   Warm velouté and serve

   Warm the Velouté d’Éperlans (No. 680) gently in a small saucepan, whisking until it is smooth and glossy, but do not let it boil. If the liaison begins to grain at the edge, take it off the heat and whisk in the optional cold cream one teaspoon at a time. Pour the velouté into a warmed shallow serving dish and settle the mousselines into it, smelt slices facing upward. Bring the dish directly to the table, three mousselines to each person. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Fresh smelt should smell clean and faintly of cucumber, never aggressively fishy. Good frozen smelt, thawed overnight in the cold and dried well, is better than tired fresh fish. Smelt is essential here; without it, choose another mousseline rather than pretending whiting alone is the same dish.
• •Use sole for the finest texture or whiting for the more practical market choice. Both have the mild flesh the formula requires, and neither should announce itself over the smelt.
• •Keep everything cold enough to make your fingers complain. Warmth loosens the fish proteins before they can hold the cream, and no amount of furious beating afterward improves matters.
• •Pass the forcemeat through the sieve even if the processor has made it look smooth. Smelt carries fine bones, and a single one at the table will explain why the classical kitchen insisted on the tamis.
• •Serve with a dry Chablis or another restrained, mineral white. The wine should clear the cream from the palate without bullying the smelt.

Advance Preparation

• •Clean, bone, weigh, and chill the fish up to 6 hours ahead. Keep it covered at the back of the refrigerator, along with the processor bowl, blade, egg white, and cream.
• •The fish adaptation of Fine Chicken Forcemeat or “Mousseline” (No. 195) may be completed up to 4 hours ahead and kept tightly covered over ice in the refrigerator. Shape and poach shortly before serving.
• •Prepare Velouté d’Éperlans (No. 680) during the final 30 minutes. Its clean fish flavour fades with prolonged holding, so this is not the component to make the day before.
• •The mousselines may be poached about 20 minutes before dinner, held covered in a lightly buttered dish, and returned briefly to warm poaching liquid before they meet the velouté.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 315g)