A game of contrasts: what kind of warm salads are prepared in restaurants
The onset of the warmer months is gradually making adjustments to our gastronomic habits. The body requires more greens, but the weather swings do not allow us to switch to very light meals. A compromise option at this point is moderately high-calorie warm salads. Izvestia found out what relevant options are offered to guests in Moscow restaurants.
What is the special feature of warm salads?
Warm salads appeared in Russian restaurant gastronomy relatively recently, they were gradually introduced by the first foreign chefs who came to work in our country in the late 1990s. One of the first was caesar salad, which perfectly fits into modern Russian cuisine. Today, it is one of the best-selling and recognizable dishes.
"The main feature of such salads is that one or more of its ingredients must remain warm on the plate, which requires special attention to their layout," Fedor Verin, brand chef of the Central House of Artists restaurant, told Izvestia. — These dishes are prepared in different workshops, and in order to get a good result, it is important to synchronize all actions in the kitchen accurately.
Warm salad with eggplant, tomatoes and cream cheese
The most common base for a warm salad is meat (beef, poultry), offal (tongue, liver), a variety of seafood, as well as cheese and seasonal vegetables. According to our expert, a warm eggplant salad has been especially popular in restaurants for several years. The CDL also has its own version of this fashionable snack with oriental roots. For its preparation, skinless Baku tomatoes, crispy warm eggplant and strachatella cheese are used, and coriander pesto and demiglas pepper sauce are used for dressing.
Another classic warm salad from our expert's repertoire consists of a mix of salads, fried chicken liver in demiglas sauce, oyster mushrooms and raspberry dressing. This dish not only interestingly reveals the harmony of the different ingredients, but is also perfect for a hearty snack. In addition, such a salad can be easily prepared at home. To do this, fry the washed and dried chicken liver in butter with garlic and thyme over medium heat and put it warm on a salad mix with mustard dressing, and sprinkle grated hard cheese on top.
What kind of warm salads are on trend right now
In the restaurant industry, warm salads, like other dishes, are influenced by trends that reflect general gastronomic trends and changing preferences of guests.
"In recent years, there have been several notable trends regarding ingredients, dressings, and serving methods," Denis Shelepnev, chef of the Zea restaurant, explained to our publication. — Root vegetables and seasonal vegetables (baked or boiled sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, pumpkins) remain on trend, especially during the cold season, and add richness and sweet taste to dishes. In addition, warm salads often combine crispy elements (bacon, nuts, seeds, vegetable chips) with soft or creamy textures.
Warm salad with beef on a pillow of arugula and spinach, with feta cheese and hazelnuts
Complex and flavorful sauces are a key element of modern warm salads, our interlocutor continues. And today the main focus is on berry and fruit dressings. They add sourness and contrast with fatty or meat ingredients. Honey and mustard-based sauces, umami versions with fish or oyster sauces, and delicate cream dressings using cream, avocado, or soft cheese also remain relevant.
The warm salad on the Zea menu is made up of contrasting elements that create an interesting harmony of ingredients. The warm beef in it gives a rich meaty taste and fullness. Arugula adds a piquant bitterness and sharpness that contrasts with the softness of the other ingredients. Spinach is responsible for the sweet notes and delicate texture, softening the harshness of arugula. The salinity of the feta cheese helps to reveal the taste of the other ingredients. And the crunchy texture of hazelnuts delicately contrasts with the softness of meat and cheese. The result is a balanced, satisfying, but not heavy snack with a multifaceted taste.
To make a warm salad visually more aesthetic, our expert advises cutting the ingredients evenly (1-1.5 cm cubes or contrasting shapes: straws, circles) and spreading them in a cooking ring or in portions (for example, on lettuce leaves, in cream bowls, glasses). Top the salad with herbs, cherry tomatoes, olives or nuts and add a sauce pattern just before serving.
Warm BBQ duck salad with ginger and pickles
"If we talk about trends, I wouldn't separate them too much from the base: classic things still work in warm salads," says the brand chef of the Buro restaurant.Tsum Egor Makarov. — Nicoise, in fact, is a warm salad in which the right balance of ingredients is important: baked potatoes, beans, ramiro peppers, tuna, which is lightly fried, and fresh lettuce leaves. Plus a bright dressing, for example, with an emphasis on balsamic.
Talking about current issues, our interlocutor adds that today the trends in warm salads are formed around the quality of ingredients and the expressiveness of sauces. The main rule is that a warm salad should always have a bright, rich dressing. It is she who "collects" the dish. It doesn't matter how you cook the main product: on the grill, in a frying pan or in the oven, the taste will not be complete without sauce.
For the cool season, brand chef Makarrov introduced a warm salad with duck fried to a pronounced caramelized crust to the menu. Poultry meat is thinly sliced in the style of tagliata and a dressing based on nuts, pickled ginger and soy sauce is added to it. Pickles also play an important role in the dish: artichokes, squash, lightly salted cucumbers. They give acidity and balance the fat content of the duck. Another lighter but also expressive dish is a salad with squid, mango and avocado. The cephalopod is grilled with garlic oil and salt, combined with tomatoes, mango, avocado, salad mix and fried seaweed. The dressing in the snack is wasabi sauce, which brings all the flavors together.
When preparing a warm salad at home, it is important to remember the most optimal combinations of products, our expert emphasizes. Meat works well with fresh vegetables and herbs, poultry, especially duck, likes fermented and pickled foods for balance, and seafood plays well with light sweetness (such as mango) and spiciness (wasabi, citrus fruits, ginger).
Which foods are better to cook warm salads with in the spring
A warm salad is a dish that is appropriate on the menu all year round, while depending on the time of the year, restaurants often try to highlight relevant seasonal products at the peak of freshness and taste.
— In spring, it is better to use everything that grows with the onset of heat, especially since new products often come one after another, — says Alexander Volkov-Medvedev, brand chef of Ruski restaurant. — Now the wild garlic has appeared, then the morels will immediately begin, followed by asparagus, scum and nettle, and then the first vegetables from the garden will begin. All this can and should be added to warm salads one way or another.
Warm salad with wild garlic and beef tongue
Most recently, our interlocutor presented a special menu, where the main characters were young wild garlic and morels. Among the items there is also a warm potato salad with hot smoked tongue, tomatoes, radishes and herbs seasoned with basil and wild garlic pesto. When serving, the appetizer is richly decorated with fresh wild cherry leaves, adding pomp and emphasizing the importance of this ingredient in the dish.
"The main principle of spring warm salads is freshness and lightness, because everyone already wants to move away from the heavy, hearty dishes of the winter menu and move on to lighter, brighter flavors that are associated with the awakening of nature," says Ildar Sanzharov, chef of Uilliam's restaurant. — Young vegetables, tender greens and light proteins allow you to create a dish that is both satisfying, healthy and refreshing. And the warmth of the salad will only emphasize the natural sweetness and flavor of these products without interrupting them.
According to our expert, new potatoes with thin skins and a pleasant sweet taste are perfect for the spring version of a warm salad. It can be boiled or baked, retaining a maximum of vitamins and advantageously combined with fresh herbs and light dressings. Asparagus, young green peas, spinach, sorrel and the first carrot can also be used as seasonal ingredients. Lemon juice in the dressing will add freshness, and herbs will add brightness and flavor.
Warm salad with quail, ginger and sesame seeds
Uilliam's menu is particularly popular with a warm salad with fried quail breast fillet, which is pre-marinated in saline solution to give it a rich taste and make it more tender. Pickled ginger and sesame sauce are added to the bird, and the whole dish is liberally sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese before serving. The updated warm seafood salad has become even more spring-like. It is made from tomatoes and avocado fried on fire, celery, chupadedes olives and pesto sauce. Argentine shrimp dominates among the seafood, and the snack is filled with dressing based on lemon oil and fresh citrus fruits.
For those who are going to cook a warm seafood salad at home, Chef Sanzharov gave some practical tips. If you plan to use frozen seafood, defrost them gradually in the refrigerator, and then dry them with paper towels. Do not over-cook seafood on fire or in boiling water. They cook very quickly and will become too hard with prolonged heat treatment. At the same time, all seafood should be fried separately, since shrimp, scallops and squid are cooked in a matter of minutes, whereas for large shrimp or octopus it may take a little longer. Mussels and vongole are best blanched. Put them in a saucepan with a little white wine, garlic and herbs, cover and cook over medium heat until the shells open.
Add seafood to the salad when they are still warm, so that they have time to transfer their flavor to the vegetables and dressing. Lay out the ingredients in layers so that each bite contains different textures and flavors. Fill everything just before serving, so that the vegetables do not have time to soften, and the greens remain fresh.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
