Papillote of sea-bass with garlic butter

The most arcane way of using the oven is to cook en papillote. This requires the fish and any other ingredients to be sealed in a foil parcel. The pressure builds up inside the parcel, making it puff up like a balloon, and swiftly cooks the contents. It is a method that appealed to the sense of theatre of swish restaurants in the 1970s because it gives the impression of a successful conjuring trick: when the papillote is brought to the table it is pierced and all the trapped a