Recipe: Pike Quenelles

Name: Pike Quenelles
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 780 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 600 g (21 oz) pike flesh; 500 ml (2.1 cups) thick farmer's fresh cream (double cream) very cold; 130 g (4.5 oz) churned butter just melted; 4 very fresh eggs beaten like an omelet; a pinch of Cayenne; fine salt; For the sauce:; 200 ml (0.8 cup) Coteaux du Layon reduced by half; 500 ml (2.1 cups) béchamel sauce; 200 ml (0.8 cup) liquid cream 30%; 2 egg yolks; 1 tablespoon milk

By chef patrick Asfaux 4.9/5 (52 reviews) · 🍳 46 made it

Prep 30 min

Cook 30 min

Rest 12h

Total 13h

Servings 4 serv.

Pike quenelles are a fish forcemeat whipped with cold cream, poached gently, then gratinéed. 600g of finely minced pike incorporated slowly into 500ml of very cold heavy cream. Prepare the day before for proper texture. Sauce made with reduced Coteaux du Layon, béchamel and light cream, finished with egg yolks.

Ingredients for 4 servings

Adjust for

servings

600 g (21 oz) pike flesh
500 ml (2.1 cups) thick farmer's fresh cream (double cream) very cold
130 g (4.5 oz) churned butter just melted
4 very fresh eggs beaten like an omelet
a pinch of Cayenne
fine salt

For the sauce:

200 ml (0.8 cup) Coteaux du Layon reduced by half
500 ml (2.1 cups) béchamel sauce
200 ml (0.8 cup) liquid cream 30%
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon milk

Step-by-step directions

The day before

1 Prepare your béchamel sauce and let it cool.

2 Blend or pound your pike flesh, then pass it through a fine sieve and set aside in a bowl.

3 Prepare a large bowl with ice cubes, then place the one with pike flesh inside it (ice bath) and, as if you were making mayonnaise, incorporate the almost frozen cream slowly. Add fine salt and a pinch of Cayenne, the just-melted butter, then the beaten eggs little by little. Then put the bowl in the fridge, covered with film until the next day.

The day itself

4 In a large pot, bring 4 liters (4.25 qt) of salted water to a boil.

5 In the meantime, dust your work surface lightly with flour, a marble slab is best. Using a tablespoon, make small mounds and roll your quenelles so they are long or slightly domed.

6 In simmering water, poach your quenelles for 12 to 15 minutes, they must turn over themselves. Drain them and refresh them in ice water, then drain them again on a cloth.

7 Now prepare your sauce. Reduce your wine by half, then add your liquid cream and your béchamel sauce, it should be quite liquid. Taste and adjust seasoning.

8 Turn on the oven to grill position.

9 In a bowl, break 2 raw egg yolks mixed with a tablespoon of milk, then add it to the hot sauce while stirring. Place your pike quenelles in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour the sauce over them.

10 Put under the grill to gratinée and serve very hot.

You will also probably see recipes based on panade or with the addition of veal kidney fat. Of course, these are also called classical methods, but I find that this recipe is the finest of all.

If you want to make a pike soufflé, do the same but use only the yolks, then at the end beat your whites until stiff and fold them into your mixture. Then cook them in a tall mold (flexipan) for 15 minutes at 140°, remove them and set your oven to 185°, return your soufflés for 15 minutes and serve immediately.

You can replace pike flesh with zander or whiting. You can also replace Coteaux du Layon with a sweet wine such as Sauternes, late harvest, Jurançon, etc.

The béchamel sauce recipe is on our site. You can prepare it the day before finishing this recipe.

Chef's tip

Pike quenelles are a Sunday dish, a proper two-day affair. You prepare the farce the day before, poach and gratinée on the day itself. This is classic French bistro cooking, the kind served in Parisian restaurants when you wanted to show you could handle delicate techniques. It's come back lately because cooks rediscovered that a properly whipped farce is lighter than a heavy fillet. Pike is a freshwater fish found year-round at markets, but best from autumn onwards when rivers run cold and flesh is firm. The heavy cream, ideally just churned, is key to the farce. If it isn't ice-cold, the farce collapses and your quenelles turn dense instead of light. For wine, the Coteaux du Layon in the sauce explains itself: a sweet-dry Loire white, round and buttery, that pairs with cream and egg yolks. If you prefer a dry white with structure, a Meursault or Chablis stands up well to the richness of béchamel and the gratin. Serve with creamed spinach, sautéed mushrooms, or glazed carrots cooked separately. Potato gratin or simple steamed potatoes with fleur de sel work too. Everything hot, the dish smoking fresh from the grill.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use regular heavy cream instead of double cream?

No. Very cold double cream is essential for the light texture. Standard 30% cream won't whip enough and your farce will turn dense. Look for farmhouse double cream at 40% fat, chilled to 4°C minimum.

How long can the farce be kept in the fridge before cooking?

Up to 24 hours. Cover with clingfilm directly on the surface to prevent air exposure. After that, the eggs start to break down. Poached quenelles keep 4 hours in the fridge on a damp cloth before gratinéeing.

How do I shape quenelles without them tearing when they hit the water?

Two wet tablespoons, kept cold. Scoop the farce with one, slide gently into barely simmering water with the other. Light flour on the work surface helps. Too much boil and they burst. Use 4 liters water for about 20 quenelles, no more.