Recipe: kibbeling with caviar

Caviar is deliciously salty and fatty. Salt enhances flavour and fat carries flavour, so it goes without saying that it can be combined with anything. Tobias Camman — we previously shared his delicious recipe for smoked herring with beurre blanc too — couldn’t be left behind, so with his help we’re combining caviar with kibbeling.

Tobias: ‘Of course it makes absolutely no sense; I’ll readily admit that straight away: the most humble piece of fish with a dollop of black gold. You actually eat caviar on a blini with some cream, or take a bite straight from the back of your hand. That’s when you really taste the nuances.

But still, times change, and these days caviar goes on ice cream, cauliflower, fries and chocolate. It is in huge demand. It makes sense, too, because caviar is deliciously salty and fatty. Naturally, we’re going to make this as fancy as possible. The batter comes from the cream whipper, and the very subtle remoulade is made with crème fraîche. Everything is secondary to the caviar, so the remoulade stays subtle and we don’t go overboard with flavours that are too overpowering.’

• Cut the cod away from the skin and pat it thoroughly dry on all sides. Then wrap the cod in thick kitchen paper and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Finely chop the capers and dill, aiming for the size of grains of sand. Put the finely chopped capers and dill in a bowl and stir in the crème fraîche. Add a pinch of premium salt. Stir again and spoon everything into a squeeze bottle. Let it firm up a little more in the refrigerator.
• Prepare the batter once the cod has been in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Put the cornstarch and flour in a bowl, add the egg white and then slowly add the beer. Start whisking immediately as you pour in the beer. We want as few lumps as possible. Keep whisking well and add some salt.

• Pass the smooth batter through a fine sieve to make sure there are no lumps left that could clog the cream whipper. Pour the batter into the cream whipper and charge it with 2 cartridges. Place it in the refrigerator to cool, but use within an hour.
• Heat the deep fryer to 180 °C, or put a small pan with oil on the heat and use a thermometer.
• Cut the cod into pieces of approximately 50 grams. Put the fish in a bowl and spray the batter from the cream whipper onto the fish — shake well before use! Make sure all sides of the fish are coated.
• Fry the fish for about 3 minutes, until the kibbeling is crisp and golden brown. Let it drain briefly on kitchen paper. Serve with the remoulade sauce and a dollop of caviar.