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Many chefs use water bath cooking because it allows control and consistency, and packs in flavour. Michael Raffael explains how to cook Glynn Purnell's monkfish masala, which uses this technique to retain moisture and soak up the full flavour of the spices
Sous-vide, the technique of cooking ingredients in a vacuum-sealed plastic bag in a water bath, usually for a long time at a low temperature, was developed over 30 years ago. It gained a toehold in the kitchen because it was an ideal cook-chill solution for fine-dining restaurants.
Three-star chefs such as Claude and Michel Troisgros and the Roux brothers adopted it. The quality, they said, was as good as that of classically prepared dishes. Current chefs use the technique because, they claim, it allows exact control, guarantees consistency and packs in flavour.
Cooking joints for up to 72 hours this way has soaked up the headlines. Advantages in succulence and tenderness are self-evident. Slow-cooking individual portions of prime meat, before finishing it on the grill or in the pan, makes sense, too.
Vacuum-packed know-how hasn't really been applied to fish. In part, this is because most seafood cooks quickly anyway. Also, searing a boneless slab offish in a Teflon pan has been the preferred way for over a decade. However, the herbs, flavourings and seasonings in vacuum packs can transfer their flavour to the protein in the fish much better than with conventional recipes.
Glynn Purnell's monkfish masala ticks the correct sous-vide boxes. The firm-textured, meaty fish can easily be overcooked or undercooked in a pan. The 62°C water bath ensures that it's moist but cooked right through every time. It doesn't need probing or resting. The flavour of the spice dusting on the surface permeates the flesh; it sets on the surface and coats the fish evenly.
Is water bath fish cookery the ideal solution for busy kitchens? It's certainly another weapon in the armoury, and works when it's managed by chefs who know exactly how to apply it. The raw material, especially, has to be pristine. Glynn Purnell salts the monkfish to extract some moisture and to firm up the texture before packing it.
What works for monkfish would probably be wasted on softer or smaller fillets. However, the...