Mont Rochelle's Head Chef, Shane Louw, has let us in on the secrets of one of his favourite Christmas recipes. His cured trout can be made ahead of time so is perfect to keep in the fridge ready for when friends and family pop in over the festive period.
When curing, we always recommend using the freshest fish you can get your hands on. As we re lucky enough to have an abundance of trout in the Franschhoek Valley, you shouldn t have to go far to source it!
Ingredients:
- 2x 180g cleaned Franschhoek trout fillets, around 1.5cm 2cm thick
- 100g salt
- 100g castor sugar
- 120ml elderflower syrup
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- A sprig of rosemary
- 5g pink peppercorns
- Peel of an orange
Method:
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Place the salt, sugar, rosemary, pink peppercorns and orange peel into a bowl and mix.
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Allow to stand for 10 minutes.
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Mix the elderflower syrup and the olive oil together in a large flat bottomed bowl. Separate out half the mixture and keep it safe, you ll need it later in the process.
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Place the trout fillets into the bowl with the elderflower mixture for 3 minutes a side.
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Take the orange peel and rosemary from the salt mixture and reserve.
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In a clean flat bottom bowl, equally disperse half of the sugar/salt mixture.
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Place the trout fillets on the salt and cover the fillet equally with the remaining salt mixture.
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Leave the trout fillets in this position for 20 minutes.
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Once the 20 minutes has elapsed, remove excess salt mixture from the trout fillets by quickly running under cold slow-running water, then gentle pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
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Place the trout fillets in the remaining elderflower mixture for 3 minutes before removing and placing on a clean tray. Portion to desired size.
The trout can be served with various combinations, such as beetroot or citrus fruits and crme fraiche. At Mont Rochelle we pair this with grilled gala apples, Granny Smith puree and burnt onion shells, and of course a chilled glass of Mont Rochelle wine!
