One of the hallmarks of French cooking is extracting as much flavor out the ingredients as is possible which ensures every bone, trimming or shell is used in the preparation of a dish. In this lesson, the fish is gutted and fileted, the langoustines shelled and the squid removed of its ink, all in the quest of ensuring there will be no mistaking the seafood flavor on the plate.
There are a number of elements on the plate in this recipe, a sautéed fish filet, langoustine and calamari tentacle, a squid tube stuffed with risotto and crispy risotto cakes. From my perspective, a bit over the top, but I appreciate the techniques needed to be taught. So on with the show!
Preparation of squid tubes is generally not a task most faces in the kitchen as they are usually cleaned by the fish monger before being sold. Cleaning is not that difficult, in fact as squid are simple creatures, the head is pulled away from the body the tentacles cut off and the “beak” or mouth situated in the center of the tentacles is removed. The skin comes off very easily by submerging the body in cold water and rubbing gently with fingers. The last bit of business is the “quill” or spine of the squid, which can be pulled out with relative ease.
The main need for the fish in this recipe is unclear as we made a shellfish broth with aromatic vegetables along with the langoustine heads, claws and shells from the body. In this recipe we used a sea bream but today’s varietal was pink. I’d never seen a pink sea bream and have to say it was a lovely color. The fish bones were sent down to the sous sol or basement kitchen to be used for other purposes so it seems superfluous to have added a fish filet to the dish.
The stock was used to flavor the risotto, which is a very comforting Italian staple. The langoustine’s taste comes through from the broth but is not overpowering. This risotto would be great with grilled langoustines as an entrée. The risotto is used in two ways, to stuff the squid cavity and to create croquettes or arancini as the Italians say.
One or the other would have been enough for the dish but adding both seemed too heavy and clumsy. Or perhaps my plating flaw is that I believe each plate should contain a whole element rather than a half? Probably the latter – I need to get away from the “my eyes are bigger than my stomach” plating, as they say, “less is more”.
Tales from my plate 