Confit trout, quinoa & pike roe

Loïc Renand and Anthony Vial, chefs at mountain restaurant Poya, showcase a local fish in a top-notch recipe: Savoy trout.

This recipe by Loïc Renand and Anthony Vial, chefs at the Poya restaurant in Val-d'Isère, is taken from the 2024 edition ofBook 109: The new blood of French gastronomy. Discover the ingredients and preparation steps to make it a breeze.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 55 min
Cooking time: 1 h 15
Resting time: 1 h 30

Ingredients for trout confit

For the trout marinade

800 g Savoy trout fillets
2 kg coarse salt
5 g Batak berries
2 limes
20 cl salted soy sauce
2 l sunflower oil

For the trout condiment

4 shallots, chopped
1 lime
1 bunch chives

For the pike roe sauce

50 cl 30% cream
80 cl Savoy white wine
50 g pike roe
Zest of 1 lime
2 shallots, chopped
5 cl white wine vinegar
20 g butter
salt and pepper

For the fir tree oil

200 g olive oil
80 g fresh spruce branches (be careful not to get the wrong variety )

For the crunchy quinoa

300 g quinoa
10 g butter
2 g horseradish
Zest of 1 lime
salt and pepper

For the dressing

1 tin trout roe

Steps for the trout confit

Prepare the trout: mix the salt, soy sauce, Batak berries and lime zest in a large bowl. Place some of the mixture in a large dish, followed by the trout, and cover with the rest of the salt mixture. Set the dish aside in a cool place for 1 h 30, and leave to marinate.
Rinse the trout, then dry it in a tea towel. Remove the skin and cut into pieces weighing around 80 to 100 g.
Heat the sunflower oil gently to 48°C. Dip the trout portions into the oil and leave to cook for 25 min. Be careful not to let the temperature vary too much. Set aside in a cool place.
Just before serving, lightly heat the trout on the skin side (which you have removed) and fry half the shallots. Stir in the chives, lemon zest and freshly fried shallots to create a nice, even mixture that will sit on top of the trout.
Pike roe sauce: in a saucepan, sauté the shallots with the butter, without browning. Add the white wine and reduce until almost all the wine has evaporated. Pour in the cream, reduce and thicken. Let the sauce cool, then add the pike roe, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and finally the vinegar for acidity.
Fir tree oil: warm the olive oil to around 70°C (it should be a little more than lukewarm). Pour into a blender, add the chopped fir and blend for 2 minutes at maximum speed. Pour the mixture onto a clean tea towel with a tray underneath to filter the oil.
Crunchy quinoa: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the quinoa and sauté without browning, then pour in 30 cl of water and cook over a low heat. Once the water has evaporated, add the horseradish, salt, pepper and zest.
Presentation: place the warm quinoa on the plate, then arrange the trout. Add the trout roe. Pour the warm sauce on the side, enhanced with dashes of fir oil.