In this very simple dish, the ingredients completely dominate. The cook must keep a low profile to let the natural flavours express themselves. In creating this recipe, I was inspired by the skills of Achille, a former Cancale fisherman who had his own way of preparing red mullet and small fish. I match them with new potatoes with butter and parsley. All this together results in one of the best fish dishes I know.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 small line-fished mackerel
4 small red mullets
700 g new potatoes (sirtema) (1 lb 10 oz)
250 g salted butter (9 oz)
Fleur de sel
10 ml good-quality white wine vinegar (2 tsp)
1/2 bunch curly parsley
2 small leek greens
Freshly ground white pepper
1 medium carrot
Coarse salt
1 shallot
Easy and quick.
Basic preparation
Ask the fishmonger to lightly scale the red mullet and gut them, setting aside the livers (very important), and to gut the mackerel, setting aside the heads (also very important) which you will take home.
Wash the new potatoes and rub them with coarse salt on a tea towel.
Wash the parsley and separate the leaves from the stems.
A good half-hour ahead of time, prepare the mackerel stock and the mullet jus. For the first, cut the carrot and leek greens into small dice. Wash the mackerel heads quickly under running water and wipe them. Heat them with a knob of butter.
When they are golden, add the mirepoix, led it sweat, and deglaze with half the wine vinegar. Add water just to cover and the parsley stems. Cook over low heat for 30 mins. Strain through a fine strainer, pressing to extract the jus. You should have 100 ml (4 oz) stock. For the second, heat the red mullet livers in butter. Add the diced shallot. Deglaze with the rest of the wine vinegar. Wet with 100 ml (4 oz) water. Cook over low heat for 20 mins. Strain through a fine strainer, pressing to obtain 50 ml (2 oz) jus.
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in salted water, peel them
while they are still hot and crush them immediately with
a fork with 200 g of butter, diced small, without overworking
the mixture.
Finally, add the chopped parsley. Keep warm in a bain-marie,
covered with plastic wrap.
Last minute
Heat the grill.
Thoroughly dry the fish with paper towels and make small slits in the mackerel.
In two small saucepans, heat the mackerel stock and the mullet jus, adding body with a little butter. Check the seasoning and the acidity.
In a non-stick frying pan, cook the whole seasoned mullets in butter for 2 mins on each side. Cover with aluminium foil.
Meanwhile, on the very hot grill, cook the oiled and seasoned mackerel.
Carefully arrange on the plates the grilled mackerel basted
with their stock, the small whole mullets in butter, coated
with their jus, and the crushed potato with parsley and butter
on the side.
top
© Olivier Roellinger - Maisons de Bricourt.
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