Sterlet

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large roasting pan, about 16 by 12 inches (40 by 30 cm), sized to fit the fish
• •Wide skillet
• •Parchment paper and heavy foil
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Two broad fish spatulas or metal turners
• •Wide saucepan and fine-mesh sieve
• •Warmed oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the sterlet

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C) with a rack in the lower middle. Confirm that the fishmonger has removed every hard scute and the vésiga, the tough dorsal cord that can contract during cooking and distort the fish. Wipe the sterlet with a damp cloth, dry it thoroughly, and season the cavity and skin with 1½ teaspoons of the salt and half the white pepper. Let it stand for 10 minutes while you begin the aromatics.

   Run your fingers carefully along all five rows where the scutes sat. Any hard point left behind should be trimmed before cooking, not discovered by a guest at the table.
2. 2

   Sweat the aromatics

   Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots, carrot, leek, celery, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Sweat them for 8 to 10 minutes until supple and fragrant but still pale; browning would make the finished sauce muddy and too forceful for this fine flesh. Spread the vegetables across the bottom of a roasting pan just large enough to hold the sterlet.

3. 3

   Set the braise

   Pour the wine and 1 cup of the water into the skillet, scraping up the light glaze left by the vegetables. Add the bouquet garni and bring the liquid just to a simmer, then pour everything over the aromatic bed. Lay the sterlet on top. The liquid should reach roughly one-third of the way up the fish; if it sits much lower, use a tighter pan rather than drowning the fish with more water. Melt 1 tablespoon butter, brush it over the sterlet, then cover the fish with a buttered parchment cartouche and seal the pan with foil.

4. 4

   Braise without boiling

   Braise for 30 to 40 minutes, basting once after 20 minutes, until the thickest flesh beside the backbone reaches 145°F (63°C) and feels firm but still yielding. The liquid must only tremble. If white beads of albumen appear across the skin, the heat is too fierce; lower the oven by 25°F (15°C), spoon a little braising liquor over the exposed surface, and finish under the parchment. Ça se rattrape, but watch closely now because overcooked sterlet cannot be made tender again.

5. 5

   Reduce the liquor

   Let the fish settle in its pan for 5 minutes, then lift it carefully onto a warmed oval platter with two broad spatulas. Cover it loosely. Strain the braising liquor into a wide saucepan without crushing the vegetables, skim away excess fat, and boil it briskly until about ¾ cup remains. Add the cream and simmer until the sauce reaches nappe, meaning it coats the back of a spoon and holds a clean trail when you draw a finger through it.

6. 6

   Monter au beurre

   Take the saucepan off the heat. Monter au beurre, mount with cold butter, by whisking in the remaining 5 tablespoons a piece at a time until the sauce is glossy and lightly thickened. Add the lemon juice and remaining white pepper, then taste before adding any more salt. Never boil the sauce after the butter enters. If it splits, put 1 tablespoon of the reserved cold water in a clean saucepan and whisk the broken sauce into it gradually, one spoonful at a time, away from the heat. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Dress and serve

   Pool one-third of the sauce on the platter and spoon just enough over the sterlet to glaze its back, leaving the shape of the whole fish clear. Scatter with the chopped parsley and serve the remaining sauce in a warm sauceboat. If the skin tore during lifting, turn that side away from the table and gloss the seam with sauce; never apologize at your own table. Carve along the central cartilage and lift away four generous portions. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy only legally traded farmed sterlet from a reputable specialist, and order it dressed. Removing the hard scutes and vésiga is fishmonger's work unless you already understand sturgeon anatomy; cooking well is not cooking fancy, but it does begin with proper preparation.
• •The book gives this sterlet only a title and one sharp observation, that English tables scarcely knew it. It names no component sauce or garnish, so none has been smuggled in here; wine, aromatics, cream, and butter are the smallest honest braise the home pan needs.
• •Measure your roasting pan before ordering the fish. A close fit gives the correct shallow braise without gallons of liquid, while a pan that is too short forces the fish into a bend and spoils the whole presentation.
• •Choose a dry, clean white wine with real acidity, not an oaky or sweet bottle. Serve the same style at the table, such as Chablis or a restrained white Burgundy, because the finished sauce is buttery and wants freshness beside it.
• •Sterlet roe may have helped make the fish famous, but caviar is not required here. The whole braise already has its ceremony, and a parade of costly garnishes would only hide the lesson.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat them within 2 days. The firm flesh is excellent cold with a little remaining sauce, but reheating the whole fish will push it past tenderness.

Advance Preparation

• •Order the sterlet from the fishmonger in advance and confirm that it will arrive gutted, gilled, and stripped of every scute, with the vésiga removed. Keep it at the coldest part of the refrigerator and cook it within a day.
• •The vegetables may be sliced and the bouquet garni tied a day ahead, then kept covered in the refrigerator. Measure the wine, cream, and butter before guests arrive so the sauce can be finished without interruption.
• •Do not braise the fish a day ahead. It may rest loosely covered for about 15 minutes while its liquor reduces, but the butter must be whisked into the sauce immediately before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)