Butter-Poached Langoustine with Spruce

This is a dish inspired by the three Michelin starred restaurant Maaemo in Oslo. Langoustines - or Norway lobster - are delicious, with even sweeter meat than lobster. You can also use small lobster tails. In that case, increase cooking time. Spruce syrup is not readily available, but if you cannot find it in a store, you can make it by boiling spruce (or juniper) shoots in syrup for a couple of minutes. Leave for a couple of days to release flavor. The recipe calls for a ridiculous amount of butter. Please note that you are not serving it all (not even a tenth of it), and that you can reuse the butter. It tastes delicious and is a good match for a white fish, such as cod, saithe or halibut.

INGREDIENTS:

Number of servings

Servings: 4

List of ingredients

8 raw, cleaned langoustine tails

2 pounds/ 900 grams butter

2-3 tablespoons spruce syrup

Spruce shoots

PREPARATION:

• In a small pot, bring the butter to a boil. Reduce heat and poach the langoustine tails for 5 minutes, until rare, still a little translucent in the middle. (If you are worried about eating uncooked shellfish, increase cooking time.)

• Brush with spruce syrup and serve on top of spruce branches.
  NOTE: At Maaemo they serve the langoustine in a bowl with dry ice, which they pour over spruce-scented water. If you do not have access to dry ice, you can have some of the same effect by leaving a handful of spruce (or juniper) needles in the bottom of the serving plate. Decorate with spruce shoots and branches and pour a little boiling water over just before serving. The visual effect will not be the same, but the smell is amazing.