Avocado with rasberry coulis

Many years ago, I had this as an appetizer during lunch at a restaurant near Toulouse/France. I liked it, so I asked the chef-owner what the ingredients were. He rattled off the list, no amounts or proportions. After lunch (with ample amounts of wine), I wrote down the list as I remembered it. I tried to recreate the recipe at home, and I was quite pleased wit the result. I realized afterwards that I had made one mistake. I had scribbled down "poisson fumé" (smoked fish) instead of "fumet de poisson" (fish stock). Not exactly the same! But I actually like my coulis even better!

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 hours.
Makes 4 servings.
The coulis can be made a day ahead.
Left-over coulis keeps up to a week in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS

4 ripe avocados. This is one per person - if that is too much, make half the recipe.
If the fruit lightly (!) yields to gentle pressure in the palm of your hand, it is ready to be peeled. Do not use over-ripe avocados!!
500 grams (2½ cups = 1 pound) raspberries.
I buy frozen crushed raspberries - much less expensive!
Do not use raspberry jam/confiture as a substitute! The coulis will be much too sweet.
Do not use store-bought coulis. It is basically garbage, but may be OK as ice cream topping.
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon finely pureed smoked fish (no skin or bones!)
I use smoked mackerel; the filets have soft belly areas where you can easily scrape off the meat - no need to puree.
60 grams (1/4 cup) fine crystal sugar (France: sucre en poudre)
3-4 shallots (about 75 grams / 3 oz. cleaned), very finely minced (quick job in a kitchen machine)
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of your favorite oriental fish sauce
I use Vietnamese nuoc mam, but Thai fish sauce is fine too (though much saltier)
alternatively: 1-2 tablespoons (smoked) fish stock, or veal stock, or chicken, or duck stock; as with all stock, use home made if you can - it is not that difficult to make.
In a pinch, you can use "fumet de poisson" fish stock in powdered form. Make sure to get good quality powder: check the list of ingredients on the package for high fish content - at least 20% - and no glutamate; I found Knorr brand to be OK.
2 teaspoons minced garlic paste (crushed garlic may be used in a pinch)
1/2 teaspoon ground anise seeds
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of salt
pinch of fresh ground pepper

EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

sauce pan
frying pan
fine-mesh sieve
large wooden spoon
heat diffuser/distributor for between the sauce pan and the stove burner

PREPARATION / DIRECTIONS

Instructions for the coulis:
thaw out the raspberries (if using frozen) or wash the raspberries (if using fresh)
crush the raspberries
boil in the sauce pan for 1 minute, then reduce heat to a slow simmer
strain through a fine wire-mesh kitchen sieve to remove the seeds. This takes at least 15 minutes of work! Scrape the berries through the sieve with a (wooden) spatula or large spoon. Don't forget to scrape the outside of the sieve once in a while.
you should end up with about 350 grams (12 oz) of strained raspberry - if not, you just have not put enough effort in the scraping...
return the seedless raspberry puree to the sauce pan, and bring to slow simmer again (you probably need a heat diffuser/distributor under the pan!)
add the raspberry vinegar, sugar, garlic, lemon juice, smoked fish, fish sauce
slowly (!) cook the minced shallots in some butter until cooked, translucent, and soft (not fried, crispy golden!)
add to the coulis and stir in
over very low heat (you should use a regular heat diffuser/distributor between the pot and the gas burner), reduce the coulis to the desired consistency. This may take at least 1 hour. Stir once in a while.
do not cover the pot, otherwise the sauce can't boil down. As raspberry stains are hard to remove, you may want to partially cover the pot with a splash screen.
this is not supposed to be a thin, sweet puree!! When warm, it should at least have the consistency of very thick ketchup or BBQ sauce
stir in the salt and pepper.

Instructions for the avocados:
cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Rotate the halves to separate. Remove the seed by sliding the tip of a spoon gently underneath and lifting out.
The other common seed-extraction technique - stabbing the seed with a knife - can be dangerous, so I should not recommend it.
peel the fruit by placing the cut side down and removing the skin with a knife or your fingers, or simply scoop out the avocado meat with a spoon.
keep the avocado halves in one piece, don't bugger them up!
if you peel the avocados more than 30 minutes before serving, put the peeled halves back into their skin - with the seed! Otherwise the avocado will turn brown. You can also lightly rub the halves with some some lemon juice.
place avocado on individual serving saucer, cut-side down
cover each avocado half generously with warm raspberry coulis, and drizzle some around the avocado as well

SERVING & GARNISH SUGGESTIONS

the coulis must be served rather warm!
do not put the coulis on the avocados until just before serving!
serve with dry white wine
presentation may be improved by decorating with half slice of lemon + half slice of lime + slice of carambola (star fruit) over which some chopped chives have been sprinkled