Garlic Foam

If chef Geir Skeie never teaches me another thing, he has at least taught me how to make garlic foam.

What, you are probably asking yourself, is garlic foam?

Or maybe you’re asking, who the heck is Geir Skeie?

You’d know these things if you had gotten your hands on the spring issue of News of Norway, published by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. We get the strangest things in the mail around here.

Skeie, 28, of Fitjar, Norway, won the 2009 Bocuse d’Or at the international competition for chefs held every two years in Lyon, France, which is to say he won the culinary Super Bowl. Think “Iron Chef” with 24 competitors instead of two and five hours prep time instead of one. And way more serious judges. Talk about heat in the kitchen.

Chef Paul Bocuse started this competition in 1987. That’s Bocuse, or a golden likeness of him, that Skeie is holding in the photo, kind of an Oscar for cooks. It’s a big deal, for sure, but enough about that.

Back to the foam. One of Skeie’s five dishes for the competition, and the one that was reprinted in News of Norway, was “Fried Loins of Norwegian Cod with Baked Root Vegetables and Garlic Foam.” Naturally, it was the garlic foam that piqued my interest. I had to know how to do that.

The recipe appearing here is as presented in News of Norway, except I halved it in my own preparation. I didn’t need enough to feed the crew of a Viking longboat.

I made these substitutions for things I couldn’t find near home:

Parsnip for parsley root: They’re closely related, but parsley root is much paler in color.

Rutabaga for turnip cabbage: Turnip cabbage is also known as kohlrabi, which I probably could have gotten by traveling a little further afield, say to Central Market in Mill Creek, but I hate driving that far for a root vegetable.

Alaska cod for Norwegian cod: The boat from Norway just didn’t make it to Waterfront Fish Market in time. A cod loin, I found out, is just the very thickest part of the filet. The one I got was a little under 2 inches thick.

Here’s how nuts I did get with this recipe:

I arranged to get two pounds of cod bones from the fish market to make my own fish stock.

I bought raw almonds at Sno-Isle Food Co-op to blanch (also called scalding) and peel for the recipe.

So, how did this prize-winning chef’s concoction turn out in the hands of an average cook?

It’s actually surprisingly simple to make. I spent maybe two hours preparing it (discounting earlier work on the fish stock and almonds), most of that in peeling and cutting up root vegetables and waiting for them to bake until tender. The fish is a snap, and even the garlic foam, froufrou as it may sound, is quite easy.

It looked good and tasted very good. The delicate flavor of the fresh cod went well with the earthiness of the root vegetables and the slight sweetness of the garlic foam. Garlic flavor really unified the dish, as it was used in the separate preparations. There was nothing overwhelming here, a subtle dish that went well with a delicately oaked chardonnay.

All I can say is if it came out that well in my kitchen, I’d love to visit Mathuset Solvold in Sandefjord, Norway, the restaurant where Skeie has his day job.

Cod with root vegetables and garlic foam

Fish

2 pounds of fresh cod loin, preferably with skin on

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 branches thyme, leaves stripped (about 2 teaspoons)

4 tablespoons butter in small dice

Vegetables

2 carrots

2 celeriac (celery root)

1/2 turnip cabbage (kohlrabi)

2 parsley roots

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 branches thyme (leaves only)

4 cloves garlic

Foam

20ounces fish stock

7 ounces cream

2 tablespoons butter

4 cloves garlic

12scalded almonds

4 ounces dry white wine

Peel the root vegetables and cut into same-sized pieces. (I did about 1-inch dice.) Put in a baking dish and drizzle with oil and butter. Sprinkle with garlic, thyme, add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a 325-degree oven until tender (about 45 minutes to an hour).

Fry the fish, skin side down in a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, on medium heat until almost finished (8 to 10 minutes). Sprinkle butter, garlic and thyme over fish. Carefully turn the filet and cook 30 seconds (I did a minute) before plating.

Slice garlic and fry in butter with almonds on medium heat until golden. Add white wine and fish stock and bring to a boil for a few minutes. Add cream and boil for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a blender and puree until a nice head of foam forms.

Put some vegetables on a plate. Lay a piece of the cod to the side and atop some of the vegetables. Spoon some sauce on the vegetables and fish. Serve immediately.