Bar Clam Tartare

This is the cold appetizer I made for my black box exam. An ingredient I received was a one-pound package of frozen thawed bar clams. Clams are tricky - you either have to cook them very briefly to avoid them from becoming chewy, or long and slow. I didn't have time to do long and slow, and I had never worked with bar clams before. So I decided to play it safe and serve them as a bar clam tartare.

To do this, I diced up the bar clams, removing the long feet. I mixed them with some diced red pepper and chopped chives. I flavored this mixture with some lime juice, sesame oil, salt, and pepper, and allowed it all to marinade.
I also made a quick avocado puree for the base of the tartare. 

To serve the tartare, I first placed a cut-out of mango gelee I had made on the plate. Then I spooned avocado puree into a ring mold on top of that, and pressed the tartare mixture on top of that, then removed the ring mold. I topped it with a sesame puff pastry cornet to add some crunch, and added orange curd as the sauce around the base.