One of the more challenging classical seafood dishes  I know of requires fabricating a whole fish in to perfectly even darnes, trussing the darnes and then gently poaching in a Court Bouillon.
While the darnes are still quite hot, the pin bones need to be pulled (they are on a diagonal), the butcher twine needs to be cut away, the skin needs to be peeled and the seafood must be plated without breaking... and served piping hot with Sauce Hollandaise & boiled, tourneed potatoes.  I repeatedly practiced this dish for the CMC exam with a whole salmon... quite the challenge!

Darne of Salmon   

Fabricating seafood is a tremendous amount of work, requiring experience, proper technique, patience & the correct tools. One of my responsibilites at my first professional cooking jobs was 'fish butcher'. I loved it and remember the fins, bones, gills etc... constantly pricking my fingers when I fabricated a large variety of seafood. Cuts from fish are no fun, they get infected and take a very long time to heal!

These days I wear thick gloves for protection & use strong shears, tweezers, boning knives and a small cleaver to make the job more manageable.

I believe most consumers refer to the thick, cross cut (skin on and with bones) of whole fish as a steak. Chefs call this cut a darne! I rarely see darnes of seafood at national grocery stores but often see this cut at Asian markets.

 There is a small portion of the back bone in the cut which holds he fish together nicely but trussing with butcher's twine is the best way to hold the darne together.


I like to poach the darnes although it's perfectly delicious sautéed or grilled.


These pictures are taken at an outdoor food market in Malaysia. There are many different types of seafood of all shapes and sizes-freshly caught daily.

 

Poached Darne of Salmon

Prep Time: 10 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Yield: 4 portions


Ingredients                                          

4 ea.            Seafood 'steaks'/darnes (salmon, striped bass, cod)

4 Cups       Water

1 Cup           Vinegar (red wine/cider)     

1 Cup           Mirepoix, sliced thin                

1  Tbsp        Kosher Salt                                       

12 ea            Black peppercorns

1 ea              Lemon, sliced thinly

3 ea.            Green onions, sliced thinly 

3 Tbsp       Bay leaves



How to Prepare Poached Darne of Salmon

Step 1

Have your seafood butcher fabricate the seafood carefully to eliminate all scales, grills, fins and blood.

Also request the portions are all the same in size, weight and appearance. Since fish have much different thickness at the tail end than in the middle, the portions may be dramatically different. (and will cook differently).



Step 2 Preparing Court Bouillon

Place the water, mirepoix, lemon slices, vinegar, bay leaves, herbs, seasonings into the pan you will poach the fish in and bring to a boil; simmer for 5 minutes. You can strain if you like.







Place the darnes into the hot court bouillon, making certain the darnes are fully submerged. Allow the fish to poach gently for about 10 minutes at 165 ° F, until the darnes reach an internal temperature of 145° F. Do not boil!







Step 3 

Place the cooked darnes on to a plate, cut the strings off-discard. Carefully trim the skin, blood line and bones from the darnes. You may choose to return the salmon in to the hot court bouillon for a minute or so to reheat after trimming-be careful and use a perforated spatula to avoid breaking the fish.




By Tom Griffiths July 17, 2025
I agreed to be the Chef Advisor for the Gourmet Society at the CIA, an amazing honor to work with some of the best and brightest students. We planned to demonstrate preparing pesto with a mortar and pestle and also with a food processor-then evaluate them both side by side. We all suspected that the food processor would aerate the pesto, possibly the heat generated would be a problem- One student brought in a molcajete, the traditional mortar from Mexico, made from volcanic rock used for grinding spices, making salsas, moles, etc... I'm not sure this was the preferred mortar and pestle to use, these days I often use a marble mortar and pestle and make small batches. The 'mortar and pestle' pesto was much more delicious than the food processor version at the CIA that day.
By Tom Griffiths July 17, 2025
I was born to sauté... I remember thinking this and smiling when I finally made my way up in the kitchen brigade to the Saucier spot. I loved the pulse of the kitchen, working the saute station with a dozen sauté pans on the flat top, delicious stocks and mother sauces held hot in the steam table and carefully prepared mise en place so I could make delicious meals for the customers... one order or two at the time. Everything was cooked with love and respect.
By Tom Griffiths July 15, 2025
I remember my days working as chef/manager for food service cafeterias. People loved muffins for breakfast! We used dry muffin mixes or large tubs of various, premade muffin batters; scooped the batter into muffin tins and made dozens of mini, regular and large sizes daily. I love topping the muffins with garnishes like oats, chocolate chips, streusel, nuts etc... Morning Glory was my favorite, I bet I baked thousands of muffins in my five years at Gardner Merchant! I think my 'go to' muffin is a delicious, corn muffin grilled with butter on a plancha-New Jersey diner style!
By Tom Griffiths July 8, 2025
I remember learning to make an emulsion sauce for called Rouille at Le Cirque. It's one of my favorites! Rouille is a delicious, classic French garlic mayonnaise served with bouillabaisse, a famous, French fish soup. I was taught to use EVOO, saffron, garlic etc... and cooked potato in the recipe. Other famous emulsion sauces include aioli, vinaigrettes, dressings, etc...
By Tom Griffiths July 2, 2025
Biscotti translates to 'twice baked' and apparently was a popular snack for Roman soldiers since the biscotti lasted for days without getting stale. I read Christopher Columbus had biscotti stored away on his voyage to America... In Tuscany, biscotti and vin santo is considered by many to be a perfect pairing. I enjoyed this combination at a cafe in Florence years ago... I love dipping crunchy biscotti into a cup of strong black coffee. 
By Tom Griffiths June 30, 2025
Discover the secrets to earning a Michelin star in the U.S. from Certified Master Chef Tom Griffiths. Learn insider criteria, real examples, and expert tips to help elevate your restaurant’s culinary excellence.
By Tom Griffiths June 23, 2025
The Classical French cooking segment during the CMC exam was extremely difficult for me! Although the format changes slightly from exam to exam, I was required to prepare C onsommé Florial; a baked, Dover Sole course and Roasted Lamb chops with pistachio forcemeat for 10 people-with appropriate sides and sauces. It was probably the hardest day of the 10 day exam for me. I sourced frozen peas (fresh peas were not in season) for the consommé and completely forgot to use them as garnish for my soup! I barely passed that day and managed to totally annoy one of the nicest CMC evaluators... never a smart thing to do! But I still love preparing and eating delicious consommé-great satisfaction when it comes out crystal clear.
By Tom Griffiths June 12, 2025
I think my favorite cobbler was a recipe I developed with Chef Joshua Mackintosh for an ACF student chef competition. We used raspberries, blueberries, strawberries & dark chocolate chips for the filling. It was delicious. Josh came in second place... hmmm \I'm not sure I agreed with that evaluation! hahaha
By Tom Griffiths May 19, 2025
How to build high performing teams that work hard, work together, and inspire each other to do great things. Insights from Certified Master Chef, Thomas Griffiths.
mastering food cost management
By Tom Griffiths April 14, 2025
Whether you're running a kitchen or building a food brand from scratch, managing food costs isn't optional—it’s foundational. Get it wrong, and profitability slips through your fingers. Get it right, and you unlock the freedom to invest in what really matters: better ingredients, better equipment, better people.
More Posts