Michelin Star Recipe Design

Dish name Atlantic turbot, black garlic & wild strawberry, koji sabayon, fennel pollen

Concept Early summer at the shore. The fish stands for the sea. Wild strawberries mark the first fruit of the woods behind the dunes. Black garlic shows time and patience. Koji ties land and sea with deep umami. The dish tastes sweet, sour, salty, and softly bitter, all in one clean bite.

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Components (serves 4 tasting portions)

#	Item	Key techniques
1	Turbot medallions	low-temperature butter poach
2	Black garlic–strawberry lacquer	vacuum infusion, reduction
3	Fermented strawberry beurre blanc	lacto-ferment, classic sauce finish
4	Koji sabayon foam	rapid iSi espuma
5	Fennel bulb “accordion”	compressed pickling, torching
6	Strawberry leather shards	dehydration
7	Black garlic soil	freeze-dry, blitz
8	Fennel-top chlorophyll oil	blanch-blend-clarify

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1. Turbot

1. Skin a 400 g center loin.
2. Pin-bone, portion into four 40 g cylinders.
3. Warm 200 g beurre monté to 54 °C, add 1 g fennel pollen.
4. Poach fish 8 min; hold in butter until plating.

Note: Use day-boat turbot; call your fishmonger two days ahead.

2. Black garlic–strawberry lacquer

1. Blend 60 g peeled black garlic + 80 g ripe wild strawberry.
2. Vacuum-seal with 20 g sake; infuse 1 h at 50 °C in water bath.
3. Reduce mixture in small pan to a light syrup.
4. Brush onto fish just before service.

3. Fermented strawberry beurre blanc

1. Pack 300 g halved strawberries with 1.5 % salt in jar; vent daily; 3 days at 22 °C.
2. Strain 100 ml ferment liquid.
3. Sweat 20 g shallot in 5 g butter; add liquid; reduce by half.
4. Mount with 80 g cold diced butter.
5. Season with a drop of rice vinegar; keep warm (55 °C).

4. Koji sabayon foam

1. Blend 60 g koji rice with 120 ml light fish stock; steep 20 min, strain.
2. Whisk 3 egg yolks + 50 ml koji stock over 72 °C bain-marie to light ribbons.
3. Fold in 40 ml cream.
4. Pass, charge in 0.5 L iSi with 1 N₂O. Hold at 60 °C.

5. Fennel bulb “accordion”

1. Trim baby fennel; slice 1 mm even sheets.
2. Pickle brine: 3 % salt, 3 % sugar, equal rice vinegar/water.
3. Vacuum-compress sheets in brine 30 min.
4. Drain, roll into tight coils, skewer.
5. Torch until edges char.

6. Strawberry leather shards

1. Blend 150 g strawberry purée + 8 g glucose.
2. Spread 1 mm thick on silicone mat.
3. Dry 6 h at 60 °C.
4. Snap into random shards.

7. Black garlic soil

1. Freeze-dry 40 g black garlic overnight.
2. Pulse with 5 g toasted panko to crumbs.

8. Fennel-top chlorophyll oil

1. Blanch 30 g fennel fronds 10 s, chill.
2. Blend with 100 ml grapeseed oil 2 min.
3. Hang in coffee filter 1 h; keep green oil.

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Plating (top-down view)

1. Center: turbot medallion, lacquer side up.
2. Left rim: 15 ml beurre blanc pool.
3. Right side: upright fennel accordion.
4. Across fish: two quick passes of chlorophyll oil.
5. On fish: one press of warm koji foam (coin-size).
6. Scatter: three strawberry leather shards at varying heights.
7. Dust: pinch of black garlic soil along beurre blanc edge.
8. Finish with single wild strawberry half and a fennel pollen flake.

Serve immediately, 48 °C core temp.

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Sourcing notes

• Wild strawberries: In season late spring. If foraging, choose pesticide-free areas; else order “fraises des bois” from specialty produce suppliers.
• Black garlic: Buy aged bulbs from Korean or Japanese markets; quality matters—look for intact cloves, slight sheen.
• Koji rice: Refrigerated packs from Japanese grocery or online ingredient houses. Keep frozen until use.
• Fennel pollen: Small tins from spice merchants; a little goes far.
• iSi charger, chamber vacuum, freeze-dryer: Standard in high-end kitchens; rent if needed.

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Narrative to tell guests

“Today’s plate joins the coast and the forest on the first warm day of summer. Turbot carries clean ocean notes. A glaze of long-aged garlic and the season’s first wild berries bridges sweet and umami. Koji adds quiet depth, like low tide. Charred fennel recalls beach bonfires, while bright green oil shows new growth. Every element is simple on its own; together they paint one concise thought—time, place, and patience on a single fork.”