Filet de Loup de Mer au Citron de Menton

You'll need: 2 shallots, finely sliced · 20g unsalted butter (Estate Dairy Cultured Butter, if you can find it, though any good quality unsalted butter works beautifully) · a small pinch of fine sea salt

Patience earns its reward here. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over a low to medium heat, nothing higher. Add the sliced shallots and a small pinch of salt, stir gently, and let them sweat, not colour, for 8 to 10 minutes. You're coaxing them into translucency and quiet sweetness, not rushing them to gold. This base is the backbone of the sauce that finishes the dish, a shallot that's been hurried carries a raw edge no amount of lemon can fix. You'll know it's ready when the shallots are completely translucent, collapsed, and soft, mild and yielding if you taste one, no sharp raw edge.

You'll need: 80ml dry white wine · a small knick of unsalted butter, for the frying pan

Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the white wine. Let it bubble and reduce aggressively until the pan is nearly dry and the shallots sit in a glossy, concentrated slick, the alcohol burning off, leaving pure, focused flavour behind. While that reduces, get a wide frying pan properly hot, add a small knick of butter, and when the foam begins to subside, that pan is ready. The reduction and the pan heating can happen side by side if you're confident, or one at a time if you'd rather, neither way is wrong.

You'll need: 2 sea bass fillets, skin on, patted dry and seasoned · 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced, fronds reserved · 100ml fish stock or light vegetable stock · fine sea salt and white pepper

The fennel goes in first, added to the reduced shallots with the fish stock, seasoned lightly, lid on loosely, medium-low, braised gently for 12 to 15 minutes until tender but still with a little resistance. While it braises, sear the sea bass, skin side down in the hot pan, pressed gently but firmly for the first 30 seconds so the skin can't curl away. Then leave it entirely alone, 4 to 5 minutes, watching the flesh turn opaque from the bottom up. When it's opaque about two-thirds of the way up, flip and cook the flesh side for no more than a minute. Official food safety guidance recommends fish reaches an internal temperature of 63°C or 145°F. Rest the fish skin side up to keep it crisp while you build the sauce. Wash your hands and any surfaces that touched the raw fish before handling anything else.

You'll need: 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, roughly 1 lemon · 60g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, kept cold

The moment that separates a beautiful plate from a very good one, and it does require your full attention. With the shallot and wine reduction still over low heat, add the lemon juice, let it bubble briefly for 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat entirely, or down to the lowest flame your hob allows. Begin adding the cold butter cubes one or two at a time, whisking constantly between each addition. The cold butter emulsifies into the warm, acidic reduction, glossy, light, coating without being heavy. If the pan gets too hot, lift it off the heat for a few seconds while you keep whisking, too cold, return it briefly. You're looking for a consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Season, taste, adjust.

You'll need: Finely grated zest of 1 lemon · Maldon sea salt flakes

Ne cachez jamais un bon poisson, and this fish needs nothing more than what it already is, the finish should lift rather than cover. Lemon zest scattered over the fish and sauce, perfuming the whole dish the moment it hits the warmth. A few feathery fennel fronds if you kept them. A small pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes directly onto the skin sharpens that final crisp. A last squeeze of lemon if it needs it, taste and trust yourself. This dish is made for the table immediately, it won't wait graciously.