Cod En Papillote

There’s this place in Savannah our friends told us to check out when we went on our honeymoon. It’s called Papillote, and the place was delicious. If there’s a specific cuisine I enjoy more than others, it probably would have to be French. Every time we go to Savannah, which is only two hours away from where we are, we have to stop at Papillote. I had to know what exactly their name meant and it simply means “parchment.” With my research, I found a dish that is literally called en papillote, “in parchment.” When you cook en papillote, you can get super creative while being super simple. It’s so easy, so fancy, and great for multiple people. It’s a beautiful meal that is so light, you won’t feel bad about eating a ton of cookies later. One of my favorite things about this dish is you have to cut out a heart and turn that heart into a package. I wanted to write about how fun it is to open your dinner from a package, but then I thought about how that’s exactly what frozen meals are. I assure you, this isn’t a frozen meal and it will delight you and your guests. You can put whatever you want in it, but they are usually made with fish. I’ll tell what I did, but I’d love for you to choose your own ingredients.

Like many others, I love the way blood oranges look. They are a beautiful blush red and I wanted that bright subtle citrus flavor to my dish. I decided to go with Cod because it’s easy to cook, flaky, meaty, and good for you! I have some broccolini, sliced leeks, roasted garlic, and delicious olive oil! I do wish I added some sort of heat to this, but there are so many more opportunities to make this in the future.

The hardest part to this dish is the wrapping, and it’s not even that difficult. The whole point to the papillote is to lock in all the steam, so your heart needs to be sealed. I feel like there is a life lesson in that sentence, but we’ll leave it and just reference the food.I brought in my gentleband to demonstrate where to fold your creases. Starting at the top of the heart, fold one crease. Your next crease should start where his finger is. If it doesn’t make sense, there are a ton of videos, just watch them; that’s exactly what I do.

So simple, so delicious, and so quick.

I’m not really going to write a recipe for this, because it is so simple and you can get creative. I will note that if you do not go to a market to get fresh fish, be sure to pat dry your fish. Please let me know if you’ve made this dish before! If you haven’t made this, let me know what you’d personally put in yours!