Green Chromatism 2010

Cromatismo Verde 2010
El Celler de Can Roca
Chef: Jordi Roca
Country: España
City: 17007 Girona.
Address: Ctra. Taiala, 40.
972222157

Let us repeat it just to be doubly sure: “Together with Martín Berasategui, Jordi Roca is by far the best confectioner in Spain. They both evolve at a higher level. They are the only chefs who are able to surpass themselves despite of obtaining more than a “A” in the ranking. Both of them won the Confectioner of the Year Award by this Guide (Martín deserved it twice and Joan is likely to conquer this honour again some day). An honour that is reinforced by several Dishes of the Year. This is the third one, after Trésor, de Lancôme, the very highest expression of the perfumes line, opened eight years ago –times flies by …– and yearly reinvented in a new version. ; and Anarchy, in which chaos theory is raised to perfection, another trend of his work that allowed the chef to put some order into the disorder and to demystify the sybarites’ first commandment: palatal purity. Jordi Roca is a young transgressor who likes irreverence and provocation, as he has proved again in 2010 through What does a goal by Messi taste like?, a dessert that really involves the guest, who has to get a caramel spread ball into a goal with meringue net. All this is arranged onto a base of grass placed into half a ball which serves as a plate. A weird and very funny proposal that makes you laugh or burst out laughing.
Although the main innovation of the dish is green chromatism, created by distilled eucalyptus leaves, avocado cream, lime sauce, Chartreuse sweets, shiso and navelwort leaves, melon slices… –flavours that already turn to be incredible per se–, the magic reaches its climax when the guest notices that a stalagmite is forming at the moment in which the eucalyptus distillate falls onto the other components. The physical transformation from liquid to solid makes the guest gaze open-mouthed at the dish and lick his lips after finishing it.



The Recipe



Green chromatism 2010.

Ingredients
Eucalyptus leaves distillate
1000 g water
200 g fresh eucalyptus leaves
Smash the leaves, mix with the water and put into the Rotaval. Vacuum-distillate at 40º C until all the water decants into the collecting flask. Bottle and keep in the freezer at -5ºC.
Avocado cream
400 g avocado
100 g sugar
50 g lemon juice
Mix all the ingredients in a shaker until obtaining a smooth cream.
Lime sauce
250 g lime juice
125 g water
125 g sugar
Peel of two limes
5 g agar-agar
Boil the water with the sugar and infuse the lime peels. Set aside for a few minutes, strain and add the agar-agar. Boil and mix with the lime juice. Let cool down and set. Once solidified, break the structure with the mixer in order to obtain a sauce consistency.
Chartreuse sweets
40 g water
120 g sugar
25 g green Chartreuse (spirit)

 

Mix the water with the sugar and heat until 109 ºC. Remove from the heat, let cool down a bit and add the Chartreuse. Set aside.
Prepare a sheet with cornstarch and dry at 80 ºC for a few hours. Pressurize with a weight, smooth down and make little holes that will be filled with the syrup/spirit mixture.
Sprinkle delicately the surface with a bit of dried cornstarch and leave at 40 ºC for 24 hours.
Remove from the cornstarch, clean with a brush and set aside.

Shiso and navelwort leaves, melon slices…

Finishing
In a soup dish, place a tablespoonful of avocado cream, a few dots of lemon sauce and the Chartreuse sweets. Put the herbs and the melon slices into liquid nitrogen and arrange onto the cream and the sweets.
Finish the dish with some drops of eucalyptus distillate over the dessert. A stalagmite will appear just when the drops fall down…

The scientific explanation of this phenomenon is that the liquid is submitted to a temperature that is lower than the freezing point (-5ºC). The transformation from liquid to solid takes place at the moment of the fusion. However, the change from liquid to solid requires some conditions, ie. bringing the liquid to the freezing temperature and the intervention of an ice crystal that acts as a trigger. In this case, the trigger is the melon and the leaves kept at -18 ºC.
This is why we usually keep some liquids under their freezing point, but not freezed yet.
The lower the temperature of the liquid that acts as a trigger and of the ice crystal, the faster the freezing effect.

 

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Cromatismo Verde 2010

Cromatismo Verde 2010
El Celler de Can Roca
Chef: Jordi Roca
Country: España
City: 17007 Girona.
Address: Ctra. Taiala, 40.
972222157

Para que no haya dudas, lo volvemos a repetir: “Jordi Roca es junto a Martín Berasategui el mejor repostero del país, y con neta diferencia. Están en otro nivel. Son los únicos que año tras año refrendar sobradamente el sobresaliente e incluso son capaces de superarse. Ambos han sido en esta guía Reposteros del Año, el vasco en dos ocasiones y seguro que el gerundense volverá a merecer el honor. Honor al que hay que sumar varios Platos del Año; este es el tercero, tras el Tresôr de Lancône, máxima expresión de la línea abierta con los perfumes, inaugurada hace ya ocho años y que tiene cada temporada sus versiones y la Anarquía, en que lleva a la perfección la teoría del caos, que a su vez ha constituido otra tendencia en su quehacer, con la que logra poner orden en el desorden y desmitifica el primer mandamiento del sibarita: la inmaculabilidad sápida. Jordi es un joven transgresor que gusta de la irreverencia y provocación, como demuestra una vez más en el 2010 al plantear ¿cómo sabe un gol de Mesi?, postre en que hace interactuar al comensal que ha de meter una pelota de dulce de leche en una portería con redes de merengue, todo ello sobre fondos de césped y sobre medio balón que hace de vajilla. Esperpento graciosísimo que provoca risas y hasta carcajadas.
Si bien la gran aportación en esta ocasión ha sido el cromatismo verde, en el que intervienen un destilado de hoja de eucalipto, una crema de aguacate, salsa de lima, candis de Chartreuse, hojas de shisoo y ombligo, láminas de melón…sabores que sí en si resultan mágicos, la magia adquiere su culminación cuando el comensal aprecia que se forma la estalagmita del mismo en el momento en el que cae el destilado de hoja de eucalipto sobre los otros componentes. El cambio físico de líquido a sólido deja boquiabierto al comensal que tras degustarlo no puede por menos que relamerse.



The Recipe



Ingredientes:

Destilado de hoja de eucalipto

1000gr de agua
200gr de hojas de eucalipto frescas

Romper las hojas y mezclar con el agua, poner en el rotaval y destilar a 40ºc, en vacío hasta que toda el agua se decante al matraz de recepción. Reservar en botellas en un congelador a -5ºc.

Crema de aguacate

400gr de aguacate
100gr de azúcar
50gr de zumo de limón

Mezclar los ingredientes en un vaso mezclador y triturar hasta obtener una crema lisa y untuosa.

Salsa de lima

250gr de jugo de lima
125gr de agua
125gr de azúcar
Piel de dos limas
5gr de agar agar

Hervir el agua con el azúcar e infusionar las pieles de lima, reservar por unos minutos, colar y añadir el agar agar, hervir y mezclar con el jugo de lima, dejar enfriar y cuajar. Una vez sólido romper la estructura con el turmix para obtener una densidad de salsa.

Candis de Chartreuse

40 g de agua
120 g de azúcar
25 g de Chartreuse verde

Receta Cromatismo verde.
Mezclar el agua con el azúcar y subir hasta 109 ºC, retirar del fuego, dejar que baje un poco la temperatura y agregar el Chartreuse. Reservar.
Preparar una placa con maicena y dejar secar a 80 ºC por unas horas. Presionarla, alisarla y hacer pequeños orificios que se rellenarán con la mezcla de almíbar y grapa.
Espolvorear suavemente la superficie con un poco de maicena seca y dejar 24 horas a 40 ºC aproximadamente.
Una vez pasadas las horas, retirarlos de la maicena, limpiarlos con un pincel y reservarlos.
Hojas de shisoo, hojas de ombligo, laminas de melón…

Acabado:
En un plato sopero, colocamos una cucharada de crema de aguacate, unos puntos de salsa de limón, los candis de Chartreuse, sumergimos las hierbas y las láminas de melón en nitrógeno líquido y las disponemos sobre la crema y los candies.
Para acabar el plato dejamos caer el destilado de eucalipto encima del postre para que se forme la estalagmita del mismo en el momento en el que cae...

Científicamente este fenómeno se explica al llevar el líquido por debajo del punto de congelación, -5ºC. El cambio de sólido a líquido tiene lugar en el punto de fusión, pero el cambio de líquido a sólido requiere un orden, llevar el líquido a la temperatura de congelación y la aparición de un cristal de hielo que actúe como desencadenante. En este caso actúa de desencadenante el melón y las hojas a -18 ºC.
Por esto es habitual tener líquidos por debajo de su punto de congelación pero que aún no se congelan.
Cuanto más baja sea la temperatura del líquido y del cristal de hielo que hace la función de catalizador más rápido se produce el efecto de congelación.

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Semisalted Anchovies

Anchoas en Semi-Salazón
Etxebarri
Chef: Víctor Arguinzóniz
Country: España
City: 48291 Axpe-Marzana. Atxondo. (Vizcaya).
Address: Plaza San Juan, 1.
(+34)946583042.

Although it might seem an obvious truism –whether some people like it or not–, this has been the Best dish of the Year in Spain. As a whole, 2010 has undoubtedly been the most brilliant culinary year on the Iberian Peninsula, the one in which the general culinary level of the B-rated restaurants most increased. However, this collective improvement contrasts with the fact that we haven’t seen more outstanding avant-garde creations of haute cuisine than in 2009, maybe because the most famous and awarded chefs have shown some signs of stagnation. This year has generated more improvement than outstanding dishes, as confirms the few Dishes of the Year awarded in the Guide as well as the fact that this one has been selected as the best of all.

Can you imagine anyone beating the best Joselito ham? This is what Bittor Arginzoniz achieved with another gastronomic symbol, ie. the best salted anchovy in the world. He changed its taste –much more of fish and less of salt–, but keeping its natural identity; and altered its texture –juicier, meatier, not dry at all. This bite really transmits life and liveliness.
The cooking method is quite simple. The Cantabrian anchovies, caught in April, are kept in brine at room temperature for 4 months (30 grams per litre), until August, constantly covered and with a weight on them. They are then stored in a cool place, at 2º C, until the day they are served after being removed from the fridge, desalted in fresh water for 4 hours, deboned, cleaned and dried. They are finally presented with a toast and extra virgin olive oil.



The Recipe



 

 

Tags:


Semisalted Anchovies

Anchoas en Semi-Salazón
Etxebarri
Chef: Víctor Arguinzóniz
Country: España
City: 48291 Axpe-Marzana. Atxondo. (Vizcaya).
Address: Plaza San Juan, 1.
(+34)946583042.

Although it might seem an obvious truism –whether some people like it or not–, this has been the Best dish of the Year in Spain. As a whole, 2010 has undoubtedly been the most brilliant culinary year on the Iberian Peninsula, the one in which the general culinary level of the B-rated restaurants most increased. However, this collective improvement contrasts with the fact that we haven’t seen more outstanding avant-garde creations of haute cuisine than in 2009, maybe because the most famous and awarded chefs have shown some signs of stagnation. This year has generated more improvement than outstanding dishes, as confirms the few Dishes of the Year awarded in the Guide as well as the fact that this one has been selected as the best of all.

Can you imagine anyone beating the best Joselito ham? This is what Bittor Arginzoniz achieved with another gastronomic symbol, ie. the best salted anchovy in the world. He changed its taste –much more of fish and less of salt–, but keeping its natural identity; and altered its texture –juicier, meatier, not dry at all. This bite really transmits life and liveliness.
The cooking method is quite simple. The Cantabrian anchovies, caught in April, are kept in brine at room temperature for 4 months (30 grams per litre), until August, constantly covered and with a weight on them. They are then stored in a cool place, at 2º C, until the day they are served after being removed from the fridge, desalted in fresh water for 4 hours, deboned, cleaned and dried. They are finally presented with a toast and extra virgin olive oil.



The Recipe



 

 

Tags:


Semisalted Anchovies

Anchoas en Semi-Salazón
Etxebarri
Chef: Víctor Arguinzóniz
Country: España
City: 48291 Axpe-Marzana. Atxondo. (Vizcaya).
Address: Plaza San Juan, 1.
(+34)946583042.

Although it might seem an obvious truism –whether some people like it or not–, this has been the Best dish of the Year in Spain. As a whole, 2010 has undoubtedly been the most brilliant culinary year on the Iberian Peninsula, the one in which the general culinary level of the B-rated restaurants most increased. However, this collective improvement contrasts with the fact that we haven’t seen more outstanding avant-garde creations of haute cuisine than in 2009, maybe because the most famous and awarded chefs have shown some signs of stagnation. This year has generated more improvement than outstanding dishes, as confirms the few Dishes of the Year awarded in the Guide as well as the fact that this one has been selected as the best of all.

Can you imagine anyone beating the best Joselito ham? This is what Bittor Arginzoniz achieved with another gastronomic symbol, ie. the best salted anchovy in the world. He changed its taste –much more of fish and less of salt–, but keeping its natural identity; and altered its texture –juicier, meatier, not dry at all. This bite really transmits life and liveliness.
The cooking method is quite simple. The Cantabrian anchovies, caught in April, are kept in brine at room temperature for 4 months (30 grams per litre), until August, constantly covered and with a weight on them. They are then stored in a cool place, at 2º C, until the day they are served after being removed from the fridge, desalted in fresh water for 4 hours, deboned, cleaned and dried. They are finally presented with a toast and extra virgin olive oil.



The Recipe



 

 

Tags:


Anchoas en Semi-Salazón

Etxebarri
Chef: Víctor Arguinzóniz
Country: España
City: 48291 Axpe-Marzana. Atxondo. (Vizcaya).
Address: Plaza San Juan, 1.
(+34)946583042.

Puede parecer una perogrullada. Pero es, pese a quién pese, el Mejor Plato del Año en España. Sin lugar a dudas, el 2010 ha sido en conjunto el más brillante ejercicio de la cocina en nuestro país, el que más ha aumentado en general el nivel culinario en los restaurantes notables. También es cierto, que contrasta esta superación colectiva con otro hecho, sin embargo no ha sido el calendario en que más hayan destacado las creaciones de alta cocina de vanguardia, quizás porque los chefs más afamados y galardonados han dado síntomas de estancamiento en su obra. Ha sido un año de perfección que no de genialidades. Los pocos Platos del Año que aquí figuran así lo afirman, afirmación que queda patente cuando resaltamos este por encima de todos los demás.

¿Se imagina que alguien superara el mejor Jamón de Joselito? Eso es lo que ha logrado Bittor Arginzoniz con otro estandarte de la gastronomía, ante usted la mejor anchoa en salazón del mundo. Ha cambiado el sabor, mucho más al pescado y bajo en sal, preservando la identidad natural; y ha cambiado la textura, más jugosa, más carnosa, en absoluto seca. Estamos ante un bocado que transmite vida y vivacidad.
La elaboración es muy sencilla. Las anchoas del Cantábrico, pescadas en abril, permanecen a temperatura ambiente durante 4 meses en salmuera (30 gramos por litro), hasta agosto; siempre tapadas y presionadas con peso. A partir de ese momento, se conservan en cámara, a 2 grados, hasta el día que se sirven. Se sacan, se desalan en agua dulce cuatro horas, se desespinan, limpian y secan. Se sirven con pan tostado y aceite de oliva virgen extra.



The Recipe



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Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth

Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth
Nerua
Chef: Josean Martínez Alija
Country: España
City: 48001 Bilbao(Vizcaya).
Address: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2.
944239333


The Recipe



The presence of Josean Martínez Alija’s very aesthetic dishes in our commendable pages is perennial. This is the way we praise the visual and palatal power of the best vegetal cuisine in the world. We applaud the great cook of landscapes and brilliant artist of minimalism, who expresses himself through the language of simplicity, chromatic purity and geometrical precision of vegetables’ natural forms.

This time, we reward another impeccable creation of his minimalist, green and humble cuisine: the caramelized red onion slices on green lentils broth. An artistic dish that looks like a vegetable dance in a red onions harmony. A tribute to Richard Serra’s devious sculptural work, paid through the caramelized liliaceous segments, arranged in a creamy game of parallel balances that seem to smile at the guest.
The idea of the dish comes from the feeling produced when you find a lonely onion slice in a stew. After reflecting on this sensorial impression, the cook raised a subsistence stew, worthy of survival economy, to art. The closed and poor onion is vacuum-cooked with walnut oil and coriander in an oven at 100º C. The green lentils from Burgos are peacefully cooked in the Gastrovac together with vegetables, chicken broth and ham until they sublimate in an enjoyable perfume. These are the poet’s nanny’s onions. These are the lentils Diogenes would give up anarchism for and Esau would sell his birthright again to his brother Jacob for. These are mum’s lentils stewed by Josean Martínez Alija, the great culinary sculptor.

 

Ingredients:

Although some of the following ingredients might not be visually present in the plate, they all take part in the preparation of the dish.

• Chicken carcasses
• Hen
• Iberian ham bones
• Beef foot
• Carrots
• Onions
• Shallots
• Tomato purée
• Garlic
• Green part of leek
• Chickpeas
• Verdinas lentils
• Red onion
• Coriander
• Cloves
• Green cardamom
• Chartreuse (spirit)
• Butter
• Red wine reduction
• Hazelnut oil
• Walnut oil
• Fine salt

 

History and philosophy of the dish

Onions are interesting products in the way that they offer a lot of culinary possibilities. This dish has been made on the basis of different factors such as consistency and arrangement. Regarding the former, we intended to reach an imaginative texture based on an interpretation. If you see an onion leaf in a stew, once you put it in your mouth, its firmness, sweetness and almost melting creaminess reminds a slice of pork that perfectly fits with the other ingredients.
We therefore looked for a cooking method that allowed us to obtain that texture and reinforce the onion’s virtues.
Regarding aesthetics, the other challenge, the secret lies in doing a perfect high and balanced cut, as if it were one of Richard Serra’s sculptures. The idea was to find a good balance between apparently different elements and to draw a labyrinth with the onion leaves.
The broth can be defined as a lentil perfume that creates an interesting game on the palate.
This is a union between iron and earth, architecture and culture.

 

 

 

Tags:


Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth

Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth
Nerua
Chef: Josean Martínez Alija
Country: España
City: 48001 Bilbao(Vizcaya).
Address: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2.
944239333


The Recipe



The presence of Josean Martínez Alija’s very aesthetic dishes in our commendable pages is perennial. This is the way we praise the visual and palatal power of the best vegetal cuisine in the world. We applaud the great cook of landscapes and brilliant artist of minimalism, who expresses himself through the language of simplicity, chromatic purity and geometrical precision of vegetables’ natural forms.

This time, we reward another impeccable creation of his minimalist, green and humble cuisine: the caramelized red onion slices on green lentils broth. An artistic dish that looks like a vegetable dance in a red onions harmony. A tribute to Richard Serra’s devious sculptural work, paid through the caramelized liliaceous segments, arranged in a creamy game of parallel balances that seem to smile at the guest.
The idea of the dish comes from the feeling produced when you find a lonely onion slice in a stew. After reflecting on this sensorial impression, the cook raised a subsistence stew, worthy of survival economy, to art. The closed and poor onion is vacuum-cooked with walnut oil and coriander in an oven at 100º C. The green lentils from Burgos are peacefully cooked in the Gastrovac together with vegetables, chicken broth and ham until they sublimate in an enjoyable perfume. These are the poet’s nanny’s onions. These are the lentils Diogenes would give up anarchism for and Esau would sell his birthright again to his brother Jacob for. These are mum’s lentils stewed by Josean Martínez Alija, the great culinary sculptor.

 

Ingredients:

Although some of the following ingredients might not be visually present in the plate, they all take part in the preparation of the dish.

• Chicken carcasses
• Hen
• Iberian ham bones
• Beef foot
• Carrots
• Onions
• Shallots
• Tomato purée
• Garlic
• Green part of leek
• Chickpeas
• Verdinas lentils
• Red onion
• Coriander
• Cloves
• Green cardamom
• Chartreuse (spirit)
• Butter
• Red wine reduction
• Hazelnut oil
• Walnut oil
• Fine salt

 

History and philosophy of the dish

Onions are interesting products in the way that they offer a lot of culinary possibilities. This dish has been made on the basis of different factors such as consistency and arrangement. Regarding the former, we intended to reach an imaginative texture based on an interpretation. If you see an onion leaf in a stew, once you put it in your mouth, its firmness, sweetness and almost melting creaminess reminds a slice of pork that perfectly fits with the other ingredients.
We therefore looked for a cooking method that allowed us to obtain that texture and reinforce the onion’s virtues.
Regarding aesthetics, the other challenge, the secret lies in doing a perfect high and balanced cut, as if it were one of Richard Serra’s sculptures. The idea was to find a good balance between apparently different elements and to draw a labyrinth with the onion leaves.
The broth can be defined as a lentil perfume that creates an interesting game on the palate.
This is a union between iron and earth, architecture and culture.

 

 

 

Tags:


Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth

Caramelized Red Onion slices on Green Lentils Broth
Nerua
Chef: Josean Martínez Alija
Country: España
City: 48001 Bilbao(Vizcaya).
Address: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2.
944239333


The Recipe



The presence of Josean Martínez Alija’s very aesthetic dishes in our commendable pages is perennial. This is the way we praise the visual and palatal power of the best vegetal cuisine in the world. We applaud the great cook of landscapes and brilliant artist of minimalism, who expresses himself through the language of simplicity, chromatic purity and geometrical precision of vegetables’ natural forms.

This time, we reward another impeccable creation of his minimalist, green and humble cuisine: the caramelized red onion slices on green lentils broth. An artistic dish that looks like a vegetable dance in a red onions harmony. A tribute to Richard Serra’s devious sculptural work, paid through the caramelized liliaceous segments, arranged in a creamy game of parallel balances that seem to smile at the guest.
The idea of the dish comes from the feeling produced when you find a lonely onion slice in a stew. After reflecting on this sensorial impression, the cook raised a subsistence stew, worthy of survival economy, to art. The closed and poor onion is vacuum-cooked with walnut oil and coriander in an oven at 100º C. The green lentils from Burgos are peacefully cooked in the Gastrovac together with vegetables, chicken broth and ham until they sublimate in an enjoyable perfume. These are the poet’s nanny’s onions. These are the lentils Diogenes would give up anarchism for and Esau would sell his birthright again to his brother Jacob for. These are mum’s lentils stewed by Josean Martínez Alija, the great culinary sculptor.

 

Ingredients:

Although some of the following ingredients might not be visually present in the plate, they all take part in the preparation of the dish.

• Chicken carcasses
• Hen
• Iberian ham bones
• Beef foot
• Carrots
• Onions
• Shallots
• Tomato purée
• Garlic
• Green part of leek
• Chickpeas
• Verdinas lentils
• Red onion
• Coriander
• Cloves
• Green cardamom
• Chartreuse (spirit)
• Butter
• Red wine reduction
• Hazelnut oil
• Walnut oil
• Fine salt

 

History and philosophy of the dish

Onions are interesting products in the way that they offer a lot of culinary possibilities. This dish has been made on the basis of different factors such as consistency and arrangement. Regarding the former, we intended to reach an imaginative texture based on an interpretation. If you see an onion leaf in a stew, once you put it in your mouth, its firmness, sweetness and almost melting creaminess reminds a slice of pork that perfectly fits with the other ingredients.
We therefore looked for a cooking method that allowed us to obtain that texture and reinforce the onion’s virtues.
Regarding aesthetics, the other challenge, the secret lies in doing a perfect high and balanced cut, as if it were one of Richard Serra’s sculptures. The idea was to find a good balance between apparently different elements and to draw a labyrinth with the onion leaves.
The broth can be defined as a lentil perfume that creates an interesting game on the palate.
This is a union between iron and earth, architecture and culture.

 

 

 

 

Tags:


Láminas de Cebolla Roja confitadas sobre Caldo de Lentejas Verdes

Láminas de Cebolla roja confitadas sobre caldo de lentejas verdes
Nerua
Chef: Josean Martínez Alija
Country: España
City: 48001 Bilbao(Vizcaya).
Address: Abandoibarra Etorbidea, 2.
944239333

La presencia de los muy estéticos platos de Josean Martínez Alija es perenne en nuestras más meritorias páginas. Reconocemos así la potencia visual y sápida de la mejor cocina vegetal del planeta. Aclamamos al gran cocinero del paisaje, al artista de los elementos mínimos que se expresa con el lenguaje de la sencillez, la pureza cromática y la exactitud geométrica de las propias formas naturales de las verduras.
En esta oportunidad premiamos otra impecable creación de su cocina minimalista, verde y humilde: las láminas de cebolla roja confitadas sobre caldo de lentejas verdes. Un plato artístico con la cadencia de una danza de vegetales y el color de una armonía en púrpura con cebollas. Un homenaje a la sinuosa obra escultórica de Richard Serra, con los gajos de la liliácea confitados y dispuestos en un meloso juego de equilibrios paralelos que parece sonreír al comensal.
El concepto surge de la sensación producida al encontrarse una lámina de cebolla suelta en un potaje. Sobre esta impresión sensorial, el cocinero reflexiona hasta elevar un guiso de subsistencia, de una economía sin recursos, a categoría artística. La cebolla, cerrada y pobre, se asa al vacío, con aceite de nuez y cilantro, en un horno a 100º grados. Las lentejas verdes, burgalesas, cuecen en la paz de la Gastrovac con verduras, caldo de ave y jamón hasta sublimarse en un agradable perfume. Estas son las cebollas de la nana del poeta. Estas son las lentejas por las que Diógenes dejaría de ser ácrata; por las que Esaú vendería otra vez la primogenitura a su hermano Jacob. Estas son las lentejas de mamá guisadas por este escultor de la cocina que es Josean Martínez Alija.



The Recipe



Ingredientes para 4 personas:

Nota: Estos ingredientes pueden estar o no presentes visualmente en el plato pero todos y cada uno de ellos han tenido que ver en la elaboración de este plato.

CALDO DE AVE
INGREDIENTES:
1000grs de carcasas de pollo
1000grs de gallina limpia
240grs de pie de ternera blanqueada y en rodajas
80grs de zanahorias en rodajas
60grs de cebollas en rodajas
40grs de cebolleta en rodajas
10grs de tomate concentrado
16grs de dientes ajo con piel en rodajas
20grs de verde de puerro en rodajas
20grs de mantequilla
1400grs de agua
200grs de vino tinto reducido sacado de la reducción de 400 gramos a 200
100grs de garbanzos
 

ELABORACION:
Colorear sobre una bandeja en un horno a 200ºC las carcasas de pollo y la gallina.
Sudar en una cacerola inoxidable junto con la mantequilla, las rodajas de zanahoria, cebolla, cebolleta y dejar que se ablande bien.
Añadir las carcasas de pollo y gallina bien coloreadas.
Mojar con el agua fría y el vino tinto reducido.
Añadir el pie de ternera, el ajo, el verde de puerro y el tomate concentrado.
Cocer 2 horas a fuego lento desespumando bien.
Pasar por el fino, fino y a continuación por una estameña.
Enfriar rápidamente y desengrasar completamente. Reservar en cámara.

CALDO DE JAMÓN
INGREDIENTES:
1000grs de huesos de jamón ibérico
1000grs de agua
50grs de cebolla pelada y tostada en la plancha

ELABORACIÓN:
Cubrir los huesos de jamón ibérico de agua fría y hervir, esto se hace para blanquear.
Poner en una cazuela los huesos de jamón ibérico blanqueados, el agua y la cebolla tostada y cocer a fuego suave durante 4 horas, desespumando constantemente.
Colar y clarificar.

 

CALDO DE LENTEJAS VERDINAS
INGREDIENTES:
500grs de lentejas verdinas
100grs de cebolla
75grs de zanahoria
15grs de dientes de ajos pelados sin germen
500grs de caldo de jamón
750grs de caldo de ave
2 clavos
1 grano de cardamomo machacado
Chartreuse
Sal fina

ELABORACIÓN:
Picar las verduras en dados pequeños y sahumar en la ahumadora durante 5 minutos.
Mientras lavar las lentejas bajo el grifo y escurrir. Ponerlas en la gastrovac junto con el caldo de jamón y el caldo de ave. Agregar las verduras sahumadas, el cardamomo machacado y los dos clavos y poner a cocer a 62ºC durante 60 minutos. Se empieza a contar el tiempo una vez haya alcanzado la temperatura. Cuando discurra el tiempo, pasar por estameña apretando bien, poner a punto de sal y reservar en cámara.

CEBOLLAS ASADAS
INGREDIENTES:
500grs de cebollas rojas
80grs de aceite de avellana
10 granos de coriandro machacados
Sal
 

ELABORACIÓN:
Pelar las cebollas poner en una bolsa de vacío con una pizca de sal, el coriandro machacado y el aceite de avellana. Envasar al vacío y cocer en horno a vapor a 100ºC durante 60 minutos. El tiempo es opcional, depende del grosor de las capas de cebolla y el tamaño.
Una vez sacada del horno, se deja enfriar a temperatura ambiente.
Se cortan a la mitad y se sacan las capas, se les quita la telilla que encontramos entre capa y capa, y se cortan de forma que saquemos cuñas que recuerden a pétalos. Colocar en tartaletas por raciones, filmar y reservar hasta su uso.

ACABADO:
Calentar el caldo de lentejas verdinas al fuego hasta los 70ºC, sin hervir, poner a punto de sal y chartreuse y reservar. Dar un golpe de salamandra a los pétalos de cebolla asada y mientras darle túrmix a la sopa para airearla. Condimentar los pétalos de cebolla con un poco de aceite de nuez y una pizca de sal fina.
 

EMPLATADO:
Colocar en el plato los pétalos de cebolla de uno en uno en forma de flor. Espolvorear estos con una pizca de coriandro machacado y colocar el caldo de lentejas verdinas en una jarra para salsear las cebollas delante del comensal.

 

HISTORIA y FILOSOFÍA DEL PLATO:
La cebolla es un producto que tiene mucho juego en la cocina, podemos decir que es un producto interesante. En este plato intervienen varios factores el 1º la textura, hemos buscado una textura imaginativa y hacemos una interpretación. Cuando en un potaje aparece una hoja de cebolla, al introducir en la boca me recuerda a una lámina de tocino, por su firmeza, el dulzor que se integra perfectamente con el resto de los ingredientes del potaje, su melosidad casi fundente me evoca al tocino.
Para ello hemos buscado una cocción con la que garantizamos la textura y realzamos las cualidades de la cebolla. Otro reto importante era la presentación, el secreto estaba en el corte, hacer un corte perfecto con altura donde buscamos el equilibrio, como si una escultura de Richard Serra se tratara, buscar el equilibrio en elementos aparentemente distintos, dibujando un laberinto con las hojas de cebolla.
En el caldo lo podemos definir como un perfume de lentejas, que crea un juego interesante en el paladar.
Unimos hierro y tierra, arquitectura y cultura.

 

 

 

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