LCB Notes
My personal notes from the LCB Cuisine course; just meant for me and probably won;t make sense to anyone else.A link back to Will's Eats.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
#2 Merlan Bercy - Fish Prep
Merlan Bercy (Whiting/Pescadilla with Salsa Bercy)
Also loads of instruction on-line about dressing & filleting fishies. but these are my notes and will make sense to me:
Also loads of instruction on-line about dressing & filleting fishies. but these are my notes and will make sense to me:
- Dressing a fish (unnecessary for Merlan Bercy 'cause it's filleted; but the chef showed us anyway)
- assuming it is already "cleaned" (gutted)
- Cut all fins off with scissors; and pointy part(s) of tail
- De-scale, with descaling tool, if skins will be on fish for presentation - or use whatever tool comes to hand
- Degill: snip center where gills meet and rip out the membranes
- with wrong end of a soup spoon scape out messy bits of interior
- Wash it
- You're done
- Fish presentation styles (some examples)
- En Coler: form a ring with tail in mouth
- Colber: Remove spine; leaving head and tail. Open filets like a book
- Filleting a fish (right handed)
- Fish's head on the left, away diagonally; the spine of the fish away from you
- Make a diagonal cut behind the gill area, above the fillet; on both sides of the fish - to free the filet at this end
- With your free hand (left) on the fish to steady it and cut along the length of the backbone from head to tail. Start at head end and use the tip to find the spine. The tip of the knife "feels" your way along
- Just below the belly, above the tail; cut crosswise, down to the bone, through the fish and slide toward the tail (detaching the bottom part)
- Hold the fish firmly and steady. Turn back the filet a little and cut along the length of the backbone and ribs to detach the fillet in one piece.
- Curve the knife downwards over the belly bones to maximize your fillet
- Make a curved cut down to the bone behind the head to release the fillet.
- Turn the fish over so that the tail points away from you diagonally; spine still away from you too
- Second fillet: make a curved cut down to the bone behind the head (you're going tail to head now)
- repeats steps x to y above just like doing the previous fillet.
¡Ta Da! first part is done
- De-skin the filet: place, skin side down at edge of cutting board; cutting board at edge of the bench (to have room for your knife and knuckles
- Just inside if the end of the tail; knife very horizontal; cut exactly between the skin and the meat for a cm or so
- hold tail end of skin firmly; knife flat
- 13 use sawing motion back and forth moving from tail to head (under the meat)
- saw back and forth with the skin-hand too
- Feel the knife
- ¡Voila!
- wash/rinse/soak filets in water for a couple of minutes
- carcass part of fish is for stock
- Degorge the fish to clean and remove blood
- remove the eyes (use veggie peeler).
- chop/break spine in 3-4 places
- if skinis descaled it can be used in stock; but whiting skin is not generally used in stock anyway - does add anything
- put in pot of cold H20
- change water from time to time (replace with more cold)
- 2-3 times; nutil water is not pink
posted by willson @ 12:48 
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