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Eric Chavot’s flair for flavour combinations and textures is made manifest in this beautiful salmon tartare recipe. Full of vibrant, fresh flavours, it maximises not only taste, but aesthetics with its jewelled hues.
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well. Place two layers of clingfilm on top of each other on your worktop and add half of the marinade, place the salmon on top and cover with the other half of the marinade
Wrap the salmon tightly and place in a deep baking tray. On top of the salmon, place another flat tray and put a small weight on top. Refrigerate and turn every 6 hours for 24 hours (turning before bed and then first thing in the morning is fine). After this time, rinse under cold water, pat dry, drizzle with a little olive oil and wrap tightly in clingfilm before refrigerating
3
To make the lemon dressing, firstly warm the olive oil over low heat in a small saucepan. When warm, add the herbs and lemon peel. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid or cling film and leave to cool and infuse on the worktop overnight. The next day, pass the oil through a fine sieve, add the lemon oil, vinegars, water and seasoning
Peel the potatoes and cut into small wedges. Cook in a medium saucepan of salted water until done (approximately 20 minutes). Drain the potatoes and whilst warm drizzle with plenty of the lemon split dressing as well as a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of cracked black pepper. Cover with cling film and leave to cool on the worktop
For the pickled shallots, bring the pickling ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan and when simmering, add the sliced shallots and cook for a couple of minutes
For the toffee lemon crouton, chop the baguette into crouton-sized chunks and fry them in a frying pan with a little olive oil until they turn a pale golden colour. Remove from the pan and wipe it clean
baguette, sligtly stale
7
Add the caster sugar to the pan and bring to a golden caramel and immediately remove from the heat. Add the croutons, a small pinch of Maldon sea salt, the lemon zest and a dash of lemon oil. Coat the croutons quickly but gently with the caramel and place on a tray to stop colouring
For the cucumber, use a melon-baller or Parisienne scoop and make 20 balls of the cucumber (if you don’t have either, simply cut the cucumber into cubes). Quickly blanch the cucumber in salted water for 30 seconds and cool immediately in iced water
For the green goddess dressing, dissolve the sugar in the water and reserve 25g. Pick and wash the herbs in iced water, drain and spin using a salad spinner. Roughly chop the herbs and mix with the rest of the ingredients, and then season. Blitz with a blender or food processor, adding a couple of ice cubes until smooth. When done, check the seasoning, pass through a fine sieve and refrigerate until needed
To serve, randomly dot the plate with the green goddess dressing. In a bowl, mix the cucumber balls and potatoes with the lemon split dressing and then spoon onto the plate
11
Chop the salmon into chunks and artfully place the salmon around the green goddess dressing. Drizzle with some more lemon split dressing and add the pickled shallots, toffee lemon croutons and finish with a sprinkling of basil cress
Eric Chavot’s cuisine has been championed by fellow chefs, diners and critics alike – not bad for a chef who arrived in London without a word of English and just twenty pounds in his pocket.