Thought for Food

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Fish Tartare and Fish in Filo Pastry

On Monday, I finally got to cook again. My mum and I were celebrating her birthday and her big wish had been for me to prepare a restaurant-style meal for her. I think I have mentioned this before, but my mum loves to eat, but hates to cook and has no clue about sourcing good quality food. The result is a strange mix of ready meals and high-class restaurants that makes me shake my head every time I hear about it. And it made it difficult for me to decide on a menu. On the one hand, I knew I would be up against Munich's best restaurants, which was at once scary and interestingly challenging. On the other hand, I felt that I should not stress too much over this because I was serving someone who felt that packet mashed potatoes with melted butter made a yummy meal. So I compiled a meal - smoked trout mousse as an amuse bouche, cream of spinach and granny smith soup as a starter, lamb chops with lentils and mashed potatoes as a main course and caramelised pineapple tarte tatin for desert -, presented it to my mum and was promptly rejected. She felt that making the amuse bouche myself was a waste of time, wanted fish all round, thinks lentils are fit only for peasants, and was afraid that desert would make her fat. Coming up with a backup plan took me all weekend, but in the end, we settled the matter to both our satisfaction: Some shop bought canapés to start, followed by open won tons of fish tartare with Wasabi mayonnaise, then a Fish Strudel (white fish filet in filo pastry) with wild garlic pesto on mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables and finally some exotic fruit salad with cream. Not what I would serve my guests, but tasty enough and far less work for me.
And despite all my fears, the preparation turned out to be quite fun. In the afternoon we went to Viktualienmarkt, a big market in the city centre, and bought some fresh ingredients: Salmon, tuna and yellowtail for the starter along with a pound of green asparagus, wolf fish (loup de mer), carrots and bok choi for the main course and a mixture of fruit for desert. It was interesting to watch my mum. She had never gone food shopping with such a vague list and let herself be inspired by whatever was on offer. It was as if our roles had suddenly reversed and she was the child watching me interact with the traders. But this situation was not meant to last. It all changed again when we arrived at Dallmayr, one of Munich's best-known fine food stores. There she felt at home again and took control. She chose the canapés and had a chat with the shopkeeper about the different kinds of foie gras. And all of the sudden, I was the one who felt uncomfortable. I really hate Dallmayr. They may be well sorted, have great quality food and very knowledgeable staff, but their attitude is horrible. The first time I went in there, I was ignored, the second time I was treated like my mother's appendage. Not nice, not nice at all.
The food, on the other hand, was very nice. We bought some duck liver pâté with Madeira jelly, some goose liver pâté and a duck breast canapé. Then we headed home and I got on with dinner. Unfortunately, 15 minutes before the stores closed, I found out that I was in a kitchen that is rarely used. Some of the basics I thought everyone had were missing: cream, mayonnaise, butter... So I ran and ran and ran - and made it. Then I ran back and continued like this:

70 g salmon, Sushi quality
70 g tuna, Sushi quality
70 g yellowtail, Sushi quality
6 won ton wrappers (plus a few spares)
oil for frying
6 green asparagus spears
50 ml cream
1 tsp Wasabi
50 to 100 ml mayonnaise
salt to taste

Chop the ends off the asparagus and blanch the spears in boiling salt water until slightly tender, 2 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness. Refresh in cold water and set aside to cool.
Heat 2 cm of oil in a large pan over high heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add a won ton wrapper, fry until puffy and brown (this should take less than a minute), turn, cook the other side, then drain on a paper towel. If you accidentally let one get too dark, discard it. They are not nice if they're overdone. Repeat this until you have six good fried sheets. Remove the pan from the stove and set aside well away. It will be very hot. (Do not add water!)
Chop the fish filets into very fine chunks, keeping the three kinds separate.
Whip the cream in a bowl until slightly thickened. Do not overdo it. Add the Wasabi and enough mayonnaise, to get a fluffy, yet runny sauce. Season to taste with salt.
To serve, make sure the won ton skins have cooled completely, then arrange them on 2 plates. Top them with a different kind of fish tartar each, decorate with the asparagus and drizzle with Wasabi mayonnaise. Serve immediately to prevent the won tons from going soft.

The next course was my Fish Strudel:

For the fish:
300 g wolf fish fillet (most other white fish will do here), all bones removed
salt
2 sheets of filo or Strudel pastry
melted butter for brushing the pastry
some egg white for brushing the outside of the wrapped fish
For the pesto:
1 handful of wild garlic, washed and roughly chopped
1 handful pine nuts
50 g Parmesan, grated
50 to 100 ml good quality olive oil
salt to taste
For the mashed potatoes:
4 medium floury potatoes, peeled
a knob of butter
a few spoonfuls of milk (or cream)
salt to taste
For the vegetables:
2 carrots, sliced
3 to 4 bulbs of bok choi, chopped
a bit of ginger, about 2 cm
1 tbsp butter
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Rub the fish down with salt and set aside.
Puree the wild garlic with the pine nuts and Parmesan. Add enough olive oil to make a thick paste. This is going to be rolled into the pastry, so don't thin it out too much. Season to taste with salt.
To make the Strudel, unfold one pastry sheet on the counter top, brush with melted butter and top with the second sheet. Brush with more butter. Pat the fish filet down with a paper towel and place on the thin side of the pastry, about 20 cm from the edge. Spread the pesto evenly across the top. Fold over the two sides of the pastry, brushing any the exposed parts with butter, and loosely roll it up. Brush with egg white, put on a baking tray and cover with a dry tea towel until the oven is hot. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, put the potatoes in a medium sized pot, cover with salt water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Drain thoroughly, then add the butter. When that is melted, mash the potatoes adding milk (or cream) to get the desired consistency. Season to taste with salt.
For the vegetables, melt the butter in a wok or large frying pan. Add the ginger and fry for a minute. Now add the carrots and continue to cook for about 3 minutes before adding the bok choi stalks. Stir-fry for a further 2 to 3 minutes, then add the bok choi leaves. Cook until they have collapsed, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.
To serve, put a heap of mashed potatoes in the middle of a plate, top with a slice of Fish Strudel and scatter some vegetables around it. Serve garnished with some samphire, sliced spring onion or lemon wedges.

The desert was slightly simpler again and therefore, in my opinion, not really worthy of either a recipe or a picture. Just imagine a bunch of fruit - I had an orange, ¼ pineapple, 2 baby bananas, a pear, some cape gooseberries, a few raspberries and some strawberries, but I would have preferred some more local, and more seasonal stuff - cut up, mixed with some lime juice and a tad of sugar. Marinate it for a while to let the flavours mix, put into serving bowls and top with cream or ice cream (or both).

Christine at 10:55 pm

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