Main · Winter
Lobster thermidor with Gruyère
Decadent, classic, old-school French. No needless modernising.
Last service at Bord'eau before New Year's Eve 2017, chef Sergio called me over to the pass and pointed at a thermidor going out. 'Decadent or nothing', he said. Either you commit to the whole thing. The cognac, the cream, the Gruyère gratinéed dark on top. Or you serve sea bass and shut up. There is no halfway lobster.
What I learned that night, and what I'm still grateful for, is that some classics don't need updating. Lobster thermidor is one of them. The sauce is cognac, butter, mustard, cream, cheese. The fish is lobster. The technique is the technique people have used since the 1880s. Try to improve it and you'll only make it worse.
I make this once a year. New Year's Eve, in our little house in Coín, candles on the table, the dog asleep under it. It takes the time it takes. Anyone who's in a hurry on New Year's Eve has not understood the assignment.
- Total time
- 1 h
- Serves
- 2 people
- Difficulty
- 4 / 5
- Pair with
- Premier-cru Chablis, very cold. Or a vintage brut champagne.
Ingredients
Lobster
- 1live or freshly-cooked blue lobster, around 600 g
- 1 L + 30 gwater + salt, for cooking
Thermidor sauce
- 30 g + 1butter + shallot, finely chopped
- 30 + 150 mlcognac + dry white wine
- 150 + 150 mllobster fumet (or fish stock) + double cream
- 1 tsp + 1 tbspDijon mustard + tarragon, finely chopped
- 60 + 20 gGruyère + Parmesan, finely grated
- to tastepinch of cayenne + salt + white pepper
Method
- 1
Boil heavily salted water. Drop the lobster head-first into the rolling water. 7 minutes for 600 g. Straight into ice water. Cool fully.
- 2
Halve the lobster lengthways. Remove the intestinal tract. Carefully take the claw meat out. Slice the tail meat into pieces, keep the shells.
- 3
Melt butter, sweat the shallot 5 minutes. Deglaze with cognac. Flambé if you like. Add white wine and fumet, reduce by two-thirds.
- 4
Cream in, reduce to thick nappant. Mustard, tarragon, 40 g of the Gruyère, all the Parmesan, cayenne. Taste.
- 5
Fold the meat gently through the sauce. Divide back into the shells. Top with the remaining Gruyère.
- 6
Under a hot grill (200 °C top heat) 3-4 minutes until deep brown. Serve straight away with lemon and bread.
