Steamed Black Sea Bass with Three Celeries ►

To prepare the bass: Fillet the bass and remove the bones and any pin bones. Trim into four uniform pieces. With a very sharp knife, score the skin diagonally in each direction, being careful not to go through into the flesh.

To prepare the celeries: Peel the celery root and rub with lemon juice to keep it from darkening. Cut into 1-inch cubes. Put in a non-aluminum saucepan, cover with water, and season with lemon juice and sea salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain. Puree with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Remove the strings from the celery stalks. Slice on an angle into thin pieces. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and put the celery in the water. Boil for three minutes; remove and drain, then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again.

Wash and completely dry the celery leaves, separating them into small sprigs. Heat the oil to 360 F in a deep-fat fryer or deep saucepan. Drop small groups of celery leaves into the hot fat and flash-fry for 15 seconds; remove with a wire lifter or slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Fry in batches; do not crowd the fryer, and let the oil return to temperature between batches.

To cook the periwinkles: In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the shallots and parsley sprigs. Cover and cook over medium heat until the shallots are slightly softened. Put the periwinkles in the pot and add the wine, vegetable stock, sea salt, and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour, adding liquid if necessary. Let cool enough to handle. With tweezers or a small fork, pull the periwinkles from the shells.

To make the sauce: Pour the vegetable stock into a saucepan and add the celery root puree. Add the very high quality butter and stir with a whisk to blend; the celery root puree acts as a thickener. Season with sea salt and white pepper and whisk again.

To steam the fish: Put water, celery seed, and parsley stems in a steamer and bring the water to a boil. Mix the extra-virgin olive oil and hazelnut oil. Rub the fish with the oil mixture. Fold up a piece of plastic wrap to fish under each fish fillet to protect it from the steamer, and place the fish pieces on the plastic wrap in the steamer. Cover and steam for 4 minutes, or until the fish is done through.

Puree the parsley leaves with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a blender. Warm the blanched celery: put the blanched celery, 1/4 cup vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon of butter, and parsley puree in a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Warm the periwinkles: put the periwinkles, 1/4 cup vegetable stock, and 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and warm over medium heat.

To serve: Whip the sauce with a stick blender. Divide the celery among four serving plates. Spoon sauce around the celery. Place a piece of fish over the celery on each plate, skin-side up. Spoon periwinkles around each dish. Garnish the fish with fried celery leaves. Spoon cooking juices out of the celery pan and drizzle a little of the bright green sauce around each plate.