Coral Butters

Coral butters can be approached in several ways, depending on how they will be used. When destined to finish a sauce, the raw coral is typically worked with an equal amount of butter (by volume—it’s okay to eye it) and forced through a fine-mesh drum sieve.

When coral butters are served as an accompaniment to foods such as grilled fish, some chefs prefer to cook the coral for a minute or two before working it with the butter. Raw coral will, however, always have more subtlety and a brighter flavor than cooked. When using raw coral to prepare compound butters, it must be impeccably fresh. Raw coral, especially lobster coral, is extremely perishable and should be used within hours of killing the lobsters.