The subtle cuisine

The only French three-star woman chef in fifty years practices her art quietly in Valence, France at Maison Pic, the restaurant where her grand-father and father worked before her. Anne-Marie Pic is a slip of a woman, whose large dark eyes speak of steel determination. Having breathed and lived cooking in her younger years, she left to study management and work in Paris and in Japan. With the realization that her true call was creation, she came back to her father’s kitchen three months before his untimely death and pursued her apprenticeship, until she felt she owned the basics and could go beyond. The reward: three stars at 37.
Her cooking style pays homage to her inheritance without being its hostage. First and foremost the products are perfect. Their transformation is subtle and often involves the association of a fruit or a spice and a sweet component. The recipe Anne-Marie gave me to share is typical. It hints of Japan sashimi and pickled vegetables, but the fish is cooked albeit at low temperature and the vinegar is grape based rather than rice. The dish is sweet and elegant, the selected spice, green anis, is present without being overwhelming.
There were no special difficulties in shopping for the components, except for the fennel flowers that act as a decorative touch. I chose dill fronds as a substitute. The use of low cooking merits a special mention. As far as a casual research through the Internet can tell, the method is exclusively documented for meat. Both Thierry Marx (featured in the May 1st 2009 of I am therefore I cook) and Michel Bras (Friday, May 15th) among other celebrated chefs, use it for fish. The advantages are obvious: less water is lost, leaving the flesh particularly tender. Whereas a raw piece of fish is chewy, a normally cooked piece can be dry. For fish eaten cold, low cooking which brings its temperature at 153F (47C) is also a gain of time.

Coastal steamed turbot with cucumber puréed and pickled and anis butter (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 45 minutes 6 hours before, cooking time: 20 minutes before the meal, Cheap)

Ingredients
For the fish:
4 skinless pieces of turbot or halibut 3-oz (50 g) each
Pinch of salt
6-oz (100g) salted butter
1/8 teaspoon (1g) green anis powder
For the cucumber purée:
1 medium-sized cucumber
1/6 teaspoon (3g) green anis seeds
Pinch of salt
For the marinated cucumber:
1 medium-sized cucumber
80 g sugar
90 ml white balsamic vinegar
Pinch of flower salt
For the anis butter:
1 cup (200 g) sweet butter
1 teaspoon (8g) green anis seeds
¼ cup (50ml) heavy cream
¼ cup (50ml) vegetable stock (February 16th 2009)
Garnish:
Dill flowers
Anis powder

Material:
Peeler
Paring knife
Grapefruit spoon
Blender
Thin cloth
Strainer
Saucepan
Whip
Salad bowl
Parchment paper covered cookie sheet

The day or 6 hours before:
Skin the cucumbers with the peeler. Cut longitudinally and remove the seeds with the grapefruit spoon. Cut in cubes. Steam ½ the cucumbers for 5 minutes or until soft. Cool under running cold water. Mix in the blender with the green anis. Place the cloth over the strainer and strain the purée. Add the pinch of salt, taste and add more if needed. Reserve in the fridge.
Prepare the syrup by boiling the sugar and vinegar together. When the syrup is cold, use it to marinate the raw cucumber for 6 hours. Pass through the strainer and reserve.

Twenty minutes before the meal:
Preheat the oven at 160F(50 C).
Melt the sweet butter. Add 1/3 of the anis seed and let the savor build in the refrigerator.
Place the vegetable stock and anis in a pan over the medium range of the gas. Bring to a boil. Add the cream and let it reduce by half. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately whip in the chilled butter little at a time. The sauce should be thick and ivory colored as a light hollandaise. Filter. Taste and add salt if needed. Reserve.
Mix the salted butter and the powdered anis. Brush onto the fish. Place the fish on the cookie sheet and cook for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reached 150F (48C).
For the restaurant touch, start by laying the cucumber purée, top it by three cubes of marinated cucumber. Add the turbot and the sauce. Sprinkle dill flowers and anis powder.