April 2004

 

Head Chefs Michel Bouyer of the Bonham and Hubert Lamort of Channings, two of Edinburgh's finest restaurants demonstrated dishes featuring fine spring ingredients in the Bonham demonstration kitchen especially for Discover the Taste. Michel is from Brittany and naturally included plenty of butter and cream in his cooking. Hubert, from the south, favoured olive oil and long slow cooking.

If you missed our event, we strongly suggest you visit the Bonham and Channings restaurants soon to taste some fantastic spring flavours!

Guests savoured four taster courses:

Hubert created a starter of caramelised pear, broad beans, petit pois, chicory, grapefruit segments, fennel shavings, beetroot jus and argan oil and a main dish of braised lamb shanks with crushed olive oil, potato, glazed carrots and baby onions.

Michel created at crab, leek, jersey royal potato timbale with white asparagus and pommery mustard dressing, followed by seared orange cured salmon, with roasted white asparagus, baked jersey royal potoatoes, confit cherry tomato and wild garlic emulsion.

In the following recipe, wild garlic is used. It can be found quite easily around Edinburgh, but has a limited season. Michel suggests using watercress as a substitute.

Michel's Salmon Dish

1 side of fresh salmon

Marinade: 1 orange, 2 tbs honey, 1 teaspoon of five spice, 3 crushed star anis, 50 g sea salt

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

20 sticks of asparagus (preferably white)

8 cherry vine tomatoes

1 bunch of wild garlic with flowers or a bunch of watercress

8 large jersey royal potatoes

1 maris piper potato

1/2 onion

200 ml double cream

Salt and pepper, thyme, olive oil

For the marinade, put the salmon in a tray with the skin side down and cover with all the ingredients mixed together. Leave for 2 days in the fridge. After 2 days, rinse the salmon under cold running water and dry well. Cut to size required. Place in fridge.

Place the Jersey royals to cook in cold salted water.

Peel and cook the white asparagus in boiling salted water until soft (approximately 20 minutes. Green thinner asparagus will need less time).

Put the cherry tomatoes with olive oild, salt and pepper and a sprig of thyme and garlic in a low oven 150C for 20 minutes until soft.

Roast the asparagus and whole Jersey royals in a frying pan of foaming butter until golden.

Make a little onion and potato soup, by softening the onion and garlic together. Add water to make a soup like consistency. Add the double cream, and bring it to boil. Add chopped wild garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Place in blender and process for a couple of minutes.

Sear the salmon in a hot pan with a little olive oil until browned but undercooked in the middle.

Place the salmon on a plate and drizzle the green sauce, add the tomatoes, asparagus and potatoes to the plate.