Beachcomber Magazine 03

Chef Nived Puresh PAN-FRIED RED SNAPPER AND PRAWNS’ TAILS WITH CUMIN VIEILLE POÊLÉE ET QUEUES DE CREVETTES AU CUMIN A recipe is an open book where you can read between the lines. And so it is with this pan-fried red snapper and prawns’ tails with cumin. Une recette est un livre ouvert. On peut y lire entre les lignes. Ainsi celle de la Vieille poêlée et queues de crevettes au cumin. BY FRANÇOIS SIMON B ehind this dish hides its author, chef Nived Puresh, a Mauritian through and through, striding along the beaches of his childhood, admiring the waves and colluding with the fishermen. All that reverberates in his recipe for red snapper… WIDENING THE HORIZON Snappers are simple fish that are very popular in Mauritius. They include numerous species and are known by interesting, highly colourful and folkloric names. Chef Puresh is something of a fish expert. Since childhood, when fish was cooked for the family meals in a ragout or a curry, he has retained both the taste and the spirit, although now he presents it in a more contemporary fashion. The red snapper has found its claim to fame, and all thanks to the spices that pierce the sauce (sea urchin butter) and the prawns. There’s cumin, blowing its own trumpet around the tender white flesh, and curcuma, a ray of sunshine to brighten up the sauces, (not to mention its multiple health benefits), and which gives the dish its Mauritian flavour, sun-drenched, welcoming and above all, diverse. It is true to say that the island’s great strength lies in its ability to take from all over the world what will most contribute to its contentment. Hence this curcuma, the jewel from India and Malaysia. It emerges from its terroir, embraces the whole world, and adds richness to any dish. A great recipe has the propensity to come together to widen, rather than shrink, the horizon. THE NOBILITY OF A DISH When he works with fish, chef Puresh is not one to brusque it. Just watch him! The fish holds  © Photograph BEYOND Photogrpahy ltd