Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #15; Practical #15

Fish – Part 2 was much more straightforward than Part 1. In other words, no Hollandaise sauce!

Instruction #15 – Fish – Part 2

• Breaded and deep fried – Breaded strips of sole, green sauce
• Salmon escalope with sorrel
• Braised – Brill fillets in white wine sauce

I’m not sure where to begin. Each of these dishes were extremely good.

Deep fry anything and I’m a fan. After filleting the sole we portioned each fillet into small pieces. Breaded them anglaise style – dredged in flour, dipped in egg, oil, water mixture, and patted with breadcrumbs. Rolled each piece into cigar shaped tubes. And deep fried. Served with mayonnaise – made by hand, of course – which was flavored and colored with a blend of parsley, chervil, watercress, tarragon, and spinach.


Taking thin slices of salmon and pounding them between two sheets of plastic we created salmon escalopes. (Similar to that for veal escalopes). Flash seared – 20 seconds per side. Dramatically reduced fumet until only a glaze remained. Creamed. And finish with butter. Garnished with courgettes - balls - of zucchini, carrot, and celery root.

The final dish was a familiar one. Filleted brill – a white fish similar to sole, but larger. Made stock with the left over bones. Braised the fillets in the stock. Reduced the braising liquid. Finished with cream and butter. Simple, but delicious. Garnished with turned, boiled potatoes.

Lesson #15 also signals our half way point of Basic Cuisine. Next week we will individually meet with a chef to discuss our progress and grades. I am chomping at the bit waiting for this meeting. I am very curious to see what type of marks I have been getting. What I think might be a 4 on a 5 point scale, might be a 2 or 3 to a chef – eek!