Fish Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets

For the last 35 years renowned chef Raymond Blanc

has inspired the world with his cooking.

It's about celebrating

gorgeous, glorious food

and sharing a special moment with your loved ones.

Now he's opening his kitchen and sharing his secrets.

I've made all the mistakes which could be made

so you don't have to make them yourself.

Showing, with a little effort...

Food is so, so beautiful.

..anyone can bring some joy to the dinner table.

Even the most complicated dish is not impossible to make.

On Kitchen Secrets, Raymond explores the fruits of the sea.

That is the kind of Dover Sole you really want.

From a simple grilled mackerel

-with a soy and lime dressing.

-Just mysterious.

To a French favourite on a shoestring.

-Pollock with a caper sauce.

-So fantastic.

Raymond boils fish soup down to its bare bones.

All these wonderful flavours of the South of France.

And pushes the boat out with a dinner party dish of braised turbot.

I've done this dish for 35 years and you will be able to do this.

No problem. Easy dish. And stunning.

His working kitchen in Oxfordshire

is where Raymond's recipes come to life.

OK. Tres bien.

-There's red onion or the shallots.

-Is that all of it? OK, tres bien.

Adam, phone Natalia to give me my glasses.

His first dish.

Simple grilled mackerel drizzled with a soy and lime dressing.

Mackerel, salmon, tuna are renowned to not just be great source

of protein but, of course, vitamin A, vitamin D, omega 3s.

Adam, could I have my sharpener, please?

It's a 32-year-old knife.

It was long like that, much thicker. It was a filleting knife,

OK, and like me it's got shorter. And stubbier!

Voila.

Don't press inside

just press slightly so your blade is not like that,

certainly not like that!

Voila.

There are two ways to fillet a mackerel.

The hard way, picking each bone out with fish tweezers.

But that's a very painful process.

I should have my glasses, otherwise I don't see a thing.

And, of course, I lost my glasses yesterday.

They are the wrong ones, those. You can see they're the wrong ones.

They're all funny.

And the easy way.

And just do a little triangle.

Be a bit more waste but I think much more simpler and much neater.

Voila. And I want to show you how you can grill it very simply

and create a rather lovely little dish,

OK, but I am also going to pickle my mackerel before cooking it

to give it a very special flavour.

Guys, s'il vous plait, could I have the pickling things, OK?

Can you stay here and watch, OK?

If you stay here and you watch. OK?

I want a very gentle pickle.

Dilute white wine vinegar with an equal amount of water.

250 grams.

The pickle is packed with flavours, including coriander.

The stalks are not so great for eating, but are very good

for flavouring. The great bouquet garni, was always stalks of parsley.

It was never the fresh parsley unless you feel rich,

but we all feel poor at the moment so that's fine.

And pink peppercorns.

Sweeten the pickle with 40 grams of caster sugar,

add slices of red onion.

Just a couple, two or three peppers.

And three or four slices of lemon.

Voila.

Just bring it to about 60 degree to warm it up

to favourise the exchange of flavours, OK?

To create something totally special.

OK. But I don't want to cook it. I don't want to boil it.

-Change that recipe.

-OK.

-60 degree, OK?

-Yes, chef.

Just taste it.

Ooh!

That wakes you up in the morning.

When the pickle has cooled add the mackerel, flesh side down.

All sorts of things are starting happening here. OK?

Which is just mysterious.

Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Voila.

All we are going to do is simply onto a tray under the grill.

Simple as that.

Before grilling the mackerel, score the skin

to stop the fish curling in the heat.

And oil the baking tray so nothing sticks.

Voila.

Put it under the grill.

And that will take about four to five minutes

according, of course, to the size.

We are going to do a simple sauce with soy and lime juice.

Use 15 grams of soy sauce.

So five, ten, fifteen...

Add the same amount of water.

Just to cut down the saltiness of the soy.

Fresh lime juice.

Some finely sliced ginger and half a teaspoon of dark brown sugar.

Muscovado is perfect.

And there we are. It's as simple as that.

That's perfect.

Voila.

Raymond serves the grilled mackerel with a fennel and rocket salad.

Eh, voila. And then spoon out your dressing.

And there you have got a lovely piece of fish.

Lovely acidic flavours. Leaves some aromas behind. Very mellow.

And it's lovely. It is absolutely lovely. Voila. Bon appetit.

-Adam, could you do a quick wash, OK?

-Yes, chef.

Adam, just wash them.

Raymond's next dish is

a Provencal style fish soup two ways made with fish from Cornwall.

He's using three different fish. Grey mullet, red mullet and gurnard.

All these fish are caught in Great Britain, actually in Cornwall,

and in a fish soup, my God, they truly are delicious.

I want to fillet my fish first.

When you think of fish soup automatically, of course,

you think of France. La belle France.

The South of France. The blue skies.

And I understand it because, of course, the fish soup

is one of the greatest traditional dish of the South of France.

OK. So let's try to put the wonderful flavours of Provence

in the heart of Great Britain.

The bones of the fish will be used to make a frugal soup.

The fillets will be added for a more luxurious version.

That's it, that's my fish soup!

OK, they don't look much, but you wait.

Adam. Adam, can you chop me that up, please?

OK. So chop it up.

Everyone should have an Adam at home.

Whilst Adam is chopping the bones

we are going to prepare the base of the flavour.

Giving the soup its Provencal backbone

are Mediterranean vegetables.

Tomatoes, onions, fennel and a bit of tomato puree.

Garlic. Oh, by the way, good news. It's fantastic.

The British are eating now officially more garlic than the French.

It's fantastic, isn't it?

Who would have thought about it a few years ago?

All that lovely stuff here.

Home, sweet home.

I don't know which one. Cornwall or South of France?

So I'm going to put a bit of thyme.

Oh, lovely. Lovely.

A bit of bay leaf. Wonderful.

I'm listening to my beautiful song here.

There's a lovely little song, just a gentle sizzling. Gentle.

Not aggressive. I know it's right.

But I'm going to move my pan away because now it's going too fast.

So voila, quieten down. Lovely.

Sweat the vegetables gently on a low heat and then

add garlic, tomatoes and a little powdered saffron.

Powder, about half a gram.

OK, remember, it's expensive.

Voila. Tomato puree.

Absolutely delicious.

So now I add my chopped fish bones.

All this wonderful protein here.

It doesn't smell great at all, but you wait.

OK. And all what I need to add, my white wine.

I'm going to boil my wine to remove as much possible alcohol and acidity,

OK, which I don't want.

Cooking wine should be inexpensive.

To me I find it immoral to buy a great big expensive wine

and put it into your kitchen. That's silly. Waste of money. OK.

So the white, you want it quite light and fruity.

It's just right.

See, look at that. Ooh, look at that!

Tres bien. That little bit of wine, believe me,

will add that much more to your soup.

So now water.

Bring the soup to the boil and then

simmer for 20 minutes skimming any impurities from the top.

So it's simple really at home.

Just go and get your fish bones because there are so many fish bones

that people throw away and you could do the most marvellous...

Whatever fish bones you have.

When the fish soup has cooked,

blend one half in a liquidiser.

That's it.

And pass it through a fine sieve.

All this precious liquid, you know, that you have worked for for so long.

Look at that colour. All amber. Saffron.

So now I've done my fish soup.

It's ready to serve. And it will be absolutely stunning.

The soup can be eaten as it is, or the fish fillets can be added.

Now I'm going to poach the fillet of fish which I have marinated.

-Adam?

-Oui, chef.

Can you get me the fish, please, the marinated fish?

-Yes, chef.

-Thank you very much.

The fish fillets have been marinated for two hours

in a mix of saffron, garlic, thyme, olive oil and black pepper.

Strain the other half of the fish stock

and use it to poach your marinated fillets.

Now it's ready to be poached

and that will only take four to five minutes maximum.

So that is really, highly, Provencal.

All these wonderful flavours of the South of France.

Big flavours. Fantastic flavours.

The blessed moment.

Both soups are topped off with a rouille,

a traditional saffron and garlic mayonnaise.

And then that lovely garlicky flavour will give that touch.

To finish, garnish with croutons, gruyere cheese and parsley.

What I have here,

you might describe it as maybe the poor man's fish soup.

Because, after all, it's made from the bone.

I can assure you I don't mind to be a poor man and eat that soup every day.

Absolutely delicious.

And for the very rich, the very wealthy, the very affluent

you've got all the Cornish fish in here.

Adam, can we taste the soup, please?

The fish is lovely.

It looks messy like that but, I can assure you, wow!

And all that you need is a few fish bones, a bit of saffron,

a bit of garlic, olive oil, that's it.

Raymond's kitchen garden, bursting with herbs, fruit and vegetables.

Today, Raymond is on the hunt for potatoes

to serve with his next fish dish.

Several varieties grow here

but Raymond wants the perfect one for puree.

I'm looking for Estima potatoes.

And I thought we had some.

Marie, my lovely Ann Marie.

The kitchen garden is tended by Ann Marie.

We work 25 years together, so Ann Marie is the head gardener.

I arrived as a seed.

Yes, she arrived as a little seed, she says,

but she grew, obviously, in every possible way!

What I want today is Estima potatoes, where is the Estima that we grew?

Oh, Raymond, they've been and gone.

The other chefs have been down and they've long gone.

They were a very good crop.

Can you, please, next time,

-put on those Estima, "for RB". "Don't touch."

-..Only!

With no Estimas, Raymond chooses the Bintje variety,

with its yellow flesh and creamy texture.

King Edward or Maris Piper are also good for mashing.

Oh, that's what I love about this garden, it's so peaceful(!)

Let's have a look at that.

Those would never make it to the supermarket. Never.

It's lovely. Look at that. It's a bit like me.

I'm not going to comment!

So with those wonderful Bintjes I am going to do a potato puree.

The potato puree will accompany

Raymond's pan fried pollock in a caper sauce.

It's a wonderful line caught pollock.

They are part of the cod family. They're pretty soft, you know.

Wrinkled. OK. Big vitreous eyes.

And what is wonderful now, that's not an expensive fish

and there is plenty in our coast as well.

OK. It's not a big one.

They can go like that.

The potatoes have been cut into equal pieces

and simmered for 25 minutes.

-Once soft, they're ready to be pureed.

-Voila.

Raymond uses his trusty old mouli rather than a masher

to give a light and smooth pureed potato.

And of course you would feel very tempted to put into a food processor

but there you would work out the starch

and your potato would be like elastic.

And I don't like to chuck out old things

which have served you very well.

Voila.

Add milk and butter.

You can make it as rich as you want to.

And nice and fluffy.

It melts.

I think Ann Marie should be very proud of her potatoes.

There is no doubt about that.

Adam, taste that.

Great, huh?

Keep your potato puree warm by leaving it in a pan of hot water.

-Wash that for me.

-Oui, chef.

-The head, please, for me.

Adam has very kindly filleted the fish for me.

Eh, voila.

The way I'm going to cook them is pan fry, to create a wonderful

caramelised outside. Will provide a most delicious treat. OK.

So now I'm melting my butter.

That colour is exactly perfect.

The butter is foaming.

I can smell it. It's hazelnut colour.

I go first flesh side down, OK.

To give a lovely browning.

A soft browning. You can hear that pan.

What a lovely noise, you know.

The heat is browning the fish. OK.

And equally some juices, the protein of the fish, are leaking out

at the bottom of the pan which are being solidified. Voila.

Absolutely amazing.

After three minutes on each side

transfer the pollock to the oven on a high heat...

Two minutes.

..for a couple of minutes to finish off.

To go with the pollock, a Grenobloise sauce made

from capers, lemon, shallots, croutons and herbs.

It's a French classic that complements seafood perfectly.

Don't ask me Grenobloise.

Grenobloise means from Grenoble.

And there is nothing from Grenoble, which reminds me of Grenoble!

That comes from Spain. That comes from anywhere.

OK. The bread as well.

It's simple and it's lovely.

Use the juices from the pan fried fish.

Add chicken stock and a splash of water.

Voila. And then after it's easy.

Really, it's easy.

You just throw everything in, OK. A bit of capers.

Just a bit of diced lemon, the segments of lemon.

OK. Few shallots. Some great big fat Spanish capers

and then you finish off with fresh herbs.

Chervil is a little-known herb in Great Britain.

And what a shame. It is so fantastic.

Simple yet delicious.

There you've got some amazing flavours.

It's a very simple dish, which is very achievable at home,

and it will give you a lot of pleasure.

Finally a few croutons to add texture

and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

The lovely Ann Marie, can you come? We are ready for you.

You want to taste your potatoes? Absolutely. Taste that.

-Mm!

-What about the potatoes, are they passing the test?

-I think you've done them justice.

-One genius to another genius!

In 35 years of cooking fish

Raymond has no first-hand experience of fishing at sea.

Too cold. Too wet. Not for me.

Give me a hot kitchen at any time.

I don't have to get up so early, either.

Whoa! It's all about technique, is it?

But as a chef, food provenance is fundamental to his ethics.

Ah, voila. Looking very pro, eh?

It's four in the morning in Rye, on the Sussex coast.

The skipper of the Amadeus, Luke Hodges, captains one

of 29 boats fishing sustainably for Dover sole in the English channel.

Bit like the Queen Mary.

-What do we have for breakfast?

-It's only a coffee this morning.

So can you explain to me what's that?

Right, this is basically a map of the sea. The sea bed.

It's just like your sat nav in your car.

Basically the same for a boat.

The sole, this time of year, are mainly inshore at the moment.

We've been fishing very close to the shore,

along this contour and here.

It's marvellous to be here

to see how rough and tough and demanding this craft is.

Anytime I prefer my kitchen.

It's not comfortable, is it?

OK, we are lucky today. Imagine if it was a raging sea?

Wow. Hold on!

The crew put down their nets yesterday a mile from shore.

Nice Dover sole just coming in.

The sole retail at up to £40 a kilo so each fish is precious.

They make it look so easy.

LAUGHTER

She wants to go home. She wants to go home.

That is the kind of Dover sole you really want.

Firm flesh. Wonderful flavour.

Wonderful - meaty and delicious.

Simply grilled or just bang it in the oven.

To make a profit from the trip

the crew need to pull two full boxes of Dover sole from the nets.

Very poor this net. Not very good.

Normally by now you'd expect at least ten big soles.

The catch gets even lighter, because some fish can't be sold.

Cod there. But we can't keep them anyway. There's just no quota.

The EU cod quota for this part of the Channel

has been reached for the year. Landing any cod means a fine.

-And do you sell these?

-No, just got to chuck them back over.

-But it's dead.

-Even if it's dead.

But that's ridiculous. That is absolutely ridiculous.

I think that is really sad because that could feed three families,

or four or five and that is feeding the birds because it's dead

and it's thrown back into the sea.

Not a very good catch.

You have about 30 sole for the whole day's work.

30 Dover sole.

Ah, Luke, not a too good day, is it?

-No, not very good today.

-How much worth of money do you have in here?

Probably only £70, £80 maximum.

We need to average at least £1,000 a trip. On average.

-At least.

-And today you've got...

-That's barely to break even.

Thank you very much indeed.

You come to my kitchen, you'll be very welcome.

Mon Dieu! Home sweet home.

Oh, God. What a welcome.

Rains cats and dogs.

I'm about to do a very old classic

which brings all the values of the earth and sea together.

Raymond's final dish. Braised fillet of turbot

topped with scallops and cucumber.

I've done this dish for 35 years, and you will be able to.

What I love about turbot is it's meaty, it's firm.

It's a bit like a Dover sole.

Those are the kings of fish, really, in the western world.

Any white, firm-fleshed fish like brill or plaice

will work well in this recipe.

Voila. Second part of the dish are the scallops.

Most of the scallops across Great Britain are dredged.

When dredged, they're full of sand, and often they are dead.

Those are hand dived. What does it mean?

That means that you have divers going to the bottom of the sea picking up

those scallops. You want those. Those are seriously alive.

Very tight. Look at that.

So I've got to force my blade in here and try to open it.

There's a big muscle inside here and of course it wants to stay closed.

Survival. I'm wanting to open it. As a cook, I want to eat it.

So strong.

They're really so strong. Voila.

Then very carefully you move away the stomach, the intestines.

It takes eight years to grow to that size. Eight years.

This is a little time for secret.

A mini, mini, mini secret, OK?

I can prepare my fish in advance.

Just a few hours and it will be perfectly seasoned when I cook it.

Mix lemon juice with seasoned, softened butter

and brush onto the turbot and the scallops.

And that will protect the fish. Place that in the fridge.

Now we are going to prepare our garnish.

Topping off the dish will be slices of warm cucumber.

Cucumber, which goes well with the sea, whether it is oysters,

whether it is scallops, and so on. It goes very well.

To maximise the cucumber's flavour and to give colour and a firm

texture, Raymond cures it with salt and then freezes it for two hours.

Then we will have this amazing, beautiful coloured,

beautiful textured and that fantastic cucumber flavour.

Dan, can you put this in the fridge, please? Thank you very much.

Just to tell you you can do a lovely jus with water.

OK. And a bit of wine.

In this recipe the fish will be steamed over

a mushroom and white wine braising jus, using shallots as a base.

My mushrooms.

Add mushrooms.

Hey! Back in here.

And white wine.

Voila. The wine plays such a huge role in the sauce.

Because it creates this building block of flavours.

Voila. Perfect.

As soon as the braising jus has boiled, remove it from the heat.

And that's lovely because it's alive.

That wine is alive and it's going to give that wonderful

freshness, flavour and its own character to the dish as well.

Very nice.

Oh, create a lovely little jus like that.

I'm going to put my turbot here on the top so it's steamed

and the juices are going to go into this.

I'm just bringing that in my braising liquor.

To simmering pot. And in the oven 160 degree for about six minutes.

OK. Now my turbot is medium rare and I'm going to add the scallops.

Just on the top. Steam them nicely.

And that will take only two minutes.

Adam, could I have my cucumber, please? Thank you very much.

When the cucumbers are frozen, rinse to defrost them and remove the salt.

So you have seen what has happened here.

The texture has changed. Very hard.

Very firm. Very crunchy.

And they are perfectly seasoned.

When the turbot and scallops are cooked

drain the juices and use them as the base for the sauce.

Keep my turbot resting nicely.

Add butter, lemon juice, salt, girolle mushrooms...

They really are very beautiful.

..seaweed, the cucumber...

Voila.

..and herbs.

And diced tomatoes. Voila.

I got a lovely thin, textured sauce here

and with the real flavour of the turbot. Spinach.

Serve the fish with steamed young spinach leaves.

Tres bien. Lovely smell.

And then...

Voila. You have the most incredible piece of fish here.

Cooked so simply with wonderful textures.

Wonderful flavours.

It is just so perfect.

And if you want a treat a few friends

that will be so special in your own home.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]