Langoustine tortellini

[MobyP]

I'm making a langoustine or crayfish tortelloni this weekend, which I'm going to serve with a drizzle of reduced crayfish jus, and I would like to add a foam but I can't think of a good complementary flavour to use as the base (of the foam, that is).

All suggestions welcome!

Edited October 7, 2005 by MobyP (log)

[Jon Tseng]

i) have you found a crayfish supplier in London??? if so spill the beans...

ii) why are you bothering making prawn wontons when you can get perfectly good ones from the takeaway? (quoth my uncles reaction to the signature Ravioli of Lobster at Gordon Ramsay at Claridges "well its basically a giant wonton innit?" [or words to that effect])

iii) Almond and/or vanilla. Actually haven't got a clue why I suggested the almond but the vanilla is obviously a rip-off of Alain Senderens Lobster Noodle with Walls-Ice-Cream Flavoured Sauce everyone rabbits on about. Quite soft/pillowy flavours so would probably work.

J

Edited October 7, 2005 by Jon Tseng (log)

[MobyP]

I saw a huge writhing basket of live crayfish on Fulham road at a poncy market, just next door (same side of road) as the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (coincidental? I don't think so...). Also, I've seen the odd wrigggler at Borough. I always thought they looked like mean bastards. Can't wait to tip them screaming into a pot of boiling water.

[Jon Tseng]

Raw crayfish - very cute (mini mini lobsters) but have a tendancy to escape and run around the kitchen. Also a bitch to peel - doubly so if you're going to peel them raw as I assume you will have to for the wontons...

J

[MobyP]

A vanilla buerre blanc foam - possibly a frighteningly good idea. Or just frightening.

[Jon Tseng]

A vanilla buerre blanc foam - possibly a frighteningly good idea. Or just frightening.

←

Yeah thats the idea

Although hold back on the vinegar/acidity in the beurre blanc. You already have one relatively sharp flavour in the jus (don't overreduce! mistake have made before when mucking about with crayfish shells). Probably don't want another...

Fresh almonds - goes with scallops so why not langoustine?

J

[Matthew Grant]

Vanilla sounds good. How about tarragon, or add an oriental twist with star anise. I've been experimenting with Plum Kernel oil and fish, it has a strong almond flavour, very good not sure how you'd utilise it in a foam but it adds an interesting element to dishes, it would go well with the vanilla.

How about using a little crayfish jus in the base of the foam, it would keep the connection between elements well, mix with a little cream/butter and add your additional flavour before foaming?

[Matthew Grant]

I thought of another, how about a Cepe foam, you could use dried, soaked in water. Soften some onion, garlic in a little butter, add the stock from the soaked cepes, add a little cream, season before foaming. Add a little lecithin before foaming to make it more stable.

[Corinna Dunne]

Is there a thread somewhere on making foams? I'd be very interested to hear more about the technique.

[kanljung]

How about dill? A traditional swedish seasoning for crayfish or langoustine.

[Matthew Grant]

Mmmmmm.....foam.....

Langoustine Lasagne with a cepe sauce:

Asparagus risotto

Cod with a cepe sauce, sherry jelly, Jabugo ham (I like cepe and fish )

[alexhills]

All you modernists.... A crayfish sauce with a little brandy and cream is still one of life's great pleasures. Escoffier bound or not.. I made a langoustine + sauce dish with some samphire a couple of months ago that worked rather well I thought, dunno about the feasability or desirability of samphire foam though. I had a stupendous fennel foam with shellfish at Troisgros recently too, that might be a goer.

[MobyP]

don't overreduce! mistake have made before when mucking about with crayfish shells.

Gotcha. But how far is too far? I had a very powerful lobster jus at ADNY, but it worked rather well.

Vanilla sounds good. How about tarragon, or add an oriental twist with star anise.

The lobster jus had tarragon, so maybe that's a goer. Thanks.

I thought of another, how about a Cepe foam?

Wife allergic to shrooms.

Dill is interesting, but it might be taking the dish in a different direction to the one I meant.

Also, I was told by a chef that milk foams better than cream when using lecithin (which is described as a 'fat emulsifyer' in the health food shops, whatever that might mean).

[Marco_Polo]

Hi Moby, it sounds sensational, as always. How about making a concentrated langoustine bisque by roasting the shells with vegetables, seasonings etc, then cooking down. Use this bisque with cream/butter etc to make a saffron foam. The taste is classic, of course, and it would look - as well as taste - vivid and bright with the langoustine tortellini. You could always add a little saffron to your pasta - but then, that might be gilding gold.

Marc

PS The langoustines down this way are sensational at the moment. Here's a pot of the little critters that Kim photographed last week.

[Jon Tseng]

don't overreduce! mistake have made before when mucking about with crayfish shells.

Gotcha. But how far is too far? I had a very powerful lobster jus at ADNY, but it worked rather well.

Too much reduction of the crustacean-shell stock and it goes dark/bitter and develops overcooked/marmitey taste

Can sort of be relieved by diluting it out with cream, but then its not jus anymore, izzit?...

J

[Dan Ryan]

Well, my two immediate thoughts were vanilla or cep. But reading through and seeing as how the missus is allergic to fungi, maybe vanilla is the way to go. Tarragon is good too, love that flavour.

What you could do is combine the reduction with another flavour to make the foam, and then drizzle on a flavoured syrup. I've been using them a lot recently to garnish pasta. Example: tortelloni, langoustine and saffron foam, vanilla syrup. O swap the vanilla and saffron. Important question: how are you finishing the pasta (flavoured butter, just butter)?

[MobyP]

Well, my two immediate thoughts were vanilla or cep. But reading through and seeing as how the missus is allergic to fungi, maybe vanilla is the way to go. Tarragon is good too, love that flavour.

What you could do is combine the reduction with another flavour to make the foam, and then drizzle on a flavoured syrup. I've been using them a lot recently to garnish pasta. Example: tortelloni, langoustine and saffron foam, vanilla syrup. O swap the vanilla and saffron. Important question: how are you finishing the pasta (flavoured butter, just butter)?

←

Marc - I really like the safron idea. Thanks.

Dan - what do you mean by flavoured syrups? Is that a sweet component, or are you uysing the term in some other way?

[Dan Ryan]

Yeah, infused sugar syrup. Salt it. It adds an extra dimension.

[Jon Tseng]

oh sod all that

deep fry the bastards and serve them with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. preferably from a bottle

J

[MobyP]

Jon -

Rex Goldsmith, a very good bloke who runs Chelsea Fish around the corner from Tom Aikens took a special order for Crayfish, and brought me a large bucket of wriggling, beclawed, viciously armoured Steve McQueenies, all leeping for the rim of the bucket and trying to make the great escape.

[Matthew Grant]

How much?

[MobyP]

8 quid a kilo! Compared to the £24-28 for Langoustines...

[MobyP]

Here's the final dish... crayfish tortelloni with a fumet saffron foam, and crayfish jus.

It was prettty nice. I used half the meat from the crayfish and pureed it with some cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and chopped the rest of the crayfish into large pieces, and mixed it together. A lovely texture.

Edited October 9, 2005 by MobyP (log)