Various Cullises

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sturdy food processor with metal blade
• •Kitchen mallet or heavy rolling pin
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Second fine-mesh sieve lined with damp butter muslin or fine cheesecloth
• •Flexible bowl scraper

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the remains

   Use very fresh remains from plainly cooked shellfish, kept cold since the meat was removed. Discard gills, digestive matter, loose grit, and any strongly scorched or heavily seasoned pieces, but do not rinse away the clean creamy matter or coral. Separate the soft parts from the shells, then weigh everything together to reach 2 pounds. The weight governs the cream ratio; the cup measure is only a guide.

   Use only coral or spawn obtained legally through a reputable fishmonger. If none is available, leave it out and continue with the shrimp and crayfish remains; the source itself calls for the available amount, not an invented substitute.
2. 2

   Pound the shells

   Crack thick shell pieces under a cloth with a mallet, reducing them to pieces no larger than 1 inch. Working in small batches, pulse the shells in a sturdy food processor until they resemble fine, damp gravel, stopping to scrape the bowl. Keep the lid closed until the shell dust settles. If the motor or paste grows warm, stop and chill the bowl for five minutes before continuing; warmth dulls the delicate shellfish character.

3. 3

   Add cream precisely

   Return all the finely pounded shells to the processor and add the reserved creamy parts and lobster coral or spawn. Pulse only until evenly combined, then scrape everything into a cold bowl. Stir in the cold heavy cream until every fragment is coated and the mixture resembles a loose coral-coloured paste. Keep the source proportion intact: one-quarter Imperial pint of rich cream per pound of remains, which becomes 285 ml for this home batch.

4. 4

   Pass it twice

   Press the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean cold bowl, rubbing firmly with a flexible scraper until the remaining shells look nearly dry. Rinse the sieve, line it with damp butter muslin or a double layer of fine cheesecloth, and pass the liquid through again with light pressure. Taste a drop between your tongue and palate. If you feel grit, do not discard it. Ça se rattrape: line a clean sieve with fresh damp cloth and pass the coulis once more without forcing the final sediment through.

5. 5

   Refine and serve

   Have the finished fish sauce hot and fully reduced before the coulis reaches it. Pull the sauce below a simmer, then fold in the coulis one tablespoon at a time, beginning with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) per cup (240 ml) of sauce and tasting after each addition. Stop when the shellfish flavour deepens and the sauce gains a coral sheen without losing its own identity. Do not boil it afterward. If excessive heat produces fine flecks, pull the pan off immediately and pass the sauce through a clean fine sieve. Nap the fish and carry it straight to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The book's proportion is exact: one-quarter Imperial pint of rich cream per pound of remains. For 2 pounds, use 285 ml. More cream makes a diluted shellfish cream; less leaves too little liquid to carry the flavour through both sieves.
• •A sturdy processor replaces the pounding mortar, but crack heavy lobster shell before it reaches the blade. A light blender is not suitable for this work, and forcing whole claw pieces into one risks both the machine and the cook.
• •Use real heavy cream. The fat captures the shellfish flavour and gives the coulis its satin body; a thin dairy substitute cannot perform the same work.
• •This coulis is a seasoning for an already finished fish sauce, not a sauce to serve alone. Add it gradually. The correct quantity depends on the strength of the shellfish remains and the character of the sauce receiving it.
• •Use shellfish remains only when they smell clean, sweet, and faintly marine. Sourness, ammonia, or prolonged room-temperature holding cannot be rescued.

Advance Preparation

• •Pick over, weigh, and chill the shellfish remains up to four hours before service. Crack the thick shells and arrange the processor and two sieves, but wait to pound and cream the remains until the finished fish sauce is nearly ready.
• •The completed coulis is not a make-ahead preparation. Use it within fifteen minutes, while its shellfish flavour remains fresh, and discard any portion left after service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 15g)