Filets of fried red mullet with fine beetroot and sesame purée
Recipe by Guy Martin

(Serves 4)

4 red mullets of 300 g
Beetroot humus: 200 g of beetroot cooked on a wood fire, 20 g of tahini, ½ garlic clove, 20 g of fine breadcrumbs, 2 soup spoons of lemon juice, 3 soup spoons of olive oil, a pinch of powdered cumin, salt, ground pepper.

Crust: 20 g of butter, 20 g raw duck foie gras, 10 g of tahini, 50 g of fine breadcrumbs, 20 g of white sesame seeds.

Beetroot juice: 500 g of raw beetroot, 20 g of butter, 20 g of Xeres vinegar, 10 g of chopped shallots.
Creamy cockle juice: 500 g of cockles, 1 shallot, 1 dl of white wine, 100 g of liquid cream, thyme, laurel.

Scale, wash and remove the bones from the red mullets. Thinly slice the fillets so they are approximately 14 x 5.5 cm and straight.

Humus: Put all the ingredients, except the breadcrumbs, in the blender until there is a smooth and fine purée. Now add the breadcrumbs. Season accordingly.
Crust: Work the butter and foie gras into a paste. Add the tahini, the breadcrumbs and the white sesame seeds. Place between two sheets of wax paper and use a rolling pin to get a thickness of 2mm. Put aside in the fridge. Once cold, slice thinly into strips of 14 x 2 cm.
Beetroot juice: Peel the beetroot, cut it in pieces and put it through the food extractor.
Reduce the beetroot juice with the shallots until you have a syrupy texture, whisk in some butter and add the vinegar. Season accordingly. Filter.
Creamy cockle juice: Wash the cockles very carefully. In a casserole, sweat the chopped shallots without giving them a colour. Add the thyme, laurel and the cockles. Mix well and pour in the white wine. Cook 5 minutes and water down by filling the pot half full and then add pepper. Bring to a boil and cook on a low heat for around 15 minutes. Filter and reduce the cockle juice with half the cream.
Salt and pepper the red mullets. Fry them with very little olive oil on the skin side for 2 minutes to give them a good colour and then turn them over and cook them for about 30 seconds. Place them on an oiled platter, half on the skin side and the others flesh side. Lay a strip of crust on the skin side of the filet. Put the whole platter under a salamander to give it a beautiful colour.
On a plate, pour a fine line of humus of equal length of the filet and place the filet, skin side down, on the humus. Pour another line of humus on the filet and then place a filet with the crust on top.
On the side, pour a line of beetroot juice and right next to it, 3 different-sized patches of the emulsified creamy cockle juice. Serve the remaining cockle juice in a separate sauce dish.

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