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Dover Sole with Moqueca Sauce
Pan-Fried Dover Sole with Dover Sole Mousse, Pumpkin Confit and Brazilian Moqueca Sauce
Mark serves a pan-fried fillet of Dover sole with a pier-shaped Dover sole mousse, pumpkin confit base, Brazilian moqueca sauce, sourdough tuile, farofa and sea borage.
Mark: "So we're going to create a lovely sauce called moqueca. Traditionally, obviously, it's peppers and onions you cook down. I'm going to use them as a base and I'm going to be adding fish stock as Dover soles are caught in the Bristol Channel. It's all going in the sauce. And we're going to have this, the pumpkin's going to give it that southwest."
Simon Rogan: "Now how are you cooking the fish?"
Mark: "Making the mousse from half and I'm going to pan fry the other half. The fish mousse will be doing in a pier mold to symbolize the pier. And as well, I'm going to create a twill from the sourdough lean."
Narrator: Mark sweats peppers, onions, and fish bones with spices for a Brazilian inspired moqueca sauce and passes Dover sole blended with egg yolk and double cream for a mousse.
Mark: "We need to get this fish mousse all made, seasoned, and then into the molds. This is quite an integral part to the dish."
Mark: "We're going to put a confit pumpkin that's going to be sitting at the base of the dish."
Mark: "So obviously we have the moqueca sauce. It's just finished infusion. And now we're just going to reduce it, butter it out, and then finish it with lime juice. It's going to be an aerated foam. It's very intense already. You can feel the power."
Simon Rogan: "You can see when that sauce is finished, it's going to be an absolutely bobby dazzler. It's really unusual, you know, something I've not seen before."
Mark: "This is what I want. You see, it's super temperamental, but that's the whole fun of it and that's why I chose it." [on his sourdough tuile]
Narrator: Mark checks the pumpkin and fish mousse goes into steam. Mark pan fries fillets of Dover sole, with pumpkin, sourdough tuile, pickled dice, pumpkin tops, fish mousse piers, farofa, sea borage and spicy Brazilian moqueca sauce.
VETERAN ROUND: Simon Rogan: "Happy with the fish?" Mark: "First off, I think the fish can be a bit better. It's a wild product coming from the sea and this one hasn't come out the way I expect." Martin: "Beautiful, lovely texture on the fish, I think." Mark: "Yes. I like this. I think it's got good heat, good acidity. The pumpkin underneath, the sourdough crisp alongside it." Jeff: "The mouthfeel as well was excellent. Really good. Good portion size as well, isn't it?" Kieran: "I think it's delicious." Simon Rogan: "So the moqueca sauce, you think it's got the right amount of heat to it?" Mark: "Yes, I like it at this level. I think it sings a little bit, gives some excitement to the dish." Kieran: "Sauce is, like, a good amount of seasoning. A lot of umami going through there." Peer scores: Mark (self) 9, Jeff 8, Kieran 9, Martin 9. Simon Rogan final feedback: "Mark, the presentation for this dish was great. I know you weren't happy with the way your fish turned out. Sometimes wild foods just get a bad one, I'm afraid, which unfortunately happened today. The mousse, however, was flavorsome, had a great texture, and was a real fun tribute to that pier. The moqueca sauce had a great acidity to it, but for me, this dish wasn't quite as sharp as your previous course, but with some alterations, has bags of potential." Simon Rogan score: 8. Mark progresses to Day 2 of the heat. JUDGING ROUND: Changes at final judging day: - Dover sole swapped for a jumbo plaice. Mark: "With the temperature of the water changing at the moment, fishes react [differently]." - Pumpkin variety changed from delica to butternut squash, responding to Simon's note that the original pumpkin was "a little bit floury". - Plaice fillets pan fried then finished in a butter bath. - Pickled sea herbs and lemon jam added to the final plating. - Pier concept retained with pier-shaped mousse mold. Dish title restated at the pass: "Pier at the End of the World. Pan fried plaice mousse pier, pickled butternut squash confit, butternut squash moqueca sauce, farofa, sourdough tuile, lemon jam and pickled sea herbs." Judges' feedback: {Judge}: "It really is a pier, if it's to scale. That piece of fish is massive. It's a nicely cooked piece of place [plaice]." [UNCLEAR: speaker] {Judge}: "It is fun destroying a pier, though. I feel like Godzilla." [UNCLEAR: speaker] {Judge}: "And the farofa is very crunchy. I'm not sure how it goes together." [UNCLEAR: speaker] {Judge}: "It's slightly confusing on flavors for me. You've got this kind of Brazilian influence from the sauce. I'm not quite sure how it sits with Clevedon." [UNCLEAR: speaker] {Judge}: "All of the flavors, they don't kind of gel. It's worked and it's been thought of, trying to create this pier, and it looks like the pier, and for the visual impact that's great, but actually it's a dish that eats. I don't think it comes together very well." [UNCLEAR: speaker] Phil Wang: "I think the sauce and the fruit are good. They're just a little bit light. Fish is cooked beautifully. I don't really get the squash." [UNCLEAR: attribution to Phil based on later cross-reference] {Judge}: "I love the fish and the sauce was nice, but I didn't get as much, really, out of the pier." [UNCLEAR: speaker]
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