Cadgerée of Salmon

Cadgerée de Saumon teaches orchestration. Its one true rule is that the salmon, pilaff, eggs, and Béchamel must each be properly cooked before they meet, because the final layering warms and unites them but cannot repair a dry fish or sodden rice. Keep the components distinct, and every spoonful gives you soft egg, separate grains, coral flakes of salmon, and glossy curry-scented sauce.

The original formula assumed cooked salmon waiting at one station, a saucier holding Béchamel at another, pilaff fed from stock never off the fire, and a hot timbale ready for service. Here every source quantity is reduced by one quarter, giving four generous servings from 12 ounces each of cooked salmon and pilaff, three eggs, and 320 ml of sauce. A measured cup of light stock, one freshly made Béchamel, and a warmed deep serving bowl replace the brigade scaffolding. A salamander has no place here because the sauce is a coating, not a gratin. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The dish itself must stay: equal weights of cooked salmon and pilaff, hard-boiled egg in alternating layers, and enough flowing Béchamel to cover the whole. Synchronize the final ten minutes so everything arrives warm, and watch the sauce most closely. If it tightens while it waits, loosen it before pouring. The coating must fall from the spoon in a broad ribbon, not sit like paste.