Cornish fruits de mer
Push the boat out this Christmas and serve your guests an extravagant fruits de mer platter, piled high with the best British seafood. Cornish chef Ben Palmer shows you how.
Ben says: “This is my fruits de mer with accompanying condiments, a little bit of luxury that’s perfect for a festive get-together with friends or family. Serve on crushed ice and some fresh, cleaned foraged seaweed (or try Wright Brothers) on a platter to keep your shellfish nice and chilled and for maximum wow factor. I like it with a chilled glass of Sharp’s Offshore Pilsner. ”
After working across the UK and Europe, Ben returned to his home town of Looe with his family to open The Sardine Factory restaurant in 2018. His passion has bagged him a number of awards, including the winning starter at the Parisian banquet for Great British Menu 2024.
Ingredients
- 1 (750g) live lobster, frozen for at least 2 hours before cooking
- 6 crab claws
- 200g live mussels, scrubbed clean and debearded
- 200g live clams, scrubbed
- 6 large scallops, ideally on the half shell
- 12 live oysters (Ben uses Porthilly)
- Crushed ice to serve
- Seaweed to serve (optional)
- 50g tin Umai caviar (optional)
- 3 lemons, cut into wedges
- Sourdough bread to serve (optional)
For the cocktail sauce
- 100g tomato ketchup
- 90g mayonnaise
- 5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- Finely grated zest and juice ½ lime
For the mignonette
- 1 echalion (banana) shallot, very finely chopped
- 125ml red wine vinegar
- 1 thyme sprig
For the aioli
- 2 medium egg yolks
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
- 300ml rapeseed oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 tsp finely sliced flatleaf parsley leaves
Method
- To make the cocktail sauce, mix everything with a pinch of salt. For the mignonette, mix everything in a jar.
- For the aioli, whisk the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl. Whisking constantly, add the oil in a thin, steady stream. Whisk until the mayonnaise is thick. Add the lemon zest and garlic, season with salt, then stir in the parsley.
- Bring a large pan of very heavily salted water to the boil and heat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas 7. Add the lobster and crab claws to the boiling water. Cook the claws for 8-10 minutes and the lobster for 12 minutes, lifting them out with tongs and setting aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, set a large pan with a tight-fitting lid over a high heat. Add the mussels and clams with a little water, cover and steam for about 5 minutes or until most of them have opened. Drain and leave to cool.
- Season the scallops with salt and bake for 3-5 minutes until just cooked. Leave to cool.
- Cut the lobster in half lengthways and remove the tail meat. Discard the waste tract from the tail and the stomach sack (located in the head). You only want opaque white meat with flecks of pink and red – remove anything else. Chop the lobster meat into small chunks, give the shells a rinse, then put the meat back into them.
- Shuck the oysters carefully using an oyster knife and a folded tea towel to protect your hand. Remove any shell fragments, keeping as much of the liquid as possible. Crack open the crab claws with a rolling pin.
- Put a layer of crushed ice on a serving dish, top with seaweed (if using), then arrange the shellfish in the dish (with the caviar, if using). Put the sauces in small dishes and serve with lemon wedges and sourdough bread on the side, if you like.
Nutrition
- 663kcals Calories
- 56g (5.7g saturated) Fat
- 35g Protein
- 5.2g (4.9g sugars) Carbs
- Trace Fibre
- 2.4g Salt
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