Cauliflower, samphire & coffee

Florian Puglia | 3/23/23

Serves 6

Preparation time: 40 min

Cooking time : 32 min

Rest : 2 h

2 medium cauliflowers (approx. 1.5 kg)
200 g fresh samphire
60 cl 35% single cream
2 sheets gelatin (4 g)
1 shallot
5 cl organic camelina oil
40 cl milk
20 g coffee beans
8 g coarse salt
Zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

1 - Cauliflower heads: keep about 50 g of cauliflower heads. Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the cauliflower heads for about 1 min 30. Then plunge them into a container filled with cold water and ice cubes to quickly stop the cooking process.

2 - Cauliflower and samphire semolina: remove the cauliflower leaves. Remove the core from one of them. Using a chopper or blender, blend 150 g of cauliflower until you obtain a "semolina" texture. Set aside. Finely chop the samphire. Mix 150 g of cut samphire with the cauliflower semolina. Season with salt and pepper, lemon zest and camelina oil.

3 - Cauliflower bavaroise: in a saucepan, combine 500 g cauliflower, 20 cl milk, coarse salt and 20 cl cream. Boil to a puréed consistency. Blend in a food processor until smooth. Season to taste. Soften the gelatine leaves in iced water. Take 50 g of the hot cauliflower purée and add the softened gelatine. Mix well, then blend the two cauliflower purées together. Leave to cool. Whip 20 cl of cold cream until stiff. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cauliflower purée. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Leave to set in the fridge for at least 2 h.

4 - Coffee emulsion: in a saucepan, combine the coffee beans, 20 cl milk and 20 cl cream. Bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to infuse for around 1 h. Strain, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

5 - Assembly: place your round cookie cutter on the plate. Top with 2 tablespoons of cauliflower and samphire semolina. Using an ice cream scoop (or tablespoon), place a ball (or quenelle) of cauliflower bavaroise in the center of the semolina. Garnish with fresh samphire all around. Using a grater (or Microplane), grate fresh cauliflower to create a snow effect. To serve, re-cool the coffee emulsion. Blend with a hand blender until frothy. At the table, pour the emulsion generously over the cauliflower salicorne before serving.

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