Rockfish Consommé with King Prawns, Carpetshell Clams and Lobster

Cut the lobster into sections, and sweat in a pot in some olive oil. Thinly slice the onions and simmer with the unpeeled garlic. Add the fresh and dried fennel and the quartered tomatoes, and cook until tender.

Add the rockfish and water to cover, and cook over a low heat for 40 minutes. Strain and cool over ice.

To finish, infuse with the Espelette pepper, the lemon zest, a shaving of ginger and the basil leaves. Strain the consommé and pour into a soup tureen.

Sear the prawns and the squid slightly in some olive oil. Cool quickly and pound into a paste. Add the tomato skins, the seasoning olive oil, and some lemon juice, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour the mixture into a high speed blender and emulsify until the rouille is creamy and very smooth. Add the finely chopped lemon balm leaves.

Cut the bread into thin slices and toast under the salamander.

Poach the following ingredients in the soup successively and according to each one’s required cooking time: the razor clams, king prawns, carpetshell clams, small lobsters, and the cuttlefish.

Leave the shellfish in their shells, but shell the prawns and lobsters, and arrange on the plates, inserting the lemon balm leaves in between so that they will infuse in the sauce.

Strain the soup, which should be quite spiced, and pour it into a soup tureen. Serve the remaining peeled ginger separately. Serve the rouille in small individual serving bowls and the crostini in napkins folded into artichokes.