Écrevisses à la Nage

Écrevisses à la Nage (crayfish served in their aromatic poaching broth) teaches one clean principle: the cooking liquor is not backstage work. The white wine, fumet, vegetables, and herbs cook the crayfish, then come proudly to the table with them. Drain that broth away and you've discarded the dish.

The original kitchen assumed a saucier with fish fumet, a concentrated fish essence, never far from the fire, plus a timbale waiting for service. At home, use a well-made fumet prepared ahead and a warm, deep serving bowl. The entry's twelve large crayfish already make four generous portions, so the count stays; I've translated the old pint measures while keeping the wine-to-fumet ratio exactly two to one. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The ready fumet and formal timbale are brigade scaffolding. The ten-minute aromatic infusion, the covered cooking, the regular turning, and the broth carried intact to the table are the dish itself. Keep the crayfish moving through the shallow nage so every one cooks evenly. That is the step that matters.