A Madeleine for Anguilla Anguilla

The taste of smoked eel is deeply rooted in the collective memory of those living in Northern Europe. With this dish, we wish to tap into this memory in the hopes to remind them of their beloved fishy friend and of the urgency to care them. The dish is a play on a classic in the traditional cuisine of Hamburg, the Aalsuppe. Our version comes with a strong flavor of eel, by using its fats and other remains from the smoking process for the broth, but the actual fish is nowhere to be found.

The title of the dish is a play on Marcel Proust’s madeleine.

Ingredients for 4 people

500g smoked eel carcasses
2 shallots (brunoise)
500ml white wine
500ml fish stock
100g carrot (brunoise)
100g celeriac (brunoise)
100g leek, the white part (brunoise)
Salt
Sugar
50g chives (finely chopped)
4 g agar

Preparation:
Put the carcasses together with the shallots, the fish stock and the white wine in a pot and reduce to 600ml (set 200ml of this aside)

Put everything through a sieve and season with salt and sugar and set aside
Blanch the vegetable brunoise briefly and rinse
Boil 400ml of the eel stock with 4g agar, add the vegetable cubes and the chives and pour directly into a plate and allow to cool

200ml eel broth
50ml whole milk

Preparation:
To serve, heat the broth, add the cold milk, mix with the hand blender and serve immediately

50g dried plums
50g dried apricots
50g dried apples
100g fresh quince (diced)
200ml apple juice
50ml lemon juice

Preparation:
Chop the dried fruit and cook with the quince, apple juice and lemon juice until soft
Mix with the hand blender

1 quince
100ml apple juice

Preparation:
Peel the quince and cut into 2x2cm cubes
Let it cook in the apple juice for about 3 minutes

Put the fruit cream on the jelly and garnish with Salty Fingers. Distribute the quince cubes and add the foam to the dish. Serve immediately.