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1
Chill the food processor bowl and blade in the freezer for 20 minutes. Keep the pike fillets at 0–2°C until the moment of processing. Verify that no pin bones or skin fragments remain — pass fingertips firmly along the flesh in both directions. The flesh must be entirely clean; any inclusion will corrupt the final texture.
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2
Combine butter and water in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat. When the butter is fully melted and the liquid is at a rolling simmer, add the flour in one addition and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon. Continue over heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture pulls cleanly and completely from the sides and base of the pan — the panade has reached 75°C and is structurally complete. Spread onto a tray and cool to room temperature before use.
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3
Process the chilled pike fillets with the fine sea salt in the cold processor bowl until a smooth, cohesive purée forms. The salt extracts the myosin and actomyosin proteins that bind the forcemeat; the purée should look dense and slightly sticky, pulling away from the bowl walls. Keep the mixture below 4°C throughout — work in short pulses and check the temperature of the bowl between bursts.
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4
Add the cooled panade to the fish purée in three or four portions, processing briefly between each addition until fully incorporated. Then add the egg whites in stages — again processing in short pulses — until the mixture is homogenous, light in colour, and holds together cohesively. At no point should the forcemeat exceed 4°C; if it approaches this temperature, transfer the bowl to an ice bath for several minutes before continuing. This is where the dish lives or dies: a forcemeat that warms above 4°C will separate irreparably, producing a grainy, broken mass that no subsequent technique can rescue.
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5
With the processor running on low speed, pour the cold heavy cream in a thin, steady stream over 60–90 seconds. Add no more cream than the protein matrix will absorb — the finished forcemeat should be light and just-pourable, neither stiff nor loose. Pass through a fine drum sieve (tamis) for a silken, uniform texture.
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6
Poach a single test quenelle — shaped from a tablespoon of forcemeat — in water held at 75–80°C for 8–10 minutes. It should float to the surface, hold its oval form without cracking or collapsing, and yield a light, mousse-like interior with no dense or wet core when cut. If it disintegrates, the panade is insufficient or the emulsion is broken; if it is dense or rubbery, the poaching temperature was too high or cream was insufficient.
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7
Using two tablespoons dipped repeatedly in hot water, shape the remaining forcemeat into smooth three-sided ovals of 60–80 g each. Lower quenelles gently into poaching liquid held steadily at 75–80°C — never above 82°C, at which point the exterior tightens, squeezes out moisture, and the interior collapses. Poach for 8–10 minutes. The quenelles are ready when they have swollen by approximately 30% and float with buoyancy and composure at the surface.
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8
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain briefly. Serve at once with sauce Nantua, or cool to 2–4°C and finish under a salamander with sauce Nantua for a gratinéed presentation. The quenelle, when sauced and gratinéed, should carry a light golden surface while remaining entirely yielding within.