Of the Oysters spread on both sides, a handful of prawns, a few langoustines and a crab or a lobster sliced in half… that whets the appetite, but it’s not enough to make a nice seafood platter. Sonia Bichetwinner of the Ecaillers World Cup in 2020 and Golden Fish at Sirha 2021gives you his advice to make it irresistible.
1. “Laying out the oysters all around the tray so that everyone can help themselves without disturbing their neighbor, that’s the basis”, explains the one who worked alongside Pierre Gagnaire before being called by the Meilleur Ouvrier de France Arnaud Vanhamme in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, where she expresses her creativity on a daily basis in seafood and raw fish platters.
2. Play on the balance of colors between shellfish and crustaceans, “but taking care that the raw does not touch the cooked, for hygiene reasons”, warns Sonia Bichet.
3. Arrange the langoustines in “swallow” or as a “damsel”, by sticking the claws in the tail. “It brings volume”, emphasizes the shell chef.
4. Bring a vegetal touch “by adding small branches or seasonal flowers here and there”, she advises again.
How about fish too?
5. Dare to go further. As a signature, Sonia Bichet adds a layer of raw fish above her platter of shellfish and crustaceans: tuna, salmon and above all an astonishing sea bass wrapped in sashimi and tartare, which she accompanies with a clementine soy sauce, condiments and candied ginger.
All her recipes, Sonia Bichet presents them in video on the Here is Chef platform (by subscription). Small, very short workshops, simple but precise and of increasing difficulty. The ideal formula for learning to open shells, cook shellfishto raise nets and to debone them in order to try, why not, to realize his sublime bar in portfolio.