Italy’s Cooking Cup spell continues

Edition number 13 in Venice’s water for the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup and once again the victory – chef wise – didn’t belong to the Italian competitor, a curse that is renewed each year perhaps because the person cooking feels he’s responsible for breaking the spell and the jury, meanwhile, is more strict with the Italian chef in order not to be accused of being partial. While Giuseppe Iannotti kept on smiling and demonstrated he can elegantly lose, a rare gift, Paul Qui smiled because he won the Acqua Panna&S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year Award.

Fifty sailboats took part in the regatta, each with a more or less professional chef on board. The competition was won by Italian boat Raffica with chef Enrico Pianegonda. The most celebrated guest, however, was Paul Qui. On the eve of the competition, last Friday at the Hilton Molino Stucky Hotel, he prepared a Raw mackerel with tomato dashi while during the competition he presented a Chawan Mushi on board the Timoteo. Each dish was judged according to four criterions, namely presentation, difficulty, taste and successful pairing with food and wine. The second place went to Russian chef Vladimir Mukhin with a recipe focused on organic raw materials. Chinese Ren Jie Liu was third, thanks to his search of balance between West and East in the old continent.

Giuseppe Iannotti, the clear talent of Kresios in Telese Terme, in the province of Benevento, cooked a Salted codfish with strawberries and mojito on Friday, while on Saturday, in the pantry, he focused on his Ravioli stuffed with squilla mantis on a garlic sauce with chopped fresh tomato, smoked rabbit and serpillo thyme, a stuffed pasta which the chef from Campania named following his heart since he called it Da casa mia al mare (literally From my home to the sea). Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients
“00” flour
Very fresh eggs
Durum wheat semolina
Squilla mantis
Rabbit fillets
wild thyme
Rime but firm San Marzano tomatoes
Garlic
Milk
Creme fraiche
Extra virgin olive oil

For the pasta
4 egg yolks (so as to keep the pasta al dente and leaving it firm and crispy)
1 whole egg (it gives a touch of elasticity thanks to the egg white)
100 g “00” flour (for elasticity)
100 g durum wheat semolina (so as to keep it al dente and leaving it firm and crispy)
Salt and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil

Method
Place some flour in a well shape and put the eggs in the middle. Mix until the mixture reaches an elasticity that resembles that of an earlobe. Roll out the pasta so it is about 2 mm thick and, using a pastry cutter, cut circles out that are 7 cm wide. In a pot, blanch the garlic for five times in boiling water, remembering to change the water every time. Add the milk and the creme fraiche and blend the mixture so it becomes a smooth cream.
Shell the squilla mantis, cut it into small pieces, add a pinch of salt and a touch of oil. Put a spoon of squilla mantis pieces inside each circle of pasta. Cover it with another circle and seal the edges.
Smoke and aromatise the rabbit with the thyme and cut it into small pieces. Add the tomato previously skinned and cut into small pieces.

Finishing
Put the garlic sauce on the bottom of the plate, place a raviolo on top, and cover with the sauce. Serve hot.