THE LANDSCAPES-PORTUGUESE CHEF-JOSÉ AVILLEZ
José Avillez is the Chef of Tavares (founded in 1784!) since 2008. Between his post-graduate trainings, work and courses, he has passed through the kitchens of some of the great masters; Ferran Adriá, Alain Ducasse and Éric Frechon among others. In 2009, he was awarded the “Chef of the Year” prize by the Portuguese Academy of Gastronomy. That same year, the magazine “Revista de Vinhos” gave Tavares an award for the “Best Restaurant of the Year 2008”. Furthermore José Avillez has written two books, produced a cooking show and has recently launched his line of food products, JA brand.
Under his leadership, the cuisine of Tavares has become a tribute to the Portuguese landscapes and products. Perfectionist, creative and innovative, José Avillez has a very unique vision of the cuisine. A great artist!
Q+A WITH JOSÉ AVILLEZ (www.joseavillez.pt ):
1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics?
JAvillez- My cuisine has 23 commandments (see the video at the end). I cook with my soul. My cuisine offers Portuguese flavours, vanguard techniques and inspiration. I have a passion for landscapes. People recognize my food by the way I translate landscapes that really inspire me into recipes.
2-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular foods (or products) that you often use in your recipes?
JAvillez- Fish and shellfish from the Portuguese coast! One of the world’s best, I’m sure!
3-(Scoffier) Do you have a mentor (chefs or anybody else) that inspires you in your cuisine?
JAvillez- Yes, Ferran Adrià, Andoni Anduriz, Quique Dacosta, Joan Roca…
4-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular flavour or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?
JAvillez- Yes, I have some. There are some flavours that evoke childhood memories from the meals I ate at my grandmother’s house: fresh herbs, the sea flavour…
5-(Scoffier) Is there any elements from your cuisine that is typical from the Portugal?
JAvillez- At Tavares, I present a Portuguese cuisine. I mainly choose Portuguese products, flavours and seasonings.
6-(Scoffier) What do you eat when you are at home?
JAvillez- Comfort food! Pasta, soup and home-cooked Portuguese food.
7-(Scoffier) Almost all the young creative chefs from Spain worked or were influenced by Ferran Adria. I know that you worked there. What do you do exactly in the El Bulli cuisine and how you been influenced by him?
JAvillez- I have learned to look further…
8-(Scoffier) Do you use some elements from molecular gastronomy or from other new technology in your cuisine? If yes, which?
JAvillez- I know how to use most of them but I don’ use them very often. I don’t even think it should be called molecular gastronomy. I understand what you mean but I think that name doesn’t really make sense.
9-(Scoffier) What do you have change (in the cuisine) in first when you arrived at Tavares, a very very old restaurant with a great tradition?
JAvillez- I have changed everything.
10-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipes (to do) that is characterized the cuisine of José Avillez?
JAvillez- Yes, here the recipe that represents my work at Tavares: Alentejo Landscape.
11-(Scoffier) What is your goal (ambitions) as a chef or for the restaurant? Do you think about write a new book, a television show?
JAvillez- I have lots of projects in mind… I have just launched JA a brand that stands for José Avillez and offers great everyday food. I have two stores one in Lisbon and other in Cascais.
RECIPE: Alentejo Landscape (Serves 4)
Most of my inspiration definitely comes from nature. The landscapes, the flowers, the sea, the sky, and the sun are some key elements that I work with. The tradition and the Portuguese flavors are also crucial in the development of my work. This dish is the combination of these two big sources of inspiration, and because of that, for now, it is one of the most representatives of my cuisine and my culinary philosophy.
INGREDIENTS & PROGRESSION RECIPE
For the pig trotters
-8 Iberian pig’s trotters
-70 g sea salt
-6 kg water
-120 g vinegar
-60 g salt
-2 onions
-1 clove
-½ carrot
-½ leek
-6 peppercorns
-3 cloves garlic
1. Split the trotter in hald, singe the skin, remove all the hair, and rinse with running water. Place the trotters on a large tray and sprinkle with salt (7 g of sea salt for each trotter), then out in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Rinse carefully. I an large pan, put all the ingredients and, when it reaches a boil, cook for 3 ½ hours. Remove the trotters, reserve 21/2 liters of stock and let cool (keep it to use later). Bone the trotters, cut the trotters into 1cm pieces of a similar shape.
For the trotters “sauté”
-3 garlic cloves, green germ removed
-20 g sea salt
-50 g olive oil
-3 cilantro sprigs
-1.5 kg stock
-6 tablespoons of red-wine vinegar
1. Mash the garlic and sea salt with a mortar and pestle, to form a paste. In a pan, sauté the garlic with olive oil. The garlic should cook but not turn brown. Add the trotters and cilantro sprigs and cover with approximately 1 ½ liters of stock. Add some vinegar and cook on low heat for at least 20 minutes. Season with salt and vinegar if necessary. Remove the cilantro sprigs.
For the chlorophyll and cilantro gelatin
-300 g spinach
-20 g cilantro
-3 kg + 0.5 kg water
-6 g citras
-6 g salt
-8 g agar agar
-1,7 g gellan
1. Cook the spinach and cilantro in boiling water for 5 seconds (add 2 g of citras for each liter of water). Cool in iced water and drain. In a blender, mix the spinach and cilantro with ½ liter of water and 6 g of salt, strain through a superbag. Chill. For each 500 ml of liquid add agar agar and gellan and stir. Boil the liquid and pour it into trays, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
For the toasts
-100 g bread
-400 g peanut oil
1. Cut the bread in thin slices and then into 1cm x 2 cm rectangles. Preheat peanut oil at 340ºF (170º C), then fry the bread until it’s crunchy and golden.
For the scrambled egg foam
–150 g eggs
-120 g egg yolks
-100 g cream
-50 g butter, plus extra for cooking the eggs
-salt and pepper
1. Stir the eggs and yolks together. In a pan, with a piece of butter, cook the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Place the ingredients in a blender, add the butter and cream, and mix until it forms a puree. Strain and insert the puree in a siphon. Add one cartridge and keep in the Bain Marie Roner at 130ºF (54º C).
For the lemon meringue
-400 g water
-2.5 g Metil
-8 gelatin leaves
-70 ml lemon juice
-6 g salt
1. For the lemon meringue, mix 100 ml water with 2.5 g Metil and blend. Add it to the remaining water. Melt the gelatine leaves and add them. Add the lemon juice and salt, and put aside at room temperature.
* Metil, Citras, Gluco, Xanthan, Alginate are molecular cuisine products for emulsion, spherification etc.
For the red-wine spherical raisins
-2 g Gluco
-0.4 g Xanthan
-100 g red wine
-500 g water
-2.5 g alginate
-200 g sugar
1. Mix the Gluco, Xanthan and wine in a blender. Remove the air using a vacuum-packing machine and set aside. Place 200 g water in the food processor and sprinkle 2.5 g alginate over it. Blend for 2 minutes and add the remaining water. Place the alginate bath into a pan and make little spheres of the wine mixture by dropping spoonfuls to resemble raisins into the alginate bath. Remove them from the alginate bath and put into the water. Straind them carefully and cover with sugar for 35 minutes. Remove the spheres from the sugar and wash them with wine.
For the pork sauce
-40 g shallots
-60 g Leek
-2 garlic cloves
-0,5 dl olive oil
-200 g Iberian pork meat
-40 g unsalted butter
-1 liter mineral water
1. Make the “mirepoix” with the shallots, leek and garlic. Caremelize the pork with the olive oil. Add the “mirepoix” and let it caramelize. Take the excess of fat and add the butter and cook for 2 minutes. Add the water and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Pass through a strainer and a super bag and let it cool.
To serve
-Cilantro sprouts
-Pork sauce
-Pepper
-Flowers
-Mixture of sprouts
-Sea salt
-Red-wine vinegar
1. Whisk the lemon meringue until stiff.
2. Heat the pig trotters and season with salt and red-wine vinegar.
3. Heat the pork sauce and reduce it, add a piece of butter to the emulsion and season with red-wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Put the trotters in center of dish and cover with the chlorophyll and cilantro gelatin.
5. Add the scramble egg foam, meringue, toasts, sprouts and flowers, the spherical wine raisins, and the sauce. Serve immediately.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
-Restaurant Belcanto/Chef José Avillez
Lisbon, Portugal
-Books at www.joseavillez.pt :
1. Um Chef em Sua Casa (A Chef in your Home), 2006
2. Petisca com Estilo (To Nibble/Eat with Style), 2007
-Video (to see and understand the cuisine of José Avillez) :
1. Inspirational Cuisine by José Avillez, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNGUoXrlXQs
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