Rainbow Trout baked in a salt dressing and flambéed right before serving is a stunning and dramatic dish that impresses both in flavor and presentation. The salt crust seals in moisture, resulting in perfectly tender and flavorful fish. The flambéing process adds an element of showmanship to the meal, elevating the dining experience. The tartar made from porcini mushrooms and pine buds brings a fresh, earthy contrast to the richness of the trout. The combination of delicate fish and aromatic tartar creates a perfect balance of flavors, making this dish a standout choice for special occasions or fine dining experiences.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Rinse the trout inside and out, pat them dry, rub them with the olive oil and stuff the bellies with the thyme.
- Whisk the egg whites with 2 tablespoons of water until frothy.
- Mix the rock salt, sea salt and crushed spices into the whites until the salt feels like wet sand that holds together when squeezed; add the third spoonful of water if it is too dry.
- Spread about a third of the salt on the lined tray as two beds about 1 cm thick, each a little bigger than a fish.
- Lay the fish on the beds, cover them completely with the rest of the salt and press it down firmly so no skin shows.
- Bake for 22–25 minutes, until a thermometer pushed through the crust into the thickest part of a fish reads 58°C (136°F).
- While the fish bakes, heat the oil and butter in the frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 4 minutes, until soft.
- Add the porcini, cut into 5 mm dice, and cook for 5–6 minutes, until their liquid has gone and they are lightly golden; season with salt and let them cool.
- Mix the cooled mushrooms with the hollandaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, dill and rosemary, and taste for salt.
- Set the ring on each plate, press in a quarter of the beetroot and top it with a quarter of the mushroom mixture, then lift off the ring.
- Dot the plates with balsamic glaze and scatter the microgreens over the tartare.
- Let the fish rest in the crust for 5 minutes once out of the oven.
- For the flambé, if you want it: switch off the cooker hood, warm the brandy in the small saucepan off the heat, light it with a long match and pour it over the crust; never pour from the bottle.
- When the flames have died down, crack the crust with the heavy spoon, lift it off in pieces and brush away the loose salt.
- Peel back the skin, lift the fillets off the bones and lay them beside the tartare.
- Clean the trout, remove the lungs and insides.
- Stuff the belly with thyme branches.
- Whip yolks, add salt, spices, mix salt mixture.
- Put half of the salt dressing on a pan fitting the size of the fish.
- Put the fish with peel on salt and cover with remaining salt, close tight.
- Bake in oven for 40 minutes and temperature of 347°F.
- Flambé the fish with spirit or cognac.
- Remove salt cover and put the filet on the plate with tartar.
What we changed for home
- Egg whites used to bind the crust, as listed The method says to whip yolks, but the list gives egg whites, and whites are what binds a salt crust.
- One 1.1 kg trout replaced with two of about 550 g, baked 22–25 minutes at 200°C (400°F) instead of 40 minutes at 175°C (347°F) Rainbow trout in shops is usually 300–600 g, and two fish fit a home tray. Smaller fish need a shorter, hotter bake, and a thermometer takes out the guesswork.
- Thyme added to the list The method stuffs the bellies with thyme, but the list leaves it out.
- Unnamed 'spices' in the crust given as crushed black pepper and coriander seeds The chef lists 10 g of spices without naming them.
- Pine buds replaced with finely chopped rosemary Young pine buds are seasonal and rarely sold, and not every pine is safe to eat; rosemary gives a similar resinous note.
- Hollandaise from a jar, or mayonnaise The chef also uses a ready-made hollandaise, and the tartare needs only 5 tablespoons.
- Method written out for the porcini tartare The original lists the tartare ingredients but never says how to make it.
- Flambé made optional, with safety steps Burning spirit near a cooker hood or curtains is a real fire risk. The flame is mostly for show, since the crust keeps the alcohol away from the fish.
The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.
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