The pinnacle of French bourgeois cuisine: freshly poached crayfish in a robust Riesling court-bouillon, where the reduced broth is mounted with fresh butter and elevated with fresh herbs.
Ingredients
- 32 pieces Live noble crayfish
- 200 g Fresh sand-grown carrot
- 150 g Yellow onion
- 80 g Traditional shallot
- 1 piece Green celery stalk
- 2 cloves White garlic clove
- 80 g Pasteurized unsalted butter (82% butterfat)
- 50 cl Dry Alsace AOC Riesling white wine
- 75 cl Natural mineral water
- 15 g Coarse grey Guerande salt
- 1 tsp Muntok white peppercorns
- 1 pinch Ground cayenne pepper
- 2 leaves Dried bay leaf
- 3 sprigs Fresh thyme sprig
- 4 sprigs Fresh tarragon
- 4 sprigs Fresh chervil
Method
- Devein each live noble crayfish right before cooking. Firmly grasp the crustacean by the thorax between your thumb and index finger, locate the central tail scale (the telson), give it a quarter turn to the right and then to the left, and pull with a sharp, steady motion to gently extract the bitter black intestinal tract without tearing the meat.
- Peel the carrots, yellow onion and traditional shallots. Rinse the green celery stalk. Cut the carrot into a fine, even julienne, very finely slice the onion and shallots, and finely dice the celery. Crush the white garlic cloves with the flat of a knife blade without removing the skins.
- In a large Dutch oven, melt a small pat of unsalted butter over medium heat until it gently foams. Add the aromatic garnish consisting of the carrots, onion, shallots, celery and crushed garlic cloves. Sweat the mixture for a few minutes without browning, until the vegetables soften and release their aromas.
- Deglaze the Dutch oven by pouring in the dry Alsace white wine, then add the natural mineral water, dried bay leaves, fresh thyme sprigs, coarse grey Guerande salt, crushed white peppercorns and ground cayenne pepper. Bring to a rolling boil, then lower the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about twenty minutes to concentrate the juices and harmoniously diffuse the aromas of the broth.
- Increase the heat under the court-bouillon to maintain a vigorous boil. Plunge the live, deveined noble crayfish all at once into the steaming liquid, then cover immediately. As soon as a hard boil returns, cook briskly for a few minutes, shaking the Dutch oven halfway through, until the shells turn a bright coral red and the tails curl up on themselves.
- Immediately remove the Dutch oven from the heat. Using a skimmer, gently lift the crayfish out of the court-bouillon to halt the cooking process and preserve the pearly tenderness of the meat. Place them in warm shallow bowls.
- Reduce the court-bouillon over high heat for two to three minutes to intensify the briny and vegetable flavors. Turn off the heat, remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves, and incorporate the remaining very cold diced unsalted butter, stirring in a continuous circular motion with a wooden spoon to mount the nage and achieve a silky, glossy texture. Add the fresh tarragon and fresh chervil, previously stripped from their stems and finely chopped.
- Generously coat the noble crayfish in each bowl with the piping hot, buttery nage, making sure to evenly distribute the tender little vegetables. Serve immediately with a spoon to savor the fragrant broth alongside the crustaceans.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 277.8 kcal
- Protein
- 5.57 g
- Carbohydrate
- 14.28 g
- Fat
- 16.79 g
- Fibre
- 3.43 g
- Calcium
- 70.34 mg
- Iron
- 1.28 mg
- Magnesium
- 35.21 mg
