Plateau de Fruits de Mer

Ingredients

• Bottom tier
• 1 (approx. 800 g–1 kg) tourteau (brown crab), freshly cooked, cracked
• 1 (approx. 600 g–800 g) homard (lobster), freshly cooked, split lengthwise
• 500 g langoustines, freshly cooked
• Middle tier
• 12 huîtres plates (flat oysters), live, shucked to order
• 12 huîtres creuses (cupped oysters, second terroir), live, shucked to order
• 250 g palourdes (clams), live, rinsed
• 250 g praires (warty venus clams), live, rinsed
• Top tier
• 200 g bulots (whelks), freshly cooked the morning of service
• 150 g crevettes grises (brown shrimp), cooked
• 150 g crevettes roses (pink prawns), cooked
• 150 g bigorneaux (periwinkles), cooked
• Bed
• 1 kg crushed ice, packed over seaweed on each tier
• 500 g goémon (seaweed), fresh or rinsed; insulating bed beneath ice
• Accompaniments
• 200 ml mayonnaise, freshly made
• 100 ml mignonette sauce, red-wine vinegar, coarsely ground pepper, finely chopped shallot
• 1 loaf pain de seigle (rye bread), sliced
• 125 g beurre salé breton (salted Breton butter), at table temperature
• 3 lemons, halved
• 100 ml vinaigre d'échalote (shallot vinegar), optional; finely chopped shallot in white-wine vinegar

Method

1. 1
   The morning of service, cook the crab, whelks, and langoustines in well-salted boiling water. The whelks are done when the meat withdraws cleanly from the shell with a pin. Allow all cooked shellfish to cool fully at room temperature, then refrigerate until assembly. Do not cook the previous day.
2. 2
   Prepare the accompaniments: mix the mignonette sauce (red-wine vinegar, coarsely ground pepper, finely chopped shallot) and refrigerate. Make the mayonnaise. Slice the rye bread. Halve the lemons. Set the Breton butter at table temperature. Arrange picks, shell crackers, and oyster forks at the table.
3. 3
   Immediately before service, lay the goémon across each tier of the plateau stand. Pack crushed ice firmly over the seaweed on every tier — the ice must hold its form and the seaweed must be visible and aromatic at the rim. The cold, briny scent rising from the stand signals the bed is correct.
4. 4
   This is where the plateau lives or dies: shuck the oysters to order, at the last possible moment, and set them curved-shell-down into the ice of the middle tier so each retains its liquor. A shucked oyster that has lost its liquor or sits warm on the ice is a failed plateau. The two varieties — plates and creuses, or two distinct terroirs — must be visually distinguishable on the tier.
5. 5
   Arrange the bottom tier: split lobster (cut side up), cracked tourteau with claws detached and placed beside the body, langoustines fanned outward. The ice beneath should remain visible between pieces — crowding conceals the ice and accelerates warming.
6. 6
   Arrange the middle tier: shucked oysters around the perimeter, palourdes and praires in the centre, all nestled into ice. The raw shellfish must be cold to the touch of the back of the hand held an inch above the tier.
7. 7
   Arrange the top tier: bulots, bigorneaux, crevettes grises, and crevettes roses distributed evenly. Place lemon halves at the junctions of all tiers. Set the sauces and bread alongside the stand. Bring the plateau to the table immediately. It must be consumed within 90 minutes of assembly.
8. 8
   At the table, begin with the oysters while the palate is freshest, proceed to the cooked shellfish, and conclude with the crab and lobster. The crab's brown meat, mixed with a drop of lemon and spread on rye bread, is served last. The finger bowl signals the close of the plateau.