CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
UBS [Union Bank of Switzerland], Rue des Noirettes, 35 Centre des Acacias 1227 Carouge, Genève, Switzerland, September 28, 1954
Not unexpectedly, François Caussidière made the introductions all around. Every man in the meeting was impressed with the man’s prodigious memory. Antoine was in the process of changing his mind about the man facet by facet as each new aspect presented itself. No longer did any of the Gebirgsjägers think of Caussidière as just an opportunist, or just a wanna-be SS officer, or just a fixer, or just the best connected man in the postwar world. He was all of those, and undoubtedly more.
“It is with pleasure that we welcome you to Switzerland and to the UBS,” Liert Beili Amstutz said with a broad smile on his face.
Antoine had to laugh inside because he knew that the man would not have met his glance had he come into the bank looking to deposit a hundred francs to his account, let alone had they met when he and the other Gebirgsjägers were in the gulag, or in Bad Kreuznach—Lager Galgenberg und Bretzenheim PWTE, or in POW camp 63.
He was also amused—and again did not show it—at the fussy little man’s appearance. He was perfect, but in miniature. Amstutz was barely over five feet tall and had tiny hands and feet. His gleaming black wingtip shoes had to have been custom-made. He had a Rolex watch that would have fit a ten-year-old and a discreet but beautiful diamond pinky ring. His suit—presumably custom-tailored—was black as coal and free of any design. It was practically an antiadvertisement for pinstripes or colored flecks in the material. He was wearing a deep maroon tie—bow tie, of course—who would have expected anything any different? He had on a freshly starched French cuff white dress shirt without so much as a spec of dust or a loose crumb from his morning coffee cake. He had a handsome—more accurately, pretty—face, and a fine-boned small one. His eyes were silver-gray and intelligent. He did not miss a thing. His nose was slender and his ears were small and attached close to his head. He had curly black hair which had obviously been cut that morning. Not a hair was out of place. He had a pencil mustache which could have been painted on by an artist and a perfect small triangle of a beard below his thin lower lip.
The effect on Antoine and his men was exactly what Liert Amstutz wanted it to be. They were immediately convinced that the man was the very definition of rectitude and safety. Their money and treasure would be safe with this man.
“Now, gentlemen, I have been given to understand that you are bringing a significant-sized set of commodities which are of rather impressive value.”
“Yes, they do,” Caussidière answered for the SS men, which annoyed Antoine and Michaele.
“Have you a round figure estimate of the value of the commodities you wish to entrust to the care and keeping of the bank?”
Caussidière opened his mouth to answer, but Michaele gave him a look that said, “Don’t.”
“We can do better than that, Herr Amstutz. I have here an itemized list of what is in our possession. Granted, the figures are only estimates; but you will note that the value is considerable. Of course, the bank will have to have professional evaluators give you and us a more precise value.”
When he saw the figure on the well-preserved ledger sheet Michaele had prepared during his travels of the ODESSA trucks, Amstutz allowed a tiny crack to appear in his serious mask of a face. It was what passed for a smile in the austerely careful banker.
“We will be happy to provide security for your goods, gentlemen. Our director of security will discuss where the valuables are being kept for safekeeping, and how to transfer them to the UBS vaults. Our appraisers will evaluate the valuables; and after that analysis is complete, we can meet again to determine the disposition of the total assets according to your wishes. For the moment, the bank’s main question is whether or not you wish to include this set of assets in your already active account; or if you will prefer a separate account.”
Antoine answered, “Include everything in the same account with the same requirements for access, codes and passwords, and withdrawals, please, Herr Amstutz.”
“Very well. Would a meeting in a week suit your convenience?”
“Yes. However, we think it will take somewhat longer to tally the assets. We are prepared to wait in Geneva for the results.”
“Of course. How shall we contact you?”
“Through Herr Caussidière. However, one of our men will be present with the assets at all times, twenty-four hours a day, and at whatever location the assets are kept.”
“Perfectly understandable, General. In addition—per bank policy—our security staff will also be constantly present. Let me assure you that they are most capable, heavily armed, and absolutely serious about their work.”
“Thank you, Herr Amstutz. We look forward to our next meeting.”
Bank security staff escorted Antoine, Michaele, and François Caussidière out of the bank to waiting limousines.
“Where to?” asked Caussidière.
“The valuables,” Michaele answered with authority.
The men who had remained with the trucks asked a flurry of questions, most of which were premature, and for which the answers were usually, “We have to wait for the final tally. That is likely to take some time.”
Michaele set to work to organize a schedule of security responsibilities for the Gebirgsjägers for the next month, planning ahead for a longer-than-expected effort to obtain accurate appraisals in an atmosphere of almost paranoid security. Antoine gave some hard and unpopular orders: no drinking, clubbing, women, phone calls except for the business at hand, and no loose lips. Caussidière arranged for the men to stay in the elegant Hotel des Bergues, the city’s first hotel, founded in 1834 at 33 Quai des Bergues on Lake Geneva. The men laughed out loud when they heard the price of a night’s stay and compared the hotel accommodations to their lodgings for the past ten or so years.
Antoine asked Caussidière if he was keeping track of expenses.
“But of course Mein Freund, I am first a Nazi and second a businessman. The accounting will be complete in due time.”
Antoine thought to himself, I can just bet.
The Gebirgsjägers were famished; so, François hurried them to the Domaine de Châteauvieux in the the magnificient Satigny vineyards of the Château de Peney, fifteen minutes west of central Geneva. The ambiance was inspiring: original sixteenth century beams and paneling, cobbled walls, a period fireplace, solid wood furniture, and walls covered with expensive artwork and statuary. The place inspired a much needed atmosphere of calm and tranquility, and everyone expected it to be the perfect setting to enjoy a gourmet dîner. The maître d showed them to the Chef’s Table.
Caussidière addressed the maître d, “For starters bring us the seared force-fed duck liver Foie Gras, green tomato and strawberry chutney, caramel with spices, and mixed plate of shellfish and chanterelles.” He paused for a moment to peruse the menu before continuing. “For the entrée, let us have a family-style arrangement with the baby leek, chinese cabbage in Mount Lebanon saffron threads sauce, Zucchini flowers filled with red-clawed crayfish mousseline in almond and tarragon sauce, Ile-d’Yeu fillet of sole cooked with mushrooms crust, razor shell clams stuffed with frégola and shellfish in pink champagne, poultry jus flavoured with oxalis. It’s a celebration; so, we can be wasteful. Include the gilt head bream and the razor shell clam stuffed with frégola.”
The meat course was Limousin rack of lamb and hay cooked in a sealed casserole, Zucchini flower filled with nicoise vegetables, lemon puree, jus perlé with olive oil spit roasted chicken from bresse stir-fried broad beans and artichokes, jus enhanced with savory. Dessert was left to the choice of the maître d.’ It was a gastronomic extravaganza: hot and creamy pure Venezuelan chocolate biscuit, with Tahaa vanilla ice cream, and “Arlette” caramelized puff pastry with red berries, lemon thyme jus and torrified pistachio ice cream.
The appetites of every man after years and years of want were fully surfeited, and the resulting abdominal pain was soothed with appropriate wines with each course: for l’entrée,—the fish and chicken required Neuchâtelois; and the lamb required Rosé Champagne. The dessert was topped off with sweet Domaine Le Grand Clos, empreinte Passerillé, and the fine Cuban cigars were served with the Michelin-starred restaurant’s best Merlet C2 Cassis and crackers daubed with soft bris.
It was sheer gluttony and a beginning and partial payback for the past decade of deprivation.
§§§§§§
Despite Antoine’s lingering doubts about Caussidière, the man came through for the Gebirgsjägers again during the week they waited for the bank to complete its exacting work.
He took Antoine and Michaele aside as soon as they were settled into their suites at the hotel and said, “I mentioned earlier that your identity documents issued by the Commissione Pontificia d’Assistenza [Vatican Refugee Organization] are not sufficient in and of themselves. They were, rather, the first stop in a paper trail to pass muster for permanent and genuine passports, travel overseas, birth certificates, union membership, and the like. However, I have taken standard measures to take care of that minor glitch in the system. I have invited Archbishop Carlo Romani, C.S.Sp. of the Vatican’s liaison office with the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] to meet us at the hotel today to explain the ICRC and the Vatican’s role in the final process.
“As he makes his way to us, let me tell you that I and the ODESSA have often sought Archbishop Romani out; and his role in assisting escapes is very well known on the Nazi grapevine. He is hardly the only Catholic priest who helps our cause. We sometimes use Father Jason Gallent-Dupres who is very effective in funneling our people through his Vatican-approved Hungarian Refugee Charity. He has experts in the preparation of what appear to be authentic ICRC documents.”
Archbishop Romani got up from an adjacent table and walked briskly across the room to the table where Antoine, Michaele, and Antoine were sitting. As he approached, Caussidière explained the importance of the man.
“He is what is known as a Spiritan here in Continental Europe. The English and Americans call them Holy Ghost Fathers. Their order is the Congregatio Sancti Spiritus sub tutela Immaculati Cordis Beatissimae Virginis Mariae or Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the Protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His name or title includes the initials C.S.Sp. after his name. What that means for you is that his word is believed without question and his influence is boundless among Catholics, including governmental officials. He is our friend … one of our best friends.”
He was a tall, elderly stick thin man with piercing dark eyes, aquiline nose, full lips, and high cheek bones. His slightly olive-tinted skin coloration made it difficult to guess his ethnic origins. He was dressed simply—a black cassock with amaranth trim and purple fascia, along with a pectoral cross and episcopal ring—making no attempt to disguise his prominent position in the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy. The general effect gave him the appearance of the Keeper of the Crypt.
“May I?” the high-ranking Vatican prelate asked politely.
“Of course, Your Grace,” Caussidière said deferentially.
“I understand that you men are in need of the intercession of the Vatican in an important matter. Am I correct?”
“You are,” Caussidière responded quickly.
“I thank God that He and the Holy See have granted me permission to visit and comfort many victims in their prisons and concentration camps and to help them escape with false identity papers. The so-called ‘Allies’’ war against Germany was not a crusade for the right as they would have the world believe, but the rivalry of rich Western economies for whose victory they fought. Make no mistake, this was business; and it depended on crass advertisement. They used catchphrases like democracy, race, religious liberty, and Christianity as a bait for the ignorant masses. Because of what I have seen myself, I have felt duty-bound since 1945 to devote my whole rather extensive charitable work to aid former National Socialists and Fascists, especially the so-called ‘war criminals.’ We help with logistical support and money. We have agents who find and maintain escape routes, and more importantly we can provide false papers including identity documents issued by the Vatican Refugee Organisation (Commissione Pontificia d’Assistenza) which are unassailable.
“These Vatican papers are technically not full passports, and not in themselves enough to gain passage overseas. They are–instead–the first and most important stop in the paper trail required by the so-called ‘Allies.’ We can–for example–provide a displaced person passport from the ICRC, which in turn could be used to apply for visas. In theory, the ICRC performs background checks on passport applicants; but in real-world practice the word of a priest or particularly a bishop such as me is good enough and is accepted at face value. I can also use my position as an archbishop to request papers from the ICRC made out according to my exact specifications.
“How may I be of service to you unfortunate displaced persons?” he asked without a hint of guile on his priestly face.
“These gentlemen are newly arrived in Switzerland and have been able to come here through the kind ministrations of the Vatican already. They have papers from Konstanz.”
“Ah, I understand,” the prelate said. “You are displaced persons in need of formal documentation, including visas and passports. Because you are displaced persons who have suffered greatly, your own papers have been taken from you. This would make you men without a country, which is a cruel unkindness that the Holy Church feels is uncivilized and unchristian. It is something I can remedy. Without being boastful, it is true that I have a certain degree of influence. Despite the current spate of illegal, stolen, and forged ICRC papers, my signature will remove any darkness of doubt about the authenticity of your documentations. Would you like me to do that for you?”
Antoine and Michaele answered in unison, “We would be most obliged, Your Grace.”
Antoine added, “How could we repay you for this great service?”
“No such payment is necessary or needed. My fellow clerics and I consider it our duty to help pilgrims such as yourselves who have suffered from the ungodly communists. Perhaps it would not be asking too much for you to continue to further the struggle against the atheists.”
“Certainly not. We have every desire to serve the Church in that end. Thank you, Your Grace.”
Archbishop Romani C.S.Sp. asked no further questions and wrote a letter to his personal contact in the International Red Cross—a man who owed his position to the archbishop—who then issued the genuine visas, passports, and necessary foundational identification documents. Two days later, they were in the hands of the Gebirgsjägers.
Eight days later, a call came through from UBS, Geneva, to Caussidière Enterprises International. The caller insisted upon talking only to Antoine or Michaele and would not leave a message. He was willing to wait while one of the two men was found.
It took ten minutes to locate Michaele.
“Yes,” he said into the receiver.
“Liert Beili Amstutz from UBS. Our experts have finished the appraisal and the accounting. With your approval, we are ready to move the assets into the bank’s vault. Would two o’clock fit your schedule?”
“I will make it fit. Thank you for calling, Herr Amstutz.”
Antoine was still in the hotel sitting down to Frühstück [breakfast] with Willibald Movius, Rolf Kohns, Jérôme Christophe Mailhot, Hugues Beauchamp, Serge Alain Rounsavall, and Heinz Rudolph Grüber who had succeeded to the head of the ODESSA unit that had traveled to Brienne le Chateâu, POW camp 63, to extract the Gebirgsjägers. His superior officer had died in the battle at Konstanz, Baden-Wurttemberg. They were finishing a heavy German meal of porridge, cold meats, sausages, pickles, cheeses, a variety of breads smeared with sweet butter, jam, marmalade, and honey, soft-boiled eggs, and a bowl of fresh-cut fruit in orange juice. Michaele strode into the breakfast and whispered to Antoine.
Antoine said, “We’ll all go. We are now partners.”
Michaele looked briefly askance at Antoine who stood up, faced him, and mouthed, “Only real members of the 33rd will still be standing in the end.”
He led the men back to the Caussidière compound to take their turns watching the treasure trucks. Everyone was as anxious as children until one-thirty finally arrived. The stroke of the half hour was heralded by the arrival of a heavily armed Swiss army unit and six armored vehicles from the bank that joined the Gebirgsjägers and ODESSA partisans. Needless to say the two-mile trip was uneventful. Swiss people are conditioned not to pay attention to the business of other people; and no one seemed to notice the convoy of army, bank, and civilian security forces driving into the basement of the bank.
Herr Liert Beili Amstutz met the Germans and Caussidière in the basement and had them escorted to his office.
He was not a man for idle chatting. A servant poured a glass of water for each man, then Amstutz spoke.
“There are only two planned items on the agenda for this gathering. First, I will hand out copies of the appraisal and accounting sheets; then, we will determine the disposition of the assets. I presume that only generals Duvalier and Dupont have the password code.”
Antoine nodded.
“And, further, that is your preference for the future?”
Both Antoine and Michaele nodded in response to that question.
“Do you wish all men gathered here to see the appraisal and accounting, generals?”
“We have no secrets from these, our brethren,” said Antoine.
“Good. We will proceed.”
He handed out a copy to each man. None of them could keep a placid expression. They began to smile, to laugh, and to salute each other.
What the men saw was an accounting sheet with the UBS letterhead which gave subtotals and totals of value in US dollars (USD), Great Britain pound sterling (GBP), Swiss francs (CHF), and Deutschemarks (DEM) at the day’s exchange rates. The accounting was for cash only with the amounts for tangible items to follow. The cash tally read:
1100 hours, September 28, 1953 exchange rates: USD 1.0, GBP .36, CHF 4.37, DEM 4.2 |
|
SUBTOTALS |
TOTALS |
| USD $582,000,000 | & $1,700,000,000 |
| GBP £295,598,970 | & £612,000,000 |
| CHF SFr 2,543,340,000 | & SFr 7,429,000,000 |
| DEM DM 2,444,400,000 | & DM 7,140,000,000 |
None of the men had ever seen any one man’s name or small group of men’s names linked to such staggering numbers. They had never known a man or a family with seven billion marks, and now they were to share equally in this colossal windfall. It almost made their time of suffering in the camps worth it. But not quite. Each man—in his own heart of hearts—intended to see that the Allies and the traitors pay every farthing the Gebirgsjägers were owed before satisfaction would be achieved, even if it required battle.
Herr Amstutz summed it up for the Germans: “This is a magnificent treasury to start the Fourth Reich, but that great accomplishment will wait for another day and will likely require Shakespeare’s pound of flesh—as he said in The Merchant of Venice and a great deal of blood.”
He adroitly left out the fact that the character who uttered that bit of quotation that would likely stand the test of time for as long as civilization persisted … was Shylock, the Jew. There was not a Christian or a Hebrew among the Germans; but they all agreed with the JudeoChristian Bible where it required eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.
Amstutz took Antoine aside and asked what he wanted done with the physical assets other than the great masses of cash money.
“I will work with Herr Caussidière to convert those physical assets into bank account values. We will need to take a year or two to melt down the loose gold.”
He was referring to the wedding rings and other jewelry and the gold teeth contributed by the Jews at the Konzentrationslagers [concentration camps] such as Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblinka, Dachau, Mauthausen, Bergen-Belsen, and the scores of lesser known camps—and to the plan to sell off the resulting gold ingots and to make wise investments outside the low-yield prospects of banks. It was about numbers and wise investments. None of the men had even a passing nag from his conscience about the human cost.
Swiss French Recipes
Ile-d’Yeu Fillet of Sole Cooked with Mushrooms Crust—for 16
Ingredients
• For the sole—7.2 kg sole (900g/piece), 40 g black truffles, pinch of French sea salt “Fleur de sel,” 160 g slightly salted butter, 160 g truffle perfume crust.
• For the truffle crouton (400g)—g butter, 160 g bread crumbs, 64 g minced truffle, 40 g puree of truffles (see below), 2 g garlic.
• For the truffle puree (600 g)—720 g truffle, 2.0 cl truffle oil.
• For the truffle-scented spinach (880 g)—180 g spinach, 120 g truffles diced small, 200 g heavy cream, 40 g butter, 40 g truffle oil, 180 g shallots, chopped, salt and pepper to taste.
• For the champagne sauce (5.2 l)—440 g butter, 800 g mushroom of Paris, sliced, 20 g coarse-ground black pepper, 400 g shallots, sliced, 200 g celery, 40 g lovage, sliced, 300 dl champagne, 800 g lobster claws, 8 dl champagne, 200g lobster claws, 8 dl shellfish jus, 20 dl heavy cream, 160 g lemon.
• For the clarified consommé (2.4 l)—200 g green part of leek, 600 g sole trimmings, 4 matured tomato, about 240 g, 320 g egg white, French sea salt “Fleur de sel” to taste.
• For the consommé of sole (1.0 l)—Sole bones, 160 g butter, 200 g shallots, 200 g onions, 400 g mushrooms, 4 pieces tip of thyme, 2.0 pieces laurel leaf, 240 cl water, 160 cl champagne, 1.0 cac chili, parsley stems, French sea salt “Fleur de sel” to taste.
• For the crawfish (6.0 kg)—20 kg large ‘red-legged’ crawfish, 2.0 kg concentrated fumet of crawfish (see below), 20 l court bouillon (nage écrevisse, see below), 4 g ascorbic acid.
• For the nage ecrevisse (20 l.)—20 cl white vinegar, 400 g coarse grained salt, 20 g white pepper in grain, 20 g coriander in grain, 45 g dry fennel, 300 g lemon, 32 g garlic
• For the fumet of crawfish (2.8 kg)—16 pieces big ‘red-legged’ crawfish, 320 pieces crawfish heads, 24 cl olive oil, 240 g butter, 320 g butter of fennel, 80 g garlic, 480 g very matured tomato, 200 g tomato paste, 40 cl dry white wine, 40 cl cognac, 200 cl fumet of lobster (see below) 120 cl water, 4 pcs scent bouquet (tails of parsley, thyme, 2 laurel leaves), 20 g dry fennel, 2 bunches basil, 8 g black pepper.
• For the lobster fumet (2.8 kg)—24 heads lobster without shell, 400 g fresh fennel, 400 g white onions, 48 g garlic, 2.0 kg tomato, 210 g tomato concentrate, 16 cl fine champagne, 40 cl extra virgin olive oil, 320 g butter, 4 bunches fresh basil, black pepper grains, wild fennel.
• To finish (per serving)—4 pc sole, 200 g truffle-scented spinach, 120 g champagne sauce, 200 g consommé of sole, 80 g mushroom of Paris, 20 g truffles, 180 g crawfish.
Preparation:
• For the lobster fumet:
-Cut the entire lobster bisque and the lobster heads into large round slices. Cook in a cast-iron casserole with some olive oil. Add butter and caramelize. Add onions, fresh fennel, and garlic with skin. Sweat without browning, then add the tomato paste and fresh tomatoes and let stew to remove the acidity.
-Deglaze with some brandy, reduce the liquid. Moisten with concentrated fumet, add the dry fennel, and cook for 40 minutes over low heat. While cooking, skim off the impurities without removing the grease. Add the crushed pepper grains and the basil bouquet and leave simmering for 20 min. on the corner of the heat source.
-Drain the stock of carcasses, and then crush them in a fat-masher and filter.
• For the crawfish fumet:
-Cut the crayfish into small regular cubes, heat the olive oil in a cast-iron casserole, and sauté quickly with the crayfish heads. Add the garlic cloves and the precut aromatic garnish. Sweat for 3 minutes, then add the tomato paste and caramelize everything in butter.
-Deglaze with the cognac and the white wine. Let the alcohol evaporate and add the fumet of lobster and some water so that the crayfish is completely covered. Add the bouquet of aromatic herbs and the dry fennel and cook for 30 minutes. At the end of the cooking, add a half-bunch of basil and the grains of black pepper and leave to infuse for 15 minutes.
-Pass all ingredients through a fat-masher to extract the maximum flavor and filter through a sieve.
• To make the concentrated fumet, cook to reduce to 520 ml.
• For the court bouillon of crawfish (Nage écrevisse):
-Cook all ingredients together with 20 l of water.
• For the crawfish:
-Bring 16 l of court bouillon to boil. Kill and clean the crayfish. Boil in the court bouillon, normally around 2 minutes to reach boiling point. Shell immediately. Keep the crayfish tails in 1 l of cold bouillon with 4 g of ascorbic acid. Reserve in a vacuum bag, on ice. When needed, roll the crayfish in the concentrated fumet of crayfish.
• For the sole consommé:
-Drain the fish bones over a sieve. Wash, drain, and sieve the mushroom trimmings. Peel, wash, and chop the onions and the shallots in a regular size. Make an aromatic bouquet with parsley stems, the thyme, and the laurel-leaves. Melt the butter in a casserole, add the aromatic bouquet, and sweat without coloring.
-Add the fish bones and cook gently for 5 mins. without coloring.
-Moisten with cold water and the champagne; add the bouquet, the sliced mushrooms, and some salt. Bring to boil, then simmer gently for 20 mins. and skim as often as possible. As soon as the cooking time is over, remove the pan from the heat, add pepper, and let the consommé settle for 10 mins.
• For the clarified consommé:
-Wash the green part of leek and pat dry. Remove the stem of the tomato, wash, cut the tomato into quarters, and remove the seeds. Mince the sole trimmings, leek, and tomato finely. Add the egg white, lightly season with sea salt, and mix vigorously.
-Transfer the sole consommé to a pan high enough to skim off the scum. Stir constantly until it boils. Gently simmer for 10 mins. on the edge of the stove so that a cap is formed for clarifying the stock. Adjust the seasoning; filter the stock through muslin placed over a stainless steel container. Cool immediately.
• For the champagne sauce:
-Quickly fry the lobster claws in butter without browning. Add the shallots and celery, sweat on the corner of the stove. Deglaze with half of the champagne. Reduce half of the jus. Add the sliced mushrooms, the shellfish juice, and the cream and concentrated fumet. Cook for 30 mins. over low heat.
-Add the lovage and the pepper. Leave to infuse for 20 mins.
-Filter, store in freezing compartment. To use, heat the preparation to 80°C, season. Add the rest of the champagne and 160 g of emulsified butter.
• For the truffle scented spinach:
-Blanch the spinach in salted water (80 g salt/L).
-Cool, drain, squeeze, and finely chop the spinach. Sweat the shallots in butter and oil. Add the diced truffles, pour in the cream, cook for 5 mins., and add the chopped spinach. Correct the seasoning and set aside.
• For the truffle puree:
-Sweat the truffle in a little olive oil. Moisten with mineral water and cook, covered, over low heat for 20 mins. After cooking, mix the truffles with the cooking juices in a thermo blender to obtain smooth puree.
• For the truffle croutons:
-Melt the butter in a frying pan, add breadcrumbs, and stir constantly with a whisk until golden. Remove from heat and cool over ice. Before it is completely cooled, add the chopped truffle, the truffle puree, the chopped garlic, and a tour of the milled pepper.
-Spread the crust between two sheets of baking paper. Make sure that it is regular and as thin as possible. Let harden. Cut out a rectangle 12 cm x 3 cm and store in the freezer.
• For the sole:
-Clean and gut the sole. Remove the white and grey skins. Fillet and remove delicately the outside membrane with a thin-bladed knife. Flatten the fillets by placing them between 2 plastic sheets that have been previously moistened to prevent the meat from sticking to the plastic sheets. Spread the thicker fillet (from the side opposite the stomach) on a board. Butter the fillet lightly, season with a little French salt and lay down slices of truffle. Season again with some French sea salt and put the other fillet on top of the truffles. Roll the fillets by enveloping them tightly in plastic wrap for vacuum cooking (pressure at 3.2/welding 7).
-Immerse the vacuum bag of fillets in a bath at 85°C for 5 mins., and then leave the fillets in the vacuum bags to rest for 2 mins. Remove the fillets from the bag. Put the truffle crouton on top and brown lightly under the broiler. Bevel the sole.
• To finish:
-Put the truffle-scented spinach in the centre of a Reynaud rectangular plate. Put the sole on top of the spinach. Spray the plate with the emulsified champagne sauce.
-Put 3 frozen crayfish in a separate bowl. Decorate with a thin julienne of truffle and sticks of mushroom. Serve the broth in a transparent sauce boat. Decorate the plate with chervil and truffle juliennes.