Pike à la Montebello

Ingredients

• 1 fine medium pike
• fish forcemeat
• fine forcemeat with cream
• fillets of sole
• truffles
• white wine
• aromatics
• rice or semolina
• croquettes of shrimp tails
• barquettes of soft roes
• crayfish
• fish Velouté
• Beurre d'anchois
• oysters

Instructions

1. Fill a fine medium pike with fish forcemeat.
2. Skin it two-thirds of the way, on one side or on both, according to whether it is to be dished on its side or on its belly.
3. Mask the bared part with a layer of fine forcemeat with cream.
4. Cover that part entirely with flattened fillets of sole, trimmed to the same dimensions and inlaid with truffles.
5. Braise the pike in white wine on a bed of aromatics, covered, so that the fillets of sole stay quite white.
6. Dish the pike up on an oval bed of rice or semolina.
7. Arrange around it flat-shaped croquettes of shrimp tails, barquettes of soft roes and trussed crayfish.
8. Serve with fish Velouté finished with Beurre d'anchois and with poached and bearded oysters added.