TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Cabillaud au Beurre BlancPoached Cod with Beurre Blanc
- Total
- 46 min
- Difficulty
- ★★★★☆
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Prep 15 min
- Cook 31 min
A Loire fish dish of gently poached Pacific cod with beurre blanc made by reducing shallots with vinegar and fish stock, then emulsifying cold butter. Serve with steamed potatoes.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
100Authenticity- Raw Pacific cod fillets, skinless4 filletsUse raw skinless Pacific cod, about 150 g and 2.5 cm thick per portion. Thaw in the refrigerator according to the package directions before starting, then pat dry. Do not use salt cod or sablefish.
- Lemon0.5 lemonsPeel and slice into rounds. Use unwaxed fruit when the peel is needed; wash before peeling.
- Salt15 gFor the court-bouillon: 15g per 1L water.
- Shallots3 shallotsAbout 75 g in total; mince very finely.
- White wine vinegar125 ml
- Ready-to-use white-fish broth160 mlUse 160 ml ready-to-use white-fish broth, not shellfish or seafood-paella broth; do not dilute. Tomato and fennel add vegetable flavor. The broth contains sea salt: add no salt to the sauce before reduction and taste after whisking in the 125 g demi-sel butter. Keep the separate 15 g salt for the 1 L poaching water.
- Ground white pepper0.5 g
- Heavy cream (at least 40% fat)7.5 ml1/2 tablespoon; helps stabilize the emulsion. Select plain fluid dairy cream whose label states at least 40% milk fat.
- Demi-sel butter125 gCut into 1.5 cm cubes and refrigerate until just before use. Use demi-sel butter containing 2% salt.
- Gold potatoes for boiling or frying600 gPeel and cut into evenly sized pieces. Use firm-cooking gold potatoes.
- Flat-leaf parsley3 gPick the leaves.
Method
Prepare potatoes, shallots, butter and cod
- 1 Peel 600g potatoes and cut into even 4cm pieces.
- 2 Mince 3 shallots very finely.
- 3 Cut 125g salted butter into 1.5cm cubes, place on a plate and return to the refrigerator.
- 4 Pat the cod dry; run your fingers over it and remove any remaining bones with fish tweezers. Peel half a lemon and slice into rounds.
Ready when
Continue when the shallots are finely and evenly minced and the butter remains cold and firm.
Reduce the shallots, vinegar and white-fish broth to 1/3
- 1 Put the shallots, 125ml white wine vinegar, 160ml ready-to-use white-fish broth and 0.5g white pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- 2 When it boils, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 10 minutes to about 95ml, then turn off the heat.
- 3 Meanwhile(While reducing the sauce) Arrange the potatoes in a steamer and steam over high heat for 20–25 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the liquid is about 1/3 of its original volume and the shallots are translucent.
Start the cod in cold court-bouillon and poach gently
- 1 Arrange the thawed skinless cod portions in a single layer in a shallow 26 cm pan, pour in 1 L water to just cover and add the lemon rounds and 15 g salt.
- 2 Set over medium heat. When it boils, immediately reduce to very low heat and cook for 4–6 minutes with only a slight movement at the surface.
- 3 Turn off the heat when the flesh is white and opaque through the center of the thickest fillet.
- 4 Lift out with a skimmer, drain on a towel, transfer to a warm plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Ready when
Continue when the flesh is white and opaque to the center and feels firm but springs back flexibly when pressed.
Caution
A vigorous boil makes the cod shrink and break apart.
Tips
Starting with cold court-bouillon, the aromatic poaching liquid, prevents sudden contraction of the flesh.
Emulsify cold butter into the reduction off the heat
- 1 Warm the reduction over low heat, add 7.5ml cream, bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
- 2 Add the cold butter all at once and whisk firmly along the bottom for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- 3 If the butter has not fully melted, return to very low heat for a few seconds at a time, then whisk again.
Ready when
Continue when the sauce is not foamy but pale cream-colored, smooth and flowing thickly.
Caution
Whisking over continuous heat or boiling splits the butter and leaves oil on the surface.
Plate the cod with sauce and potatoes
- 1 Place 1 warm cod fillet on each warmed plate.
- 2 Pour over the beurre blanc, the sauce of reduced shallots and vinegar emulsified with butter, and add the steamed potatoes and parsley leaves.
Ready when
The dish is ready when no poaching liquid pools on the plate and the sauce flows over the cod without splitting.
About this dish
Clémence Lefeuvre is the name most often associated with the first beurre blanc. In La Chebuette, a village on the Loire near Nantes, she worked with her mother in a dining house, serving returning boatmen shad, pikeperch, pike and elvers, either grilled or with a melted-butter sauce.
According to the restaurant’s story, the sauce originally combined a little vinegar with local butter. After a customer said it resembled mussel sauce, she added shallots and white pepper. Another account says it began when the eggs were forgotten in a béarnaise intended for pike at the Marquis de Goulaine’s table; Nantes and Anjou both claim its origin.
In 2016, Nantes named a square after her. Her name also survives in a Muscadet wine competition.
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