Cooking in packets produces quick, delicious results

Cooking en papillote creates dishes that are delectable and dramatic. Easy to prepare, too. It’s the classic French technique that bakes ingredients sealed in a parchment-paper pouch. Each parcel contains one serving, and as it bakes the food inside steams in its own juices. Toward the end of baking, each packet balloons into an alluring golden dome. Packets are slipped onto individual plates, and each diner tears or cuts open the package at the table, filling his nostrils with the aroma of fragrant steam.

For those looking for speedier preparation, quick-to-make packets can be made of aluminum foil.

Whether parchment or foil, I think en papillote is one of the best ways to cook fish, especially for company. The fish usually takes less than 12 minutes to cook and the results are impressive. The ingredients team with steam to flavor the fish and create a complementary sauce.

Skinless, delicate fish fillets or medium-firm fish fillets work best. Try sea bass, snapper, halibut or salmon.

The ingredients within the packet can be as simple as a fish fillet topped with chopped fresh herbs, salt, pepper, butter and a tiny splash of dry white wine, dry vermouth or balsamic vinegar. Add a thin slice of lemon or a pinch of citrus zest if you like. Or maybe some sliced squash, such as yellow crookneck, and a teaspoon of chopped shallot.

Chefs love the simplicity of cooking fish en papillote. One of the ways that Jerry Traunfeld, executive chef at The Herbfarm restaurant in Seattle, likes to augment the fish fillets en papillote is to add fresh asparagus tips, carrots cut into match-stick, and sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms along with sliced green onions and a generous amount of dill. Sounds healthful, doesn’t it?

Chef Jamie Gwen, cookbook author and host of a weekly food-related radio show, likes to give salmon en papillote a Provençal touch by adding potatoes, fennel and kalamata olives.

Alfred Portale, chef at the award-winning Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City, bathes striped sea bass en papillote in Asian flavors. He adds green onions, cilantro, ginger and soy sauce.

There are at least three ways to wrap up the ingredients. Whichever approach you use, give the ingredients a little leg room, so the steam can build up within the packet. In other words, leave room between the outside crimped edge and the bundle of ingredients at the center.

-This is the showiest package. Remember cutting out valentines in elementary school? Use the same technique using a folded piece of parchment paper. Fold a 20-by-15-inch sheet of parchment in half and cut out a half-heart shape. Unfold, fill next to the center crease and refold. Crimp the edges to close (see chef Traunfeld’s recipe for crimping specifics). The packet will look like half of a heart.

-A faster and easier approach is to use a 12-inch square of parchment paper. Fold in half, then unfold. Place ingredients in center. Brush edges of parchment with 1 beaten egg white. Fold in half and press edges to seal. Crimp edges to close.

-Using aluminum foil isn’t very glamorous, but it is very efficient. Use 12-inch foil squares, fold in half, and open. Place filling in center. Refold, then crimp edges to close. Once cooked, open packet and place the contents on plates or bowls in the kitchen rather than serving the food in the packets at the table.