This selection of zakouski is taken from the newsletter of Release dedicated to gastronomy and its news. Sign up here to receive it in full, every Friday (included for subscribers, free for two months for non-subscribers).
But what is this dish? A ferocious dog
Salted cod taken in a mashed avocado, amalgamated with cassava flour, sprinkled with lime and garnished with garlic, onions and chilli. This is something to calm everyone down. We must understand the fierce, Martinican specialty, as a working history of the island: “Workers going to the cotton fields or to the docks of Fort-de-France at 5 a.m. took their bowls with them for the 10 a.m. snack, says Suzy Palatin, an inexhaustible cook on West Indian pots (1). Proteins, good fat, consistency, everything was good to hold on to the body.” The tropical avocado can weigh up to 1 kg in the West Indies. Creamy, fruity, almost sweet, nothing to do with small Hass avocados from Israel or Peru. “Soft indeed, but fierce. We lightly dab the preparation of a habanero pepper cut in half, very high on the spicy scale of Scoville. In fact, it wakes you up.
For 6 people, you will need: 300 g of dried salt cod; 2 limes; 1 large ripe tropical avocado (or 2 medium-sized avocados); 1 large onion; 4 cloves of garlic; ¼ West Indian pepper; 5 cl of peanut oil; 3 tablespoons of granular cassava flour (if you can’t find any, Suzy Palatin clears us: “Flour is not necessary and you will enjoy the great taste of the fruit.”).
The day before, cut the cod into pieces and put it to soak in cold water to desalinate it. Change the water two or three times. The same day, poach the cod in barely simmering water for ten minutes. Rinse the cod under running water in a colander. Remove the skin and bones. Crumble it well and squeeze it to remove as much water as possible, then set aside. Squeeze the lemons. Cut the avocados in half, remove their core, peel them and place them in the bowl of a blender.
Cover them with lemon juice. Add the peeled onion cut in four, the peeled garlic cloves, the chilli and the oil to the blender. Mix everything until you obtain a homogeneous and fine paste. Pour the puree obtained into a bowl and add the cassava flour. Store the avocado fierce in the refrigerator for up to four or five days. Serve cold with slices of bread, toast or corn chips. ︎
(1) At my Creole table by Suzy Palatin, photographs by Olivier Buhagiar, styling by Gladys Palatin and Anne-Sophie Lhomme, ed. Hachette Cuisine, 2022, 35 euros.
On the tip of my tongue
“My doctor recommended that I stop small dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.”
Orson Welles
Napkin rings: La Cantine Farmers, very cool for us
This downtown restaurant couldn’t have chosen a better name: it’s a canteen, and you can eat delicious fresh produce as if it had just been picked from the vegetable patch. La Cantine Farmers (Paris Xe) offers vitamin-rich, crunchy and colorful dishes, such as this delicious salad of red quinoa, sheep’s cheese mousse, mashed carrots and pomelos that invigorates our body and brain. As a main course, we tested a plate of saithe, celery risotto, spinach and miso foam – the detox was total and the balance spot on. If the dessert was less refined (the thick layer of whipped cream on this poor pear, when we were expecting cottage cheese, slightly disappointed us), it is an address to remember, to eat quickly but fresh in the whirlwind of the city.︎
La Cantine Farmers, 12 rue Martel, 75 010 Paris, 01 47 70 37 38