Preparation: 30-40 minutes
Cooking: a little over an hour 
 

An original recipe from Alain Ducasse of the Plaza Athénée in Paris.

Preparing and cooking the turbot

1. Remove the head and tail from the fish and the skin from both sides. Cut the fish into even steaks weighing 230 g (8 oz.) each and, using scissors, remove the first spinal articulation from each end of the steaks.
2. In a cast iron skillet in olive oil, sear the turbot until it firms up, then brown in foaming butter with the unpeeled garlic cloves and dry fennel. At the end of the cooking time, the fish steaks should be tender and juicy and lightly blond with an interior temperature of 45° C. Let rest in a warm place until the temperature reaches 52° C in the center, then season with fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper.

Argenteuil garnish

1. Remove the tips from the green bourgeois asparagus  and dry in the oven. Cook the asparagus in a drizzle of olive oil until coated with their cooking juices, then form into bunches of 3 spears, cutting the end of each one on a diagonal. Peel the Pertuis asparagus, wash and slice into thin lengthwise ribbons. Just before serving, season with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Asparagus condiment

1. Combine all the ingredients, warm them and season with a little lemon juice, truffle juice and freshly ground pepper.

Dried asparagus tips

1. Wash the asparagus, remove the tips in 3 cm lengths and set aside the rest for the purée and marmalade. Quarter the asparagus tips and sauté briskly without browning, then dry in an 80° C oven with a drizzle of olive oil.

Asparagus marmalade and purée

1. Thinly slice the reserved asparagus stalks into rounds. Sweat them in olive oil, add the white stock to barely cover and let cook. Purée half the asparagus in a thermomix to obtain a very fine purée, strain and chill on ice to preserve the color. Make the marmalade by crushing the other half of the asparagus with a knife.

Olive oil emulsion

1. Soft cook an egg for 5 minutes, then using a Bamix, make an emulsion with the truffle juice, olive oil, fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper.

Soft-cooked egg

1. In a steam oven, cook an egg in a moist environment for 35 minutes at 68° C. When cooled, peel and mash with a fork.

Olive oil-emulsified asparagus juice

1. Peel and wash the asparagus, then thinly slice the tips on one side and the stalks on another.
2. Pour some olive oil into a saucepan and sweat the minced onion and asparagus stalks. Add the white stock, bring to a boil and add the asparagus tips. Cook quickly, then purée and chill on ice. Heat the asparagus juice, correct the seasoning, bring to the desired consistency and emulsify with olive oil.

Finishing and presentation

1. Arrange the cooked and raw asparagus on large plates. Add the turbot steaks and olive oil-emulsified asparagus juice. Sprinkle with cracked pepper and the dried asparagus tips and serve immediately with the condiment in a sauce dish.