Vegetarian version of French Laundry cornets?

Hello. We've got vegetarian guests for dinner tomorrow night. Any suggestions on a substitute for the salmon tartare in Keller's cornets? The cornet has sweet red onion creme fraiche, chives, shallots, salt, pepper in a black sesame tuile.

Thanks!

aughmag,

Why bother with vegetarian? Those cornets are made with butter and egg white. (We make them by the hundreds at work) You might want to re-think your menu.

The guests are vegetarian, not vegan. Butter, eggs and cheese are welcome. I really like the cornets, but I'm just looking to substitute the salmon tartare with something equally interesting, texturally speaking. These are just being served as canapes.

Eggplant caponata, tapenade, egg salad, vegetarian "mock" chopped liver. Scoop out perfect rounds from a wheel of brie with a Parisienne scoop dipped in hot water. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Maybe some sort of an herbed cream cheese in place of the salmon? Maybe the herbs could sort of match what's already in there, but add a bit of sea salt to make up for the saltiness that would be lost by nixing the salmon. Plus it would still have that cool, smooth texture that the salmon would've given it.

I am not a culinary professional (or even particularly skilled in that way), just throwing stuff out there

capers, soaked in a couple of changes of cold water to remove some of the brininess so as not to overpower the dish. Or be seasonal and make some ramp caviar: cook the ramps in vegetable stock, puree, blend in some alginate, drop via a syringe into a calcium chloride solution, then drain, rinse, and place on top of the cornets.

So what you're looking for is an alternative ingredient to simulate a dish that is already attempting to be clever by simulating an ice cream cone? Doesn't that mean you should simulate the salmon using vanilla ice cream?

Continuing Mike's theme, you could also use the ramp caviar technique I described to make a "beet cherry" to top the cones. Beet juice pureed with alginate, then slightly larger syringe drops into a calcium chloride solution.

Mike G wrote:So what you're looking for is an alternative ingredient to simulate a dish that is already attempting to be clever by simulating an ice cream cone? Doesn't that mean you should simulate the salmon using vanilla ice cream?

you're quite right. but i'll go with strawberry. it's pink.

Zucchini carpaccio? I did this to go with Leverpastej, it's easy, bright and it has some of the texture you're looking for.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

Please let us know how it turns out (love to see pictures, too.)