Roast Cornish cod, cockle chowder, grilled cucumber

  • medium
  • 4
  • 4 hours plus time for the cod to cure and the cucumber oil to infuse
Not yet rated

This dish of rich cockle chowder with roast Cornish cod from chef Ben Boeynaems is balanced with some refreshing compressed cucumber and vibrant cucumber oil. It's garnished with a variety of sea vegetables, including sea aster and rock samphire

First published in 2022

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Cod

Chlorophyll Oil

  • 500g of grapeseed oil
  • 50g of spinach

Cucumber Oil

Cockles

Cockle velouté

Charlotte Potatoes

Baby Cucumber

For serving

Equipment

  • Vac pac maker

Method

1

The day before serving, brine the cod and make the cucumber oil. First, bring the water, salt and kombu to a simmer then take it off the heat. Set aside to chill

2

Brine the cod fillet in the kombu stock for 12 hours

3

For the cucumber oil, first prepare an ice bath

4

Heat the grapeseed oil to 60°C, then remove from the heat

  • 500g of grapeseed oil
5

Blend the oil for 4 minutes with the spinach at full speed in a liquidiser

6

Transfer the oil to a sous-vide bag, and submerge into the ice bath. Once cool, strain out the spinach

7

Freeze the oil for around 2 hours, so that any liquid left in the oil sticks to the tray. Once frozen, pour off the oil and pass through a fine sieve

8

Blend the cucumber skins together with 400g chlorophyll oil, and then infuse in the fridge for 24 hours

9

The next day, strain the cucumber oil through a fine mesh sieve

10

Dry the brined cod and portion it to 140g. Wrap in cling film

11

For the cockles, heat a pan over a high heat. Add the cockles, white wine, celery and sliced onion and then cover with a lid

12

Cook for a few minutes until they all open, and then strain the stock. Keep the stock and the cockles, and chill both quickly

13

Pick all the cockles from their shells

14

For the cockle velouté, add 700g cockle stock to a pan and reduce to 200ml. Add the double cream, crème fraîche and Maldon salt to taste

15

Blend the butter into the velouté, and then add lemon juice and black pepper to taste

16

For the potatoes, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the potatoes for 6 minutes, then drain

17

For the cucumber, compress the cucumber rounds with some of the cucumber oil, reserving some for finishing the chowder

18

Grill the cucumbers on one side, and then set aside

19

Blanch all the sea vegetables in a pot of salted water. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice to taste

20

To assemble the dish, first preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

21

Pan-fry the cod portions in a little olive oil. Once golden, transfer to the oven and bake for 4-6 minutes or until cooked through

  • olive oil
22

Cook 3 cockles per portion in some butter in a pan

23

Add the diced blanched shallots, 100g of the Charlotte potatoes, 300g cockle velouté and the chopped chives to a pan. Gently warm the chowder, and add 100g of the picked cockles at the last minute, to prevent them from becoming tough

24

Split the chowder with some cucumber oil, and then spoon the chowder onto 4 plates. Add the cod and grilled cucumbers, and then finish the dish with the dressed sea vegetables and freshly opened cockles

Ben Boeynaems began his career working for the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Eric Chavot in some of London’s most renowned kitchens. His refined yet approachable style of classical cookery has since led him to head and executive chef positions at The Goring and The Beaumont Hotel.

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