Bacalao the Magnificent

 

 

 

cod

 

A selection of some of the best bacalao dishes I have tasted, published as a photo story in storehouse.

Dinner Party on the occasion of Despoinarion's Oscar Celebration and Awards

 Today’s post is a celebration for Despoinarion‘s Oscar Awards. 

The celebration is double in nature: we celebrate first the award for imagination given to Despoinarion by her friend Taste Advisor  

 

and secondly the award that Despoinarion has given to some bloggers, including myself. 

The guests are:

Despoinarion, Errikos, the Taste Advisor, So Far, Marizz, Gabriel, Roula, Orfia (aka Lena), Manolis, Yanna, Katerina, Natalia.

Yiannis Tsarouchis, Iannis Xenakis, Manos Chatzidakis, Karl Popper, Parmenides, Hoelderlin, Paul Celan, Paul Cezanne

Today’s dinner party is seated and the menu is a combination of dishes I have created, with dishes I have tasted in Italy, Spain, Turkey, the Basque country and Austria. The wines come from Italy, Austria, Greece and Spain. 

To start, I will serve Amalia Brut by Tselepos, a fruity fresh sparkling wine, made the traditional way from moschofilero grapes in the area south of Tripoli, Greece.

 

Σερβιρισμενα

Amuse Bouche: Pies with hot sudjuk (my creation) 

Home made closed pies with a filling of hot sudjuk from Turkey, onions, peppers, sun dried tomatoes and spices.I imasgined this combination one day while I was tasting the hot sudjuk from Turkey and was wondering how to temper the fire and the heat without levelling it to something boring.

 They are hot enough to get the human machine started, so that my guests will endure throughout the process.

Το πακετακι ετοιμο για τυλιγμα

 Antipasto: Greek sushi – sardines with rice in vine leafs (my creation) 

  My Greek sushi uses vineleafs instead of sea weed, rice, and lightly marinated sardine fillets.  I think it is one of the best antipasti because of the unique combination of the oily fish flavors’ and the vine leafs. The rice acts as a mediating agent.

Antipasto: Joselito – Pata Negra 

 Nothing can describe the taste of a slice of Joselito’s pata negra. Keep your eye lids closed, slip into your half open mouth, roll it a bit around without chewing, let it rest for a few seconds, and then open your eyes, and start the cheweing process. Unforgettable!

 

Vino: Albarino – 2006 Granbazán Ambar   

The first wine I will offer is albarino made by Granbazan. Albarino is a wonderful grape, it produces a ehite wine with a good kick and a lot of acidity. I love it and hope you will love it too!!!

Sea Urchin Eggs with Bacalao Tripe

 Primo 1: Sea urchin eggs with Bacalao Tripe (Ristorante Uliassi, Senigalia, Italia) 

I now come to one of the absolutely fabulous dishes of the evening created by chef Uliassi. Frozen sea urchin eggs with cod tripe. What a pandemonium of tastes,  aromas and all of them encased on the tender silky texture of the cod tripe! 

Egg with grilled octopus 

Primo 2: Egg with grilled octopus (Restaurante Andra Mari, near Bilbao, Basque Country) 

This minimalistic dish is absolutely stunning. One of the most unusual combination of tastes, married by the chef of Andra Mari in Vizkaya.

 

Secondo: Iberian Pig’s Tails with crayfish (Restaurante Mugaritz, near San Sebastian, Basque Country) 

The humble tail with its skin intact and crispy combines with the white immaculate flesh of the crayfish in a never ending game of pure pleasure, amplified by jamon iberico crisps.  

The flesh of the tail is surrounded by streams of fat, the best tasting fat in the world! 

The contrast in the texture between the skin and the subliminally soft, almost creamy fat  is unbelievable. 

And when you get back to Earth after this excursion into extreme pleasure, the crayfish comes into play and with its soft flesh and sweet flavor takes you to the cool ocean of elevated joy. 

A crisp of jamon iberico completes the palette of tastes and you find yourself asking the simple question: 

“How could I ever taste something more satisfying than this?” 

The Princess has danced with the Serf, the lights are off,  and the Prince with the skull on hand walks by wandering: 

“To be or not to be?” 

He obviously didn’t manage to get even one bite! 

P.S. This dish is on the menu of the re-opened Mugaritz Restaurant, near San Sebastian in the Basque Region, which was completely rebuilt after a fire destroyed the entire kitchen and a big part of the dining area on the 15th February 2010.  

 

Terzo: Bistecca Fiorentina 

The queen of meats could not be absent from this dinner. Bistecca Fiorentina, bought from my good friend Dario Cecchini, in Panzano, Chianti.

The meat is marbled, and it melts in your mouth dear guest, enjoy it!!!

 

Vino: Poeckl Admiral 1995 

The Admiral, a cuvée of Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon, has been one of Austria’s great red wines for years.

My brother Manolis introduced me to this battleship of reds and I am enslaved by it ever since.  

 

Dolce: Tiramisou (Ristorante Uliassi, Senigalia, Italia) 

The tirami-sou, another creation of chef Uliassi, is deconstructed and absolutely fantastic! The mascarponeisintense and ever present, the cream golden and thick, the chocolate dressed in coffee chunky and bitter! A caramelized wet biscuit on top provides the necessary absorbing agent.No cake needed! 

 

Dolce: Dark chocolate praline with campari sauce in the middle, accompanied by blood orange sorbet on the left and orange grog on the right. 

And now the second dessert! The grog was mildly hot, and contrasted beautifully the cold sorbet (Restaurant Vestibuel, Vienna, Austria). What a wonderful way to end the dinner!!!

 

Vinsanto: Barone Ricasoli – Castello di Brolio 

The Castello di Brolio Vin Santo, true to tradition, expresses one of the “historic” grapes of the area, Malvasia del Chianti.

It is silkyy, aromatic, and can stay with you for a long time. The aftertaste is memorable.

 

Ristorante Uliassi – Senigallia, Marche, Italia

Ristorante Uliassi is located in the small resort town of Senigallia, on the Adriatic sea, a few kilometers away from Ancona. It comes highly recommended from Michelin Red Guide  (two stars) and the Italian Gastronomic Guide Gambero Rosso.

As I was on my way to Ravenna, I decided to stop by and taste the creations of the chef. I arrived just in time one late summer night, to experience the dying light and the emerging darkness.

dining_balconyMy menu choice was the “Tuto Crudo”, meaning “Raw all the way”. This would highlight the qualities of the ingredients and the synthetic ability of the chef, as his contribution to the dish would be primarily the synthesis of the ingredients.

potatoes_oysterThe first dish was oyster with potatoes and red onion ice cream with a leaf of chocolate.

The oyster was sumptuous in taste, full or aromas and it was perfectly supported by the tasty potatoes and the heavelnly onion ice cream. The leaf of chocolate gave the necessary bitter undertone.

shrimp_foie

The second dish was shrimp with duck foie gras and strawberry paste. The raw shrimp is sweet in its own way, ans the acidity of the straberry supplemented it in a harmonious way, while the foie added the body that seafood does not have.

cod_tripe_sea_urchin_eggsI now come to one of the absolutely fabulous dishes of the evening and my entire life as a food lover. Frozen sea urchin eggs with cod tripe. What a pandemonium of tastes,  aromas and all of them encased on the tender silky texture of the cod tripe!

tagliatelle_di_sepiaWhat followed was another absolute masterpiece, cuttlefish tagliatelle with pesto of nori seaweed. The cuttlefish was tender and tasty, drassed in the incredibly rich in aromas pesto of the nori! Heavenly, heavenly, heavenly!

rossetti

The saga continued with “rossetti” which is some type of scampi with olive oil, scallions and pine kerners. It was the perfect calming down dish, after the wild extravagant taste of the previous dish. Back to “normal”, civilized, food!

scampoWe stayed on the scampi family, the next dish was scampi in their shell, with tamarind. I confess I am crazy for scampi in their shell, with minimal add ons, as you can really taste the sea in all its glory!

lonzino_lecciaThe next dish combined surf and turf, with glorious mouth melting smoked lonzino (a type of cured ham) accompanied by raw leerfish (lecchia), and pears soaked in grapa!

ricciolaAs we approach the end, leerfish is again on the menu, this type with coconut milk and olive oil!

bacalaoThe last dish of the menu was “esquisada di baccala”. Raw cod chunks (salted cod from San Sebastian in the Basque Country, quite possibly the best in the world), with potatoes, pendolini tomatoes and basil.This is a hymn to primary ingredients of the best quality, as the cod’s texture  is supplemented by the sweetness of the potatoes and the incredible acidity of the small tomatoes that have been blessed by the volcanic soil of Vesuvius.

tiramisouThe tirami-sou that followed was deconstructed and absolutely fantastic! The mascarpone was intense and ever present, the cream golden and thick, the chocolate dressed in coffee chunky and bitter! A caramelized wet biscuit on top provided the necessary absorbing agent.No cake needed!