Saumon Froid ou Darne de Saumon à la Parisienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Close-fitting 16 by 12-inch roasting pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large 18-inch oval serving platter
• •Two broad fish spatulas
• •Mini food processor and fine-mesh sieve
• •Piping bag fitted with a ¼-inch grooved tip
• •Sharp paring knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape the rice cushion

   Combine the rinsed rice, its water, and ½ teaspoon of the salt in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, cover, and cook over very low heat for 18 to 20 minutes, until the grains are tender and cling together. Stir in the butter while the rice is warm. On a chilled oval platter, use a wet spatula to press it into a firm rectangle about 11 by 5 inches and ¾ inch high, slightly smaller than the salmon. The cushion must be compact, not fluffy, because it carries the fish. If it spreads, press it inside a shallow parchment-lined dish, chill it for 20 minutes, then turn it onto the platter. Refrigerate until firm.

2. 2

   Poach the salmon gently

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Combine the poaching water, wine, onion, sliced carrot, vinegar, bouquet garni, and half the poaching salt in a saucepan. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, then strain. Rub the remaining poaching salt over the salmon and lay it skin-side up in a close-fitting roasting pan. Pour in enough hot liquor to come two-thirds of the way up the fish, cover the surface with parchment, and seal the pan with foil. Poach in the oven for 20 to 28 minutes, until the centre reaches 140°F (60°C), then let it rest covered for 5 minutes, until it reaches 145°F (63°C). The liquid must barely move. White beads of albumen mean the heat ran high; lift the fish promptly and wipe them away gently while warm, because the cold mask will cover the mark.

3. 3

   Chill and make jelly

   Lift the salmon with two broad spatulas onto a parchment-lined tray, keeping the skin intact and facing up. Let it lose its fierce heat for 15 minutes, then refrigerate uncovered for 30 minutes. Cover loosely and chill for at least another hour, until cold through. Meanwhile, strain 1 cup (240 ml) of the poaching liquor into a small saucepan and reduce it to ¼ cup (60 ml). Bloom the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes, then dissolve it in the hot reduction. Taste it. If reduction has made it too salty, add enough plain water to restore ¼ cup (60 ml). Cool until fluid but no warmer than your hand.

4. 4

   Build the mayonnaise

   Whisk the pasteurized yolks with the Dijon mustard, lemon juice, mayonnaise salt, and white pepper until smooth. Add the oil drop by drop at first, whisking without pause; once the emulsion thickens, pour in a thin steady thread. Reserve ½ cup (120 ml) of plain mayonnaise for the sauceboat and keep it cold. Slowly whisk the fluid fish jelly into the remaining mayonnaise, then chill it for about 10 minutes, until it mounds softly but still spreads. If the mayonnaise splits, stop. Ça se rattrape: put 1 teaspoon of cold water in a clean bowl and whisk in the broken sauce one spoonful at a time until the emulsion gathers again.

   The fish jelly must be cool and fluid before it meets the mayonnaise. Hot jelly loosens the emulsion; set jelly leaves lumps.
5. 5

   Cook the macédoine

   Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and salt it from the remaining seasoning salt. Cook the diced carrot and turnip for about 3 minutes, add the green beans for 2 minutes, then add the peas for the final minute. The macédoine, a mixture of small, evenly cut vegetables, should be tender but retain its shape. Drain, rinse briefly under very cold water, and spread on a towel until thoroughly dry. Fold about ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the jelly-set mayonnaise through the vegetables. If the mixture looks loose, the vegetables are wet or the mayonnaise is warm; blot away moisture and chill it for 10 minutes before filling the artichokes.

6. 6

   Make Montpellier butter

   Blanch the spinach, parsley, chervil, and tarragon in boiling water for 10 seconds, cool them immediately under cold water, then squeeze them fiercely dry. Process the greens with the capers, cornichon, anchovy, lemon juice, and one hard-boiled egg yolk until very fine. Beat this paste into the softened butter, then press the mixture through a fine sieve so it will pass cleanly through a small grooved piping tip. Spoon it into the piping bag. If the Montpellier butter slumps, chill it for 5 minutes; if it is too firm to pipe, knead the bag briefly between your palms.

7. 7

   Bare and mask salmon

   Set the thoroughly chilled salmon skin-side up. With the point of a sharp knife, score a regular rectangle in the skin, centred between the narrow and broad ends and covering roughly two-thirds of the visible surface. Cut through the skin only. Lift one corner and peel the rectangle away, leaving an even skin border; remove any grey membrane without digging into the pink flesh. Blot the exposed surface completely dry, then spread it with a smooth ⅛-inch layer of jelly-set mayonnaise. Chill for 20 to 30 minutes, until the mask is set. If it slips, the fish or sauce is too warm, or the surface is damp. Blot the edge, chill both for 10 minutes, and smooth it again. Never apologize at your own table.

8. 8

   Mount the centerpiece

   Use two broad spatulas to settle the masked salmon squarely on its cold rice cushion. Pipe a narrow grooved border of Montpellier butter around the mayonnaise rectangle. Finely chop the remaining hard-boiled whites and yolks separately, then arrange them with the lobster coral and chervil leaves inside the butter border in neat bands or a simple mosaic. Keep the design generous and readable. Tweezers have nothing useful to contribute here.

9. 9

   Fill and serve

   Pat the artichoke bottoms dry once more. Fill each with a rounded dome of macédoine and arrange them in an even border around the rice cushion. Spoon the reserved plain mayonnaise into a small sauceboat and serve it alongside. Keep the finished platter cold until the table is ready, then bring it out whole so everyone sees the work before the first slice is cut. À table!

Chef Tips

• •A darne is a thick cross-cut slice from a large fish. The center-cut salmon side used here is easier to obtain for four people and gives the same broad surface for the book's rectangular mask without leaving you with a banquet-sized fish.
• •Ask for a center cut with even thickness and unbroken skin. The skin is part of the design, not kitchen waste, so a ragged tail piece cannot give you the clean dark frame the mayonnaise needs.
• •True lobster coral is the roe from a cooked female lobster, red and firm, never the green tomalley. When coral cannot be bought honestly, chopped cooked claw meat keeps the marine flavour and warm colour, though it is not identical.
• •Use pasteurized yolks and keep the platter at or below 40°F (4°C). Return it to the cold between servings and do not leave it on a warm buffet for more than two hours.
• •A brut Champagne suits the cold salmon, lemony mayonnaise, and artichokes without flattening them. Pour it cold, bring the platter out colder, and let the first cut happen at the table.

Advance Preparation

• •The salmon may be poached and chilled a day ahead. Keep it whole, skin intact, and well covered; bare and mask it only when it is completely cold.
• •The rice cushion, cooked macédoine vegetables, and Montpellier butter may also be prepared a day ahead and chilled separately. Bring the butter only to cool room temperature before piping.
• •The finished centerpiece may be assembled up to 4 hours before serving. Cover it loosely so nothing touches the mayonnaise, and add the artichoke bottoms to the platter during the final hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 700g)