Goodbye autumn

This dish opens a mini-menu that wants to represent the autumn, but in a peculiar and personal way. I have chosen old-fashioned ingredients such as cabbage and bitter roots, playing also with the “heat” sensation given by the colours of this season’s raw materials. The choice of the beer, Birra Moretti Grand Cru, strengthens my recipe thanks to the sweetness that harmonises with the characteristics of the foie gras. Moreover, its high alcohol level supports the structure of my autumn scallops.

Scallops in cabbage leaves, with bitter roots chips, foie gras and Birra Moretti Grand Cru sauce

Recipe for 4 people

INGREDIENTS
for the scallops in cabbage leaves
12 scallop muscles
1 cabbage
lard
cocoa butter
extra virgin olive oil
unrefined fine-grained salt to taste
pepper to taste
ascorbic acid

for the sauce
1 laurel leaf
4 shallots
6/8 Sechuan pepper grains
350 cl of Birra Moretti Grand Cru
350 cl of vegetable stock
200 cl of heavy cream
foie gras
extra virgin olive oil

for the bitter roots chips
1 scorzonera
1 daikon
extra virgin olive oil

METHOD
for the scallops
Preheat a non-stick pan on a high flame, cover it with fine-grained unrefined salt. Pass the scallops in the cocoa butter then, when the pan is nicely hot, scald them on both sides. Meanwhile, carefully clean the cabbage leaves, scald them in hot water and cool them in water and ice with some ascorbic acid to avoid oxidation, then dry them carefully. Finely chop the lard, place it on the scallops and envelop them in the cabbage leaves. Put them on a baking sheet sprinkling some extra virgin olive oil on them.

Fabrizio Tesse awarded by Claudio Sadler

for the sauce
Brown the shallots in extra virgin olive oil with the laurel leaf and Sechuan pepper. Once they sweat, add the Birra Moretti Grand Cru and reduce it to 150 cl and, afterwards, add the stock. Reduce now to 300 cl. Finally add the 200 cl of heavy cream and reduce again to 300 cl. Cool quickly and emulsify with the foie gras. Finally sieve the sauce.

for the chips
Using a mandoline slicer, finely chop the bitter roots – about 8-10 cm long. Fry them in extra virgin olive oil. Once they have reached the desired crispiness, dry them with some kitchen paper.

for the service
Place the foie gras and beer sauce in a soup dish, put the scallops previously cooked in the oven for 6 minutes at 200°C in the middle. Garnish with the bitter roots chips, add a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and decorate with the aromatic herbs.