Italian chef Carlo Cracco needs no introduction. Veneto born, he worked with Gualtiero Marchesi and Alain Ducasse before making a name for himself in various restaurants before venturing on his own and opening various restaurants including his flagship Ristorante Cracco restaurant in Milan. When you think about Italy and its food, the first thing that comes to mind wis certainly pasta. But risotto would come a close second. Carlo Cracco grew up in a region famous for its Vialone Nano rice variety but when he moved to Milan he learned that the preferred rice was the Carnaroli. At a recent master class with Carlo Cracco, he revealed all his know how on how to make a great risotto as well as preparing two recipes to showcase how to prepare the perfect risotto. It was part of a series of events being organised by the Belgian-Italian Chamber of Commerce as part of the True Italian Taste project. "A risotto is a recipe that is unique in the international panorama. It is not easy to … [Read more...]
Recipe by Valentino Cassanelli: Seared scallops with coral carbonara, bitter herbs and sea urchin
Serves 4 For the carbonara sauce 25 g pork cheek, seasoned20 g butter1 clove of garlic80 g scallop coral0.3 g saffron30 g white wine12 g basmati rice200 g fish stock6 g Pecorino Roman0.1 g ground pepper5 g yuzu Brown the garlic clove, the bacon and the coral in the butter, then add the white wine, rice, saffron and fish stock. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bacon and the garlic and then emulsify with the help of the blender gradually adding the pepper, pecorino and yuzu. Obtain the sauce sift it. Sea urchin emulsion 150 g sunflower oil60 g urchin pulp5 g yuzu3 g salt45 g fish stock Emulsify all the ingredients by adding the oil. Serve at 45 ° C. Black garlic cream 40 g black garlic30 g water10 g extra virgin olive oil3 g lemon juiceBlend and emulsify all the ingredients. Bitter herbs 200 g wild herbs1 l water15 g salt10 g lemon juiceMaldon sea saltExtra virgin olive oil Clean the herbs and wash them thoroughly. Blanch them in salted and … [Read more...]
Recipe by Valentino Cassanelli: Linguine with ginger, veal and cocoa nibs
Serves 6 For the veal: 1 veal head 2 onions, roasted 2 cloves 1 bay leaf salt White vinegar (80 g /litre or water) Place the veal head into a sauce pan and roast for 45 minutes at 190 ° C. Make a broth by adding roasted onions, cloves and a bay leaf. Add the water and white vinegar to cover and simmer for 4 ½ hours, adding the tongue 45 minutes before the end. Once everything is cooked, remove the meat, discarding any excess fat and nerves. Roll it up until you have a cylinder of roughly 6cm and cut the meat into 3cm pieces. Warm the meat up in the broth before serving. For the linguine 280 g durum wheat linguine 40 g ginger, juiced1 clove of unpeeled garlic 5 g Extra virgin olive oil 600 g vegetable stock 20 g butter 15 g Parmesan Salt to taste Ginger as needed Brown a clove of unpeeled garlic with a little extra virgin olive oil. Remove the garlic and add the vegetable stock and ginger until it starts to boil. Add the linguine until cooked and season with salt. … [Read more...]
Recipe: How to make braised duck with taro
With this easy to follow the recipe on Braised Duck with Taro, you will be cooking in no time with fun and excitement. Introduction: Section 1 I really love Asian cuisine, maybe because I find their food very tasty and delectable. And there is one particular dish that I have been craving for since I have tasted it, the braised duck with taro in it. I’ve tasted in once during a Thanksgiving party together with my whole family. My father-in-law cooked it. It was mouthwatering and very delicious so I decided to ask for the recipe and make one for myself. It is easy to do actually once you have the necessary ingredients. Things That You Will Need To make a delicious braised duck with taro we will be needing specific ingredients that you could easily find. The quantities and measurements of these ingredients are very important, any less amount or more of these will impact the overall taste of your cooked food. So here they are and let’s check it one by one. 1 whole duck … [Read more...]
Recipe by Merlin Labron-Johnson: Grilled spring and winter vegetables with wild herbs and a hay-smoked egg yolk sauce
Merlin Labron-Johnson is a chef who can be considered a fervent fermenter, pickler and curer, and this passion comes from his time at the cult Belgian restaurant In de Wulf which closed its doors in December 2016. Everything was done in house; all the pickling, smoking and charcuterie curing, using only traditional and old fashioned methods of preservation. These influences are clearly visible on the menu at Portland, London. This dish was inspired by Merlin's time spent working in Belgium, where he noticed that during the asparagus season, white asparagus was often eaten with hollandaise or ‘mousseline’ sauce. He has added other young vegetables that are still available as winter morphs into spring to give a more interesting variation of textures and flavours. Merlin decided to smoke the butter used in the hollandaise over hay to add an element of ‘farm’ and terroir. He uses wild herbs to add freshness to the dish which would otherwise be quite rich, and the sorrels add a … [Read more...]
A different way to use sea urchins
When I was young the way to eat sea urchins (rizzi in Maltese or ricci in Italian) was to break them open at the beach, rinse them with sea water and then scoop out the custard-like orange gland and enjoy the sweet and briny flavour either on fresh bread or else just scooping them out with a spoon and eating them. They used to be abundant and we would have them for lunch. They were served soon after they were picked and needless to say, freshness here is of the essence. In recent years, spaghetti ai ricci has become ubiquitous in Maltese restaurants. At first you could find it only in fish restaurants but it has now become considerably more common. Every chef has his own version though in my view, the simplest method is the best. For a recipe you can take a look here. While this is a dish that I continue to crave everytime I am in the Mediterranean and in particular my home country, Malta, I still think that the freshness of the sea urchin is somehow ruined by the hot pasta … [Read more...]
Recipe: Slow cooked honey pork belly
Time is one of today's luxuries. It is something we all crave for but many seem to be short of. So when we find time on our hands, nothing beats reading a good book or taking the time to cook. In today's frantic world, it is a luxury to take hours to cook but slow cooking doesn't need to be complex and this recipe is a sure winner not only because of its simplicity but also because we rarely get to eat pork belly nowadays. It is normally a recipe that I reserve for the Christmas period when the weather is colder (though this year it was anything but cold) and you have more time on your hands but it is a dish that is perfect for a winter weekend or when you find you have a few hours at home. Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. It is popular in many different cuisines. It was used more often in the past by our grandparents and parents in cooking but it is slowly making a comeback not only in restaurants but also at home. If like me, your mother … [Read more...]
Recipe (Atsushi Tanaka): Tuna with pickled kohlrabi
Japanese chef Atsushi Tanaka of Restaurant A.T. in Paris prepared a really tasty dish at Flemish Food bash mixing partly cooked and smoked tuna with kohlrabi. It was a perfect summer dish and one which was really enjoyable. The Japanese chef (see interview here) has been called the Picasso of the kitchen by his former master Pierre Gagnaire and has a very contemporary style though his base for his cuisine is French. He has been influenced by his trips and work in countries like Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia. Method and Ingredients Kohlrabi Pickles 1 litre water 50 grammes sugar 20 grammes salt 1 kilogramme Kohlrabi 250 (white) balsamic vinegar Put all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Once it starts to boil, take away from the stove and let it cool down. Kohlrabi puree Remove the cooked kohlrabi and chop it. Heat some olive oil in a pan and sweat the kohlrabi. Add a little bit of water, cover and let it simmer until cooked. … [Read more...]
Recipe: Spaghetti with fresh bottarga (fish roe)
Fishing is part and parcel of Mediterranean life despite the fact that overfishing has made it much less enjoyable for everyone over the years. I remember as a young boy going to fish with my father and losing patience because we would catch just a handful of fish. This must have been more than 20 years ago. Now with the benefit of hindsight, the actual joy of fishing is not necessarily in the act of fishing itself but rather in the preparation, the early wake up call, rushing out of bed trying not to wake anyone, dressing up quickly and bracing the cooler early morning air which is a respite from the hot stifling summer heat. It is the beauty of watching nature at its best with some stunning land and seascapes, an amazing sunrise, good company and maybe catching fish in the process. Moreover, in this day when we are constantly communicating, it is good to be out at sea without a phone connection. If ever there was a good way to wind down, this was one. At this time of … [Read more...]
Recipe (Anthony Genovese): Rigatoni with smoked aubergine, cardamon powder and chocolate
Anthony Genovese, chef of the Il Pagliaccio in Rome, Italy cooked his version of a pasta all norma giving it a very modern twist with the addition of smoked aubergine, cardamon powder and chocolate at Flemish Food Bash last month. The end result was delicious and a combination worth trying. The Italian chef who spent his childhood in France has been influenced by some of the great French chefs but still has a sound Italian base and believes in the quality of Italian produce which gives Italian cuisine an edge. He enjoyed his time at Flemish Food Bash on the Belgian coast and said it was a good break for the daily routine. "It is a way to relax, joke, meet new people. You need to come with a different kind of philosophy and not take it too seriously like in the restaurant." The following is the recipe. Method Burn the aubergine (300 grammes) on the fire. Remove the flesh from the sin and blend together with olive oil, lemon juice and parsley. Pass through a chinoise … [Read more...]