Cooked Fruit Next to Something Savoury
Grapes change job in the oven. Twelve minutes and they lose water, concentrate and stop behaving like fruit: out of the tin they are not dessert, they are dressing. It is not a new idea. Cooking with fruit was once common in Northern Europe too. There are so many recipes pairing richly spiced poultry, and even fish with fresh and dried fruit within Elizabethan cookbooks.
What holds it together in this recipe is acid, and it goes on first: balsamic glaze and a pinch of salt on the grapes while they are still raw, so they come out of the oven already seasoned.
Where the smoked trout comes in.
The trout never sees heat: it goes onto the cream at the end, the only thing that reaches the table exactly as it was. It is smoked but also delicate, which is why it holds its own against the roasted grapes instead of disappearing underneath them.
How to make it?
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 200 g Smokin' Brothers smoked trout
- grapes
- extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic glaze
- honey
- thyme, to taste
- salt, to taste
For the cream
- 3 generous tablespoons of crème fraîche
- 100 g toasted walnuts
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- 1 small shallot
- salt, to taste
Method
1. Put the grapes in a roasting tin and dress them with a drizzle of oil, the balsamic glaze, a pinch of salt and some thyme. Roast at 200°C fan for 12-15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop the toasted walnuts, put them in a bowl with the crème fraîche and the honey, salt to taste and mix well.
3. Slice the shallot into thin rounds.
4. Plate up: spread the walnut cream over a flat plate as a base, lay generous slices of smoked trout on top, then the roasted grapes and finally the shallot.
A starter for the middle of the table
It serves four and it goes to the table as it is: colourful, with the sweetness of the grapes, the toast of the walnuts and the trout holding the scene without raising its voice. The only thing that sees the oven is the fruit; everything else is built at the last minute, cold.
Put some good crusty bread next to it. That is what turns a plate you look at into a plate people finish.
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