<i> HAUTE TAMALE</i>

John Sedlar is one of the innovative, star-quality chefs who helped put California cuisine on the map. St. Estephe, his restaurant in a Manhattan Beach shopping center, has become a mecca for serious diners, among them Roger Verge and other world-class culinary potentates. And Sedlar’s cooking is so individual as to thwart attempts at imitation--though many have tried.

He combines the cooking ideas, ingredients and art forms of his native American Southwest with French-cooking techniques learned from his mentor, the late Jean Bertranou of L’Ermitage, where Sedlar was a cook before striking out on his own. The results are often so surprising that they make you wonder if you’re actually eating food, or viewing a work of art.

He once created the illusion of tumbleweed with squiggles of fruit purees, and made cookies with cactus that were as crisp as biting into a star. He created a dish resembling an Indian headdress out of endive, caviar and egg. There is fun in his cooking, too, with things like Santa Fe-style sushi . For the sake of health he is heading away from heavy French and Mexican sauces toward lighter, brighter Southwestern cooking that borders on spa cuisine. Some of the recipes will appear in his book, “Modern Southwestern Cuisine” (Simon & Schuster), to be published this fall.

For our story, Sedlar prepared a tamale that is like no tamale you’ve seen or eaten before. It lies open-faced in a pool of caviar butter and is striped with mousses of spinach, salmon and scallops over a bed of masa so that--to my eye, at least--it might appear to be a carved relic from a Santa Fe Indian tribe. The technique for preparing the mousses, however, is French, known as en plastique, because plastic wrap is used to steam the mousse mixtures.

The appetizer makes a spectacular first course with champagne. Alternatively, you can reduce the tamale packets by half to create miniatures to pass at a cocktail party. THREE-COLOR TAMALE WITH BELUGA BUTTER 6 corn husks 1 pound prepared masa Spinach Mousse Scallop Mousse Salmon Mousse Salmon caviar Beluga Butter 1 cup corn kernels

Wash and dry corn husks. Cut into 4x2-inch strips. Tie one end with thin strip of corn husk 1/2 inch from end. Cut 18 6x6-inch pieces plastic wrap. On each square of wrap place 1 tablespoon prepared masa. Flatten into 1-inch by 2-inch rectangle. At one end of rectangle place 1 scant tablespoon Spinach Mousse, followed by 1 scant tablespoon Scallop Mousse and 1 scant tablespoon Salmon Mousse. Gently pat into small loaf, making sure not to mix mousses (each should be an individual stripe). Place teaspoon salmon caviar on top of each tamale and enclose tightly with plastic wrap. Place wrapped tamales on steamer rack over, not touching, simmering water. Steam tamales for 5 minutes or until firm. Place a corn husk in center of plate and spoon about 1 tablespoon Beluga Butter into center of each. Unwrap tamales and place in centers of corn husks. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon corn kernels around tamale. Serve hot. Makes 18 tamales.

Note: Prepared masa is available at most supermarket meat counters and at Mexican groceries. Spinach Mousse 1 pound spinach, steamed until tender 1 egg white 3 tablespoons whipping cream 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Place spinach, egg white, cream, salt and pepper in food processor container. Process until smooth. Set aside. Scallop Mousse 5 ounces scallops 1 egg white 3 tablespoons whipping cream 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Place scallops, egg white, cream, salt and pepper in food processor container. Process until smooth. Set aside. Salmon Mousse 5 ounces salmon, skinned, boned and cleaned 1 egg white 3 tablespoons whipping cream 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

Place salmon, egg white, cream, salt and pepper in food processor container. Process until smooth. Set aside. Beluga Butter 1 cup white wine 1 cup white wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon shallots, minced 1 cup whipping cream 3 tablespoons Beluga caviar

Combine wine, vinegar, salt and shallots in large saucepan; reduce by over medium heat. Add cream and reduce again by . Strain and keep warm. Before serving, stir in caviar. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

PRODUCED BY ROBIN TUCKER