11-07-2022
Mauro Colagreco and, right, in the photo by Tanio Liotta, one of the most beautiful and delicious dishes in his menu Univers Mirazur Fleurs, that is to say Tartellette of rose with chantilly and smoked eel
Which was the most ambitious menu, the most important of all four? He thinks about it a little, then he says: «Well, the easiest was for sure the one with roots… And the hardest one the one with flowers! Very complex. But we’ve made it, eh». Luca Tegon smiles at the end of a nice dinner at La Stüa de Michil in Corvara, Bolzano. He’s the sous chef of Simone Cantafio, and we’ll talk about them soon. But the chat leads us for a moment far away from the Dolomites and right to the middle of the Ligurian Sea facing Menton: Tegon knows those places well. He’s also been the sous of Mauro Colagreco, before starting this new venture in the mountains a few months ago…
So: the best is "flowers", in his opinion. And we agree on the absolute quality of the offer, because on the eve of our trip to South Tyrol we were dining at Mirazur. And we had exactly that menu, which Colagreco dedicates to flowers. As Giovanna Abrami explained us (see Colagreco’s revolution is a journey inspired by the relationship between earth and sky, following the biodynamic calendar, and we’re not going to repeat that as we couldn’t find a better way to describe this), for some time the Italian-Argentinian chef has been changing the menu based on the passage of the moon in the different constellations, which influences plants, so that every day the offer is based on the four elements of the vegetal world, fruits, leaves and roots and flowers. (By the way, what a lot of work! Four menus in turn, 60 guests for lunch and 60 for dinner. Tegon makes us understand that the brigade didn’t have to go superfast… but super superfast!).
The July calendar at Mirazur. Every day they state the type of menu that will be offered, alternated base on the moon, and dedicated to roots, fruits, flowers or leaves
Let’s start then by saying that Colagreco has very good sight. The tasting of Univers Mirazur Fleurs offers us not only the excellence of a tasting menu of the finest quality; but also the brave mastery of a very-famous chef and yet one that has the desire and the strength to take on a very complicated, expensive, hard project. A journey that will see him a winner, at least with regards to what he tasted.
Flowers of nasturtium, seafood ragout. Photo Tanio Liotta
There’s a long tradition of Italian sous chefs at Mirazur. Now Donato Russo (here in the photo with Robert De Niro when he dined in Menton) shines now: born in 1992 in Solofra, in Irpinia, he attended catering school in Avellino and then worked for many years in France. He’s with Colagreco since 2017, now as his right arm
So that yes, we can say that “Colagreco’s flowers” are blooming. Here are the steps in our tasting menu, one by one, with photos from Tanio Liotta.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
Head of veal with capers
Shaved green apple and camomile
Tartlet with flowers of meadowsweet and mushroom carpaccio (Calocybe gambosa). Meadowsweet is a herbaceous plant of the Rosaceae family
Crackers of Parmigiano Reggiano with cream and garlic flowers
Tartlet of rose with chantilly of smoked eel
Bread, in the shape of a flower
Fiori of borage, sea flan, razor clams
Hibiscus and beetroot: powdered hibiscus, petals of beetroot, vinaigrette of beetroot and hibiscus, cooked wrapped in salt, beef carpaccio
Flowers of osmanthus and scampi. Osmanthus belong to the Oleaceae family, originally from Asia. The flowers recall the scent of white peaches, apricot, and in this case are used to aromatise a Bearnaise sauce
Flowers of osmanthus and scampi, second service: cold sauce of flowers of osmanthus, gel of green apple
Flowers of osmanthus and scampi, third service: head of scampi with emulsion of osmanthus
Flowers of nasturtium, seafood ragout. Emulsion of petals of nasturtium, mangetout, "Mediterranean" seafood ragout (king prawns from Sanremo, baby calamari from Villefranche-sur-Mer, shellfish)
Courgette flower, Provencal sauce. Courgette flower stuffed with veal, the "Provencal sauce" is made with capers, olives and tomato
Vanilla, lobster. The sauce is made with Mexican vanilla (which is an orchid) to season these grilled kebabs of lobster and celeriac aromatised with Mediterranean herbs (sage, rosemary...). See also the photo below
Vanilla, lobster, second service. Cube of celeriac with mousse of lobster and trout roe
Saffron, guinea fowl. The guinea fowl is seasoned with a sauce of saffron from Sospel (a village in the Maritime Alps), mussels, gel of lemon and chopped mussels and dried tomatoes
Saffron, guinea fowl, second service. Consommé with a raviolo stuffed with guinea fowl
Elderberry, cherries: cherry jam, fresh cherries, granita of elderberry flowers
Pollen, acacia. Mousse of pollen, sorbet of acacia honey, hazelnut brittle, gel of beer
Petit fours: from the top, clockwise, biscuit with pistachios and orange flowers, praline of white chocolate and marigolds and rose, gelée of hibiscus and strawberries, gelato of meadowsweet with sesame wafer, tartlet with camomile and peanuts
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief
Chef Mauro Colagreco and one of the dishes on his menu dedicated to fruit that most impressed us: Zucchini and Hermit crab
The Kulm Hotel in Sankt Moritz and chef Mauro Colagreco
Mauro Colagreco with Audrey Azoulay, Unesco's Director-General, as she awards the Italian-Argentinian chef with the title of Unesco Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity
