Some of the best food memories come from simplicity - eating the crunchy part of baked pasta, mopping fresh bread with exceptional extra-virgin olive oil. The recipe prepared by Riccardo Di Giacinto at Flemish Food Bash had all the ingredients of simplicity. A certain type of pasta (or couscous) with butter and anchovies topped with grated orange zest cannot get much simpler. But the explosion of flavours in the mouth is something I will remember. It is not a combination I have tried before (anchovies go extremely well with olive oil but I had never before attempted them in a pasta dish with butter) and maybe it was for this reason that I was surprised. Food and Wine Gazette asked this Michelin star chef why he opted to bring a simple dish to Flemish Food Bash. "I wanted to bring a bit of Rome with me. In Rome, when you are feeling good and someone asks you how you are, you normally use an expression 'come burro e alici' whicih is like butter and anchovies. It means you are feeling … [Read more...]
Recipe 2 – Charred Aubergine Salad
Barbecues should not be boring. There is nothing like sausages or burgers on the barbecue but grilling outdoors can also be sophisticated. It all depends on your level of ambition. Before grilling meat or fish, I always like to prepare vegetables on the barbecue. Chargrilling peppers, onions, courgettes, aubergine, leeks, potato you name it. With the right condiments (herbs, olive oil and balsamic vinegar they are second to none) they can make for an excellent antipasto or perfect accompaniment to meat or fish. Among foodies or those who regularly view the BBC, Raymond Blanc needs no introduction. He is a French chef who settled in the UK many years ago. He is the chef of a Michelin starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. He is passionate about cooking and his charisma whenever he is presenting a television programme is always visible. This winter, BBC had a superb series by Raymond Blanc on How to Cook and one of the programmes was about grilling. The following, which I have … [Read more...]
Recipe 1 – A taste of the sea
The weather has been extremely hot in Belgium over the past three days. On Friday evening, the temperature hovered around 30C and therefore I felt a great urge to eat some seafood as a reminder of summer holidays. To me, shellfish and fish are always a reminder of summer and holidays. If there is one dish which I crave for but which alas is so difficult to find away from the Mediterranean is a pasta with sea urchins which is pure heaven when sea urchins is available. It is normally the first thing I try to eat whenever I go back home to Malta. It is also something I look out for when I am in the South of Italy or Sicily. I headed to the fish shop close to our home to see what inspired me. Many times this is how I get inspiration for cooking. Nothing beats the joy of having no plan for lunch or supper and improvising on the basis of what you find on the market. I found the famous Moules de Bouchot (small mussels from France which are incredibly tasty) and therefore mussels it would … [Read more...]