Shellfish

This is the third part of my revision for my test today. Yikes!

What is a shellfish? They are not really fish. Rather they are invertebrate animals. They are grouped into three distinct categories:

1. Crustaceans - a class of arthropod. They are noted for having an exoskeleton, a segmented body (the cephalothorax and the abdomen), and jointed appendages. Examples are lobsters, crabs, prawns, langoustines, crayfish, and shrimp; or decapods--5 pairs of legs
2. Mollusks - Their anatomy contains three parts--a muscular foot, an assembly of circulatory, digestive, and sexual organs, and then mantle; They are divided into three categories
• bivalves - creatures with two shells, such as oysters, scallops, and clams; saltwater creatures; they have adductor muscle that is used to close the shells
• univalves - creatures with one shell, such as snails and winkles; can be either saltwater or land inhabitants; they have an operculum, or the sole of the foot to move around
• cephalopods - creatures with bilateral symmetry and somewhat inverted--they have a muscular exterior mantle (the sheet-like muscle) on the outside of their shell. They have a siphon under their heads for movement, well-developed eyes, arms or tentacles, an ink sac. Examples are squid, cuttlefish, and octopus
3. Echinoderms - a group of sea invertebrates that are found at every measurable ocean depth. Sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

There's a relationship between cooking time and the amount and type of connective tissue a protein source has.  Crustaceans and bivalve- & univalve- mollusks have very delicate connective tissues, so they generally require very brief cooking. Whereas cephalopods have more connective tissues. For optimal flavor and texture, they can be either cooked briefly, or for a long time to soften the collagen. Echinoderms are used for their creamy, flavorful reproductive organs and eggs.

In regards to handling and preparing…

… Lobsters: Live ones can be kept refrigerated for up to 48 hours. Anesthetize them in iced salt water for 30 min or in a freezer for about 2 hours before boiling, grilling, or roasting them. Their tomalley (liver) and coral (ovary) can be added to sauces. As a general rule, the cooking time is 8 mins per pound, and for every additional pound, we add 2 mins to the cooking time.  When boiling, the cooking time starts when the water or court bouillon comes back to a boil.

… Langoustines: Like lobsters, can be chilled then cooked.

… Prawns: Their exoskeleton can be peeled with the fingers

… Crayfish: Live ones should be placed in the freezer, for about an hour, before boiling them.  Their tails can be peeled.

… Shrimps: They can be peeled with the fingers. The dark vein along the outside curve of shrimp is the end of the digestive tract.  It should be pulled away from the surrounding muscle

… Crabs:  Live ones can be kept refrigerated for up to 48 hours. Kill them right before cooking. Pierce the body at one of two points: the ventral nerve center or the head, going in through the mouth. Their large digestive gland, or mustard/butter is prized for a rich, intense flavor and creamy texture

… Clams: Can be immersed in salted water for about 20min. Scrub the shells to clean. Do not open until they are needed

… Oysters: They are the most tender bivalves. Do not open until they are needed

… Mussels: They have byssus, or beard, that need debearding. They may be soaked in salted cold water for about 20min.  Flour may be added to to the salt water.

… Scallops: Remove the band of nerves surrounding the muscle.  Briefly soak the shucked scallop in cold water or milk.

… And so many more… ARGHHHHHH!!!!!

What is Court Bouillon? It means "short broth." It's called a short broth because it is cooked for a relatively short time. It's made up of water and an acid (wine/vinegar/lemon juice), aromatics (mirepoix) and bouquet garni. A court bouillon is used for poaching seafood mainly. A fish served à la nave (swimming) is presented in the court bouillon in which it was cooked.

What is à l'américaine or armoricaine?  The terms can refer either to a method of preparation (such as lobster à l'américaine/armoricaine), or to a sauce served to accompany shellfish (lobster with sauce américaine/armoricaine). 

• To make the sauce, the meat of the shellfish is removed and prepared separately. The shells are used to make the sauce. The shells are broken apart and sautéed.  Miropoix is then added.  Next comes flambéing it with brandy and adding white wine/white vermouth, and then simmering with fish fumet and tomatoes (purée and paste). The mixture is then puréed and strained.
• To prepare a sauté en sauce, the shellfish is cleaned, sectioned, and sautéed in the shell. The meat is then flambéed and the sauce is prepared in the same manner as about. The way we did it in class wasn't a sauté en sauce. Rather the protein was prepared separately: we either roasted the whole lobster or boiled it. The sauce was made separately with shells.
• Bisque is basically a sauce américaine base with the addition of rice and cream.

Although we made several shellfish dishes, unfortunately I did not take any pictures. :o(

Flat Fish

The bottom dwelling flatfish are an ugly bunch of fish. We apply the same dressing rules with flatfish. Unlike a round fish, we can get 4 fillets with a flatfish, instead of 2.

Oh, by the way, I think I finally remember the word I was looking for in my prior post! "Revise!" The Brits revise for an exam. Yay! I finally remembered! Senility ain't gonna get me and do me in!

And here's a quick note regarding filleting: it don't come naturally for me. Not just yet. I pretty much butchered and ruined a good half of all the fish I have been given. At one point, my arms were criss-crossed causing my chef instructor to declare his worry for me and my classmates. But you learn from your mistakes, right? I need more practice.

Now, let's go over a few other methods of cooking fish.  Last time, we learned the en papillote method, which involved baking, braising, and steaming, and the à la meunière method, which involved sautéing the fish with butter.

1. Deep-frying/Frying
We can deep-fry a fish that are either whole or cut into darnes, fillets, or tronçons. A goujon, a miniature fish, like a smelt or a minnow, are almost always served deep-fried. So, when larger fish fillets are cut into strips the same size as a goujon, the strips are called goujonettes. The method of preparation is identical for all fish. We use the paner à l'anglaise method. Apparently, the French love the English manner in all their cookery. Although this English manner is different from what we did with vegetables.

1. Prepare the fish in the à l'anglaise way: The fish are dredged in flour, dipped in an egg mixture, and coated in bread crumbs. They can be dredged in only flour or batter.  
2. Fish are then deep-fried in 350ºF oil until golden brown.
3. Fried fish is traditionally served with fried parsley.

Here's an example of what we did: Goujonettes de limande aux deux sauces (bread crumb-coated flounder with two sauces)

2&3. Roasting & Grilling
We didn't do either of them in class.
For roasting a fish, it's important to rub it with oil. It can be roasted on its own or with vegetables. No need to turn the fish. Also the tail should be covered to prevent it from burning/charring.
For grilling a fish, make sure to dry it, and clean and oil the grill properly to prevent the fish from sticking. Place the presentation side first to the grill. Mark the fish with a quadrillage, the criss-cross mark from grilling. (Aside: we can do a quadrillage with breaded fish before it is fried. Mark the fish with the dull edge of the knife.)

4. Braising
It is a mixed cooking method in which the protein is partially immersed in liquid.
(1) For braising fish, the fish is placed on a bed of aromatic garniture (fond de braisage). The fond de braisage provides different aromatic elements to the dish and often determines the name. For the dish we did in class, filet de limande bonne femme, the "Bonne Femme" is shallots, parsley, and mushrooms. (2) The moistening liquid is made with fish fumet and wine. (3) After the fish is cooked, the garniture and cooking liquid is reduced to make the sauce. They are often bound with a beurre manié or with a reduction of cream. For Bonne Femme, it was with cream. (4) Then we can glaze the dish under a salamander. It's advisable to add a sabayon to the finished sauce; this highlights the color and stabilizes the sauce. For our case, we used whipped cream, instead of a sabayon.

5. Poisson au Plat vs. Poisson en Sauce
The two are pretty much the same. We utilize the braising technique. I'll highlight the differences between the two.

1. In au plat, we use a serving dish, whereas for en sauce, we use a sautoir.
2. The bottom contains the fond de braisage, then the fish, and the braising liquid (fumet and alcohol) is added. We cover and bring to a boil and we finish cooking in the oven or on stove top. For au plat, we finish cooking the fish before removing it to set aside. For en sauce, the fish is almost cooked before it is set aside.
3. For au plat, the cooking juice is reduced and monter au beurre. For en sauce, the cooking juice is reduced and heavy cream is added. and then it is further reduced until the sauce is nappant. The sauce can be bound with a velouté or beurre manié.
4. For au plat, the fish is returned to the serving dish. It's returned to the oven and basted several times until we get a perfect glaze. The fish is served in the dish it was cooked in. For en sauce, we can mount with butter off heat and the sauce is poured over the braised fish. It can then be glazed under a salamander.

Our Filet de limande bonne femme is an example of poisson en sauce method.