Difficulty:[usr 3]
Let the winkles soak for 2 hours in cold water, heavily salted with coarse salt. Boil a pot of water, salt water if possible. Add 2 pinches of cayenne pepper. Rinse the winkles, plunge them into boiling water and let them cook for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on their size. Drain them and take them out of the shells with a toothpick.
Peel the asparagus. Cut them to 7 cm. Cut the removed tails into bevels and put them in a saucepan with 20 g of butter. Let them simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Add salt and pepper. Cover with white background. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Cool by placing the pan on ice. Mix and pass through a sieve (fine strainer).
Open the oysters. Set aside the 12 most beautiful and their water. Crush the other 3 oysters.
Cut 6 asparagus tips into thin strips, lengthwise, using a Japanese mandolin.
Heat 30 g of butter in a sauté pan. Place the asparagus tips in it. Add salt and pepper. Cook them over medium heat, gradually adding a little white stock and shaking the container.
When the asparagus tips are still a bit crunchy and coated in butter, add the 12 oysters, the winkles, the asparagus strips and half the oyster water.
Add 10 g of butter to the cream of asparagus. Whisk. Add the crushed oysters and their water. Heat gently without boiling. Emulsify this sauce by incorporating the whipped cream and a drop of lemon juice. Spice it up slightly with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Arrange 3 oysters, 7 asparagus tips, the winkles and the raw asparagus strips harmoniously on the plates. Add the cream of asparagus around.
Source:Recipe by Jean-Louis Nomicos (L’Atelier d’Alain Ducasse)
