RENE: We filleting the branzino for our Latin Kabkabou dish, our signature dish.

SETH: Oh, signature dish.

I love that.

And Kabkabou, what is that?

RENE: It's a plate from Northern Tunisia.

So it's a stew made from fish and then some shellfish as well.

SETH: Well, I know that Mediterranean countries love their fish stews.

You got the bouillabaisse, the cioppino.

So this is kind of the North African version of it?

RENE: Correct.

SETH: But you're going to put your own Latin spin on it?

RENE: Correct.

SETH: And what you going to do with this whole fish here?

RENE: We're going to break it down.

SETH: And you prefer working with the whole fish?

RENE: Yes, we do all our butchering here.

SETH: You're the chef and the fishmonger.

RENE: Yes.

I love fish.

SETH: Okay.

RENE: So we start filleting here, from the very top.

And then we always need to make sure we're being gentle with the fish, so that's why I only grab it from the tail.

SETH: You work quickly, chef.

RENE: I've done this a couple of times.

♪ ♪ SETH: And so are these fillets now ready to cook up?

RENE: No, never.

This is going to be ready in two days.

SETH: Two days.

All right, so why do you choose to age your fish here?

RENE: Because the same principles of the meat, you take a little bit of moisture from the meat and the skin get crispier.

SETH: You get a little bit of a richer flavor in there as well?

RENE: Yes.

Now we're going to put it into the brine.

So we got salt water and we're going to place the fish inside.

So this now is going to sit here for 20 minutes.

Okay, it has been 20 minutes.

Now we're going to wrap it up in kombu.

It's going to be one day in kombu, and one more day dry aging in towels.

SETH: And what does the seaweed do to help age it?

RENE: So it adds umami flavor and also helps to kill bacteria.

SETH: Got it.

RENE: So now we just put it with the meat down so that way we will maintain the shape better, just like a baby.

SETH: But I'm guessing you already have some branzino that's been aged and is ready to go.

RENE: Yes.

Why don't you follow me to cook that up?

SETH: Let's do it.

RENE: Okay, Seth, this is where we are going to cook the fish.

This is our branzino that has been aged already.

So the skin is very dry, all the fat is there.

SETH: And wow, these prawns look incredible down here.

RENE: Yes, these are our Ecuadorian prawns.

We like to cook them whole.

So we put a skewer on it and we leave the tail on and the head on.

Then we got our bottarga.

We do this bottarga here at home.

SETH: And what is bottarga?

RENE: It's cured fish roe.

So this one is from haddock.

What Italians do, they hang it in the sun.

Of course because of the health department to do it in the walk-in.

SETH: That is a earthy, well aged flavor right there.

RENE: Yes.

So the bottarga is our key ingredient for the tomato sauce, the same preparation of the Kabkabou.

And we add chili peppers from Latin America, guajillo in this case, and we just let it slowly stew, and then we just press the bottarga to extract all the flavor.

SETH: So you get all the flavor and then filter the rest of it out, nice.

RENE: Correct.

SETH: So how do you go about finishing this dish?

RENE: We're going to pan sear the branzino, skin side.

Once it's crispy, then we just flip it for 10 seconds and it's done.

And then we're going to cook the prawns in the oven.

We're going to cut some mojito, that is made from cilantro, shallots, and lemon zest.

We're going to add a sweet plantain terrine, and then sprinkle cilantro flowers on top.

To assemble this fish, we're going to use the branzino, the prawn, the bottarga sauce, and then the dish will be ready.

SETH: All right guys, well I'm excited.

All the deliciousness is hiding inside here.

RENE: Yes, so this is the Latin Kabkabou.

SETH: Wow.

So many pretty colors.

I don't see a lot of edible flowers on this show.

I think I'm going to begin with the branzino.

RENE: I hope you're picking up all the brininess of the aging process, all the minerality of the kombu.

SETH: All right, that is pretty darn near perfect, how nicely firm the meat is, but with that crispy skin.

And the garnish gives it such a nice level of brightness and zest.

ENRIQUE: Yeah, we call that mojito, and it's a combination of shallots, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice, like cilantro stems.

And obviously the inspiration of that is to get that texture and all that brightness and speed up the acidity of the fish.

SETH: And the plantains.

What am I looking at here with these little squares?

ENRIQUE: So we use sweet plantains that we cook with raw sugar cane and we made a terrine, and then we cut it in those squares.

SETH: The sweetness of that.

And the Ecuadorian prawn, I got to try that as well.

RENE: I suggest just to start mixing all the flavors together.

I love the clams dipping in the sauce, the mojito on top.

ENRIQUE: Every time you take a bite, it's different.

Something sweet, something briny.

You know, the different textures.

So you are traveling inside the plate.