Red mullet with edible crystallized scales, cucumber consommé, tomato emulsion with cider liquor and raw cauliflower

The infallible Martín Berasategui has created a vast array of important work in 2007, all of which corresponds perfectly with his unmistakable style of cuisine, as per usual. We all know that such a studious and untiring chef makes a thousand attempts in his basic preparations before opening new culinary pathways. He takes inspiration from certain criteria, techniques, articulations, sauces… and from there he designs fascinating variants that are always, and we mean always, superb. He has an immaculate, profound approach in conceiving his formulas-remarkably complex dishes that confirm his methods and always manage to surprise, time and time again, with their astonishing level of perfectionism.
In keeping with this philosophy and character, he has given us the red mullet with edible scales. The filet is served at an angle with the skin below, the previously massaged tiny scales in an upside-down colander, under which a pot is placed to recover the oil. Through a continuous application procedure of virgin olive oil at 200ºC to the white meat of the red mullet, the layers of scales, underneath, are made to stand upright. With this process the dish gains in texture, flavor, color and idiosyncrasy. And from there we are left with nothing to do but sing the praises of the maestro: the fish is placed over a bed of bonito tartare and magnified in different spaces with a lightly jellied cucumber consommé, “oceanized” with mussel broth, a tomato and cider liquor emulsion and a salad of cauliflower blended with vinaigrette and herbs.