Fish Mousses

THERE ARE TWO CLASSIC TYPES of fish mousse. One type is made with cooked fish and served cold. If you have ever made a salmon mousse with mayonnaise, heavy cream, and gelatin, you are familiar with this style. Hot fish mousses, mousselines de poisson, are made differently.

Classically, a mousseline de poisson was made by pounding uncooked fish in a large mortar with a pestle until the strands of muscle fiber were stretched and broken down to form a gummy, springy paste. Egg whites were then pounded into the fish paste. Once smooth, this paste was forced through a fine sieve, leaving any bones, tendons, or fibrous tissue behind. This refined fish paste was then chilled, and cream was added until it became the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes.