1. Cooking a la nage means to poach food in a court bouillon and serving the court bouillon and the vegetables around the food as part the garniture.

The nage:

1. Do not cut the vegetables, but wash them gently. Cook with the herbs and condiments in 1.3 gallons water for 50 minutes on a small flame. Lightly salt. Strain in a sieve.

The fennel:

1. Remove the fennel leafs, peel and cut them into 0.4 in width and 1.2 in length. Poach them in the vegetable gravy with 1 star-shaped anis, some drops of Pernod, a tip of minced garlic and lemon juice. Cook it al dente.

Preparation:

1. Boil the vegetable nage and the vanilla pods. Add the citronella (lemon grass) branches without leafs and the Cayenne pepper. Pepper and salt. Cook the nage for 10 minutes on a small flame. Add the fennel, its bouillon and the prawn. Let it cook on a small flame for 30 seconds.
2. Remove the citronella branches and add the small, hard butter pieces to bind the nage.
3. Serve the preparation in a concave dish.
4. Decorate with finely cut citronella leafs and the vanilla pod.