Lobster, Zucchini & Bouillabaisse Dish

How to prepare the lobster

•  Before we begin cooking, I first have to do something unpleasant but something that's part of life because we gotta start with killing the lobster. And I know it may be controversial, but for me it's just very normal if you eat meat, fish, seafood. It's a living thing and you gotta respect it.
• Here I'm gonna teach you the best and most humane possible way. Take a butcher ax or a chef's knife and put it here at the top of the head. Then put it down as fast as possible. Then the lobster is killed instantly, and then we can start the cooking process.
• Then twist the claws and knees of the body and also twist the tail off. 
•  A little chef's tip because if you boil the tails like this, they're gonna curl up and on looks-wise it's not my favorite. I prefer the tails to be very straight. Flavor-wise, it's gonna be the same. Texture-wise, there's a little difference as well, but that's a different story.
• The tip is to insert a skewer or just the back of a spoon between the shell and the meat. So what you wanna do is you just wanna insert it here all the way down, and it's gonna keep the tail straight while cooking.
• Before we do that, we always gotta check here if all the intestines are out. If there are still some in you just gonna hold it tight and shake it a couple of times. It's gonna come out. If you don't do this, it's gonna color the meat of the lobster tail, and that would be such a waste. Flavor-wise, also, no issue, but we just want to ensure that it's gone because otherwise the tail is gonna have a very strange color.
• So just take it out and keep it with the head for the butter.
• Once the skewers are in, or the back of a spoon or a fork or whatever you can boil them. Just boil them in salted water. We boil the lobster 1 minute for every 100 grams of whole lobster. The lobster weight 500 grams, so I boiled it for 5 minutes.
• Then directly cool them down in ice water and let them sit for 5 minutes before keeping them in your fridge.
• We’re only cooking 2 of the 4 claws and knees. The other two we leave raw, we need them for the lobster mousse. Again, boil for 5 minutes and then cool them down in ice water.

How to clean the lobster

• To clean the tails first remove the skewers or spoon and gently press the tails to break the shell. Now gently peel the entire shell off. This one had quite a thick shell, so be careful not to cut yourself.
• Do the same with the other one and then trim the top before slicing it in half. The trimmings you can keep with the knees we clean later on. Be sure to also remove the intestines on both halves. Keep them covered in your fridge for later.
• To clean the knees first separate them from the claws and cut them open with a scissor. Then you can easily take the meat out. 
• For cleaning the claws, we first have to remove the finger. What you wanna do is you wanna wiggle it a little bit, first the proper way, and then to the other side as well. This is gonna break the joint, and then we're carefully gonna wiggle and, with luck, take out both swords. Each claw always have two swords, a big one and a small one. And really ensure that you remove both. It's not edible, and very unpleasant.
• Then we're going to break the claw with back of a chef's knife, back of a pan, or back of an ax. Then you can just easily take the meat out.
• Now place the claws and knees on your cutting board and roughly cut them in big chunks. Transfer them in a container and keep it covered it your fridge for later. 

• Normally what I would do is make a farce or a mousse from some beautiful flat fish filet. Then I would incorporate the lobster later on. But for this dish I wanted to take the meat raw out of the shell and turn that into a farce or a mousse. Then after mix that with the cooked part of the lobster claws, so then you get a beautiful lobster mousse with lobster pieces. Makes more sense in my head.
• Begin by removing the meat from the raw lobster knees and claws. I did vacuum them both because I noticed it made it a bit easier to remove the meat. If it's really stuck just scrape it out with a spoon.
• Now transfer 80 grams of the raw lobster in a blender and also add the egg, the butter and the salt. Blend it till smooth. Beware that it doesn’t heat up from the friction.
• Then add the cream and blitz it till all the cream is incorporated. Directly stop to prevent the mousse from splitting.
• Then transfer it into a bowl together with the lobster pieces we cooked and cleaned before. Fold all the ingredients together, cover it and keep it in your fridge for later. 

• Take the lobster heads and chop them in big chunks. Then add a drizzle of oil to a hot pan and pan fry the lobster pieces on a high heat. You want a beautiful golden color all around. If needed scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any font before it burns.
• Once you’re happy with the color the butter and let it simmer on a low heat for at least 30 minutes. Stir it every now and then.
• Then transfer everything into a blender and blend it till smooth. Be sure to use a very strong blender, otherwise the motor can overheat and break.
• Now pass it through a fine sauce sieve and let it drip for at least 30 minutes so you don’t waste a single drop. Do this at room temperature, otherwise it won’t work. 

• Quite often they come with these little courgettes, very delicious, but we don’t use them for this dish. Now trim the bottom of the flowers with the tip of a knife and also gently remove the pistil.
• Then season some boiling water with a generous amount of salt and blanch the flowers for around 10 seconds each. Be very gentle so you don’t tear the petals.
• Now cool them down in ice water. Once cold let them drain and place them all facing the same side on a tray. Let them drain with an angle to remove as much water as possible. Meanwhile transfer the mousse in a piping bag that’s fitted with a big round nozzle. 
• Then gently open up the flowers and fill them with the lobster mousse. When filling, you just wanna be very gentle as well because if you just pipe it in, it's gonna explode. So you wanna keep control of the amount you put in. Do put in enough though, because if you are too gentle, it's not gonna be nice and full. You want it to have a little bit of a bump. 
• Now close the filling up with the flower petals and gently press it to create a nice shape. Keep them covered in your fridge for later.

• Begin by cutting the fishbones in small pieces. For a bouillabaisse I prefer to use flat fish bones or red mullet bones. Also remove the eyes and gills, these are bitter. 
• Once the bones are clean let them drain for at least 10 minutes.
• For the vegetables cut the onion in half and clean it. Then slice it in thin slices. Now also clean and cut the fennel and the garlic. The garlic needs to be a bit thicker, otherwise it will burn.
• Then transfer the rinsed and drained bones in a container and also add the sliced onion, the fennel, the garlic, the coriander seeds, the star anise, the fennel seeds, the saffron, the canned tomatoes and the olive oil. 
• Let this marinade overnight in your fridge.
• The next day you can transfer everything on an oven tray and toast it at 230 °C (446 °F) for 30 minutes. Every 10 minutes you need to mix it well to insure you get a beautiful color all around.
• Once you’re happy with the color you can transfer it into a big pan. 
• Then deglaze the oven tray with the white wine and let it soak for 10 minutes in the oven.
• After the 10 minutes pour it into the pan and also add the water with the tarragon. Let it simmer on a medium low heat for 45 minutes.
• After that drain the bouillabaisse on a colander that’s lined with a fine sieve and let it drip for at least 30 minutes so you don’t waste a single drop.
• Then let the sauce reduce till you’re happy with the flavor. While it’s reducing you need to remove any oils or protein that float on top. I rinse the ladle in hot water in between so insure I get a pure sauce.
• Once you’re happy with the result you need to pass the sauce through a fine sieve once more. Tap the side of the sieve to speed up the process.
• Then heat up the sauce once more and bind it with a couple cubes of cold butter. Keep on tasting in between till you’re happy with the flavor and thickness. Keep it in your fridge for later. 

• Make a cross pattern on the apricots and blanch them in boiling water for around 30 seconds. Directly cool them down in ice water.
• Then remove the peel before cutting them in half around the pit. Remove the pits as well.
• Now transfer the apricots in a pan together with a splash of water. Cover the pan with a lid and slowly let them cook on a low medium heat. This takes at least 30 minutes.
• Once cooked you can blend it till smooth. 
•  I know that normally I have very strict recipes with zero-point-something grams, and it's always very specific. But for this, it's just not. Because when it comes to stone fruits, for me, the season, the kind the region makes such a difference. And I can now tell you, "Okay, add 20 grams of this," or, "Add 10 grams of this." But if your apricots are already so sweet, you don't need any sugar. And if they're already a little bit sour, you don't need any vinegar. So now it comes pure to taste.
• This component of the dish is gonna balance the heavy flavors, so it needs a little bit of freshness. And for that, I add just a little drizzle of sherry vinegar. Just a touch. So just little drizzle.
• Then we're gonna add a gram of agar for every 100 grams of base. So if this is 400 grams of base, you need to add four grams of agar. Just give it another mix, bring it to a boil, and then we're gonna let it set in our fridge.
• Then transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth.
• Now to bring the gel to the next level you can vacuum it. This will result in a clear gel with a more intense flavor. Then transfer it into a piping bottle and keep it in your fridge for later. 

• Begin with steaming the zucchini flowers. We're going to steam them at 100 °C (212 °F). Start with four minutes and then check with a little needle if the inside is cooked.
• While that's happening, we're gonna heat up the lobster as well. The lobster we're gonna heat up in that beautiful lobster butter, just on a very low heat just to warm it up because it is already cooked.
• The sauce we're gonna heat up as well. Do this on a very low heat because it's already thickened with the butter. So we can't bring it to a boil again. Just heat it up till it's 80 °C (176 °F), and then it's good to go.
• Once the filled zucchini flowers are cooked take them out of the oven and also place the lobster tails on a tray. Season the tails with flaky salt.
• Now place a tail on one side of a plate and gently place the filled zucchini flower next to it. Brush the top with some of the lobster butter and also season with flaky salt.
• Then pipe a nice big dot of the apricot gel in between and decorate with two hummingbird mint leaves. This plant has a lovely liquorice flavor. Now finish the dish with the bouillabaisse sauce!