Passport & Plate - Louvre Tartare
France | Thursday, March 5, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Tartare:
300g fresh salmon, skin and bones removed
2 tablespoons chives
2 tablespoons shallots
1/4 green apple, skin on
2 tablespoons olive oil
To serve:
1 small handful dill
1 small baguette
Lemon wedges
2-3 edible orchids
(Serves 2)
How to prepare this recipe~ Finely chop the chives and the shallots and set aside.
~ Slice and dice the salmon into 1cm cubes, and place into a bowl.
~ Add the chives and shallots to the salmon, as well as the olive oil and mix gently until all is well combined.
~ Cover and place the salmon tartare mixture in the fridge to marinate for 3-4 hours.
~ 5-10 minutes prior to serving, remove the salmon tartare mixture from the fridge.
~ Chop the green apple into small cubes, and add to the salmon tartare mixture and stir.
~ Split the salmon tartare mixture in half.
~ Scoop one half of the salmon tartare mixture into a martini glass lined with tin foil, pack firmly.
~ Place a serving plate face down on top of the glass, carefully flip them both over ensuring the glass and plate remain touching at all times.
~ Place the plate down, and gently lift the glass, to reveal a pyramid-shaped salmon tartare
~ Repeat this process with second half of the mixture, serving on another plate
~ Dress with torn sprigs of dill, and edible orchids
~ Serve with sliced baguette and lemon wedges.
The story behind this recipeThis recipe is an edible snapshot of a day I spent in Paris last year, that very unexpectedly changed the way I felt about the ‘city of love’.
As a solo traveller experiencing Europe for the first time, my first impressions of the city of love weren’t exactly amorous. I’d landed smack bang in the middle of St Michel with wide eyes, an eagerness to use my high school French at every opportunity, and a craving for quite literally - all of the cheese. But after two days of constant rain, cold service, and a strange tuna nicoise featuring rice and carrots – Paris was not all I had hoped. “The City of Love?”, I thought. “Pah, this city is emotionally unavailable”.
Until, Wednesday.
Though my M.O in Paris was solely to learn how to make croissants, I’d also planned to make a trip to the Louvre. I wanted to see the Mona Lisa and the famous pyramid, and to walk beneath it and ponder if maybe there was some truth to The Da Vinci Code.
And see it I did, as well as observing the multitude of tourists around the circumference of the pyramid having their photo taken from a perspective that would make them appear to have their finger atop its apex. From any angle other than that of their photographer, this was pure unadulterated people-watching comedy. For the first time since I arrived – Paris made me laugh, and was becoming a little more relatable.
After hiking through the Louvre in impractical footwear, I’d well and truly earned a wine and a snack. I limped back to St Michel through the flower markets, where I had a quick tantalising perve at the largest collection of orchids I’d ever seen, and pulled up a chair at a little bistro nearby.
After accidentally ordering a carafe of wine instead of a glass with my broken French, my rosé-tinted glasses were in full force. Paris was starting to seem quite attractive! Then, when my salmon tartare arrived – my guard was down, and it happened. Paris popped my salmon-and-green-apple cherry, and it was love at first bite.
