Smoked Salmon Roses with Caviar
Roasted lobster tails with creamy beurre blanc served with smoked salmon roses with caviar
City/Region: France
Time Period: 1970s
The luxury dining experience that came with the exorbitant price tag of a ticket aboard the supersonic airliner Concorde (about $9,000 in 2026 money for a one-way ticket from New York to London) included an exclusive lounge experience at the airport and continued with a multi-course meal in the air.
Here I’m recreating a dish from a photo aboard Concorde of smoked salmon shaped into roses, garnished with crème fraîche and caviar. The caviar served aboard Concorde would have been beluga, of course, but feel free to opt for a more reasonably priced alternative. I used white sturgeon caviar, which was still a bit of a splurge.
Ingredients:
- Smoked salmon, 4 to 5 slices per 2 roses
- Crème fraîche, about 1 tablespoon per rose
- Caviar, about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per rose
Instructions:
- Lay 4 to 5 slices of smoked salmon in a line, each piece slightly overlapping the one next to it. If your pieces are somewhat rectangular, lay them lengthwise so that the line is as long as possible.
- Starting at the short end, roll the line of smoked salmon slices up. You don’t want it too tight, but tight enough so that they’ll hold together. Once it’s rolled up, if it’s more than about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, slice it in half so you have two rolls.
- Place the rolls cut side down on a serving plate and splay the edges that are facing up so that it looks like a blooming rose.
- Pipe some crème fraîche into the center of each rose, and you can add some more on a slice of smoked salmon on the side if you like.
- Dollop a bit of caviar on top of the crème fraîche, and serve it forth with the Lobster with Beurre Blanc for a taste of dining aboard Concorde.