#burbot

~And in my mind, I dipped you in gold so you would never tarnish, and I buried you deep in my heart~

Check out the creator! ^ [@/fishiscrazy]

🐟 ❄ 🐟 / ❄ 🐟 ❄ / 🐟 ❄ 🐟

Besides being a funny word to say, burbots or bubbots or... they have a ton of names! An interesting one is "The Lawyer" because they're so slimy. Bit mean.

They are freshwater fish - though they are related to the saltwater cod - and they prefer cold waters - but they prefer brackish water for spawning. This occurs from December to March, when it's coldest.

This happens frequently for a few weeks, then they won't spawn again for 2+ years.

Burbot! A cod-like freshwater fish that spawn in very cold water, under the ice. I think it looks like a strange little dinosaur fish! :-)

Usually, a choucroute garnie, a staple of Eastern France cuisine, is made with juniper-flavoured sauerkraut topped with a variety of meat and sausages, an Alsatian treat appreciated throughout the country in the Winter for its heartiness and warming quality. I will gladly order just that in a comfortable tavern, but at home, I like to cook a lighter but just as tasty Choucroute de la Mer, where meat and sausages are replaced by fish and seafood. It is generous and tasty, a beautiful dish if you’re hosting, which also leaves enough room for dessert!

Ingredients (serves 3):

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 fresh burbot tails

about 300 grams/ ounces fresh salmon

half a dozen fresh scallops

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine like Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie or Marlborough Pinot Gris

4 cups (a large tin) juniper-flavoured sauerkraut

a good pinch saffron threads

1/3 cup double cream

a small bunch fresh Parsley

In a large deep skillet or frying pan, melt butter with olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the butter is just foaming, add burbot tails. Cook, about 2 minutes on each side, until golden.

Cut the salmon into three chunky pieces, and add to the skillet as well. Cook, a couple of minutes on each side. 

Add scallops and cook, about 1 minute on each side in the hot butter and oil. 

Season fish and seafood with fleur de sel and black pepper. Then, deglaze with dry white wine. Reduce heat to low, and cover with the lid. Cook, 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, warm sauekraut in a large, deep skillet over medium heat.

Remove the lid, and gently lift out salmon, burbot and scallops onto the warm sauerkraut. Cover with a lid, keep warm.

Sprinkle saffron threads into the wine in the skillet, and increase heat back to medium. Once slightly reduced, stir in double cream, and brink to a slow boil. Simmer, a few minutes until a lovely yellow sauce coats the wooden spoon.

Finely chop Garden Parsley.

Arrange sauerkraut onto serving plate, and top with burbot tails, salmon pieces and scallops. Generously drizzle with saffron sauce and sprinkle with chopped Parsley.