Our Feinkost Käfer special – an exclusive recipe for you

We promised it a while back, and now it’s time for you to enjoy our exclusive saffron experience with Feinkost Käfer. We are proud to present a recipe by the chefs at the largest German delicatessen: Mario Huggler and Renaud Delacour themselves!

We were given the opportunity to look over the shoulders of both gourmet chefs in the kitchen of the Munich Feinkost Käfer Headquarter for a morning, and watch them preparing a clever and extraordinarily delicious saffron menu:

For those occasions when you want to conjure something extraordinary for your guests, you will love this easy-to-follow recipe! Or, you could just pop into Feinkost Käfer in Munich and revel in the fresh delicacies there…

Meal for 4 People

120 g/pp Red Mullets, ready-to-use fillets with scales
1 yellow pepper
1 large potato
2 tbsp butter
50g Taggiasca olives
1 egg
1 tsp mustard
0.5 – 1l olive oil for deep frying
dash of white wine vinegar
200ml neutral oil (e.g. grapeseed oil or sunflower oil)
salt & pepper, freshly ground
0,3 g saffron threads
white wine, to dissolve the saffron

Preparation

For the Yellow Pepper-Saffron-Crème (also called Sauce Bourride), start by cutting the pepper in half. Brush with a little olive oil, salt, and cover with kitchen foil. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and then bake the pepper for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for a little while after taking out of the oven, then remove the skin.

Peal the potato, chop into small pieces, and cook in salted water with 3-4 saffron threads. The saffron enhances the yellow colour of the potato – a great colour effect for the Sauce Bourride.

Do not remove the scales for the deep-frying of the fish, because not only do they look beautiful when deep-fried but they are also deliciously crunchy when eaten.

In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil to 160 degrees. Put a wire rack, or grid, inside the saucepan, on which the fish can be placed head first. Start by pouring the hot oil over the fish from the tail downwards 3-4 times, so that the scales stick up.

For the raw marinated fennel salad, remove stem and stalk and then finely grate or chop the fennel. To preserve the freshness, it is advisable to briefly plunge the fennel into iced water. Mix together the sauce using the lemon, olive oil and salt and marinate the black olives in it. Then add the fennel.

Simmer the rest of the saffron with a dash of lukewarm white wine so the aroma can develop. Remove from the hob. For the sauce, add the butter, white wine vinegar, garlic, egg yolk and Dijon mustard to a blender, then add the potato to thicken. Add grape seed oil during the blending until it turns into aioli. Add the pepper and thin with a little stock or water if the sauce is too thick. Season with lemon. The Sauce Bourride is also perfect for grilled poultry, veal or pork.

Serve the fennel salad with a little sauce in the middle and lay the fish on top. You may like to garnish with colourful edible flowers and voila, your delicious and light summer menu is finished!

Freshness tip: very fresh fish has glassy eyes with black pupils and smells fresh of the sea. The quick test: slightly push down into the centre of the fish and note if the dent goes back to normal quickly – that’s a clear sign of freshness!

Bon appétit!