Pour in the cream and bring it, again, to the boil. Cut the remaining butter into small cubes, and add them, a little at a time, to the nage, constantly stirring with a balloon whisk to produce a hot, buttery foam. Pass the sauce through a chinois or fine-mesh sieve and season to taste with salt and Espelette pepper. Return the pan to the heat, add the blanched vegetables, chervil, chives and tarragon. Add a squeeze or two of lemon juice.
The dish is finished like this: spoon cauliflower purée into the center of each bowl; arrange 3 prawns in a circle around the purée; spoon the blanched vegetables on top; pour over the nage and garnish with the fennel and lovage cress, or any other herbs of your choice.
And don’t fight over the claws.
For the cauliflower purée 30g (1oz) butter 120g (4¼oz) cauliflower, sliced on a mandolin or very finely chopped120ml (4f l oz) double cream120ml (4f l oz) milk
To make the cauliflower puréeIn a saucepan, melt the butter over a medium-high heat. When it starts to foam, add the cauliflower slices. Cook them for about 5 minutes, or until they have softened, before pouring in the cream and milk. Cook over a high heat, stirring as the milk and cream bubble, reduce and thicken. Once cooked, drain and blend to a purée. Season, cover with clingfilm and set aside.
“The Ritz London: The Cookbook,” by John Williams MBE, is published by Mitchell Beazley in hardback at £30 in the U.K. It will be published in the U.S. on Oct. 2 at $40.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.