From the heat to the heat: what interesting chefs cook on coals
Previously, kebabs and steaks were mainly cooked on fire, but today the boundaries of this genre have significantly expanded. Chefs willingly use the heat from the coals for gastronomic experiments, combining different cuisines, techniques and inventing new culinary plots on the plate. Izvestia found out what interesting interpretations can be found in restaurants and beyond.
There is no udder without fire
Masters of modern gastronomy convincingly prove that it is possible to cook not only meat, fish or vegetables in the heat of coals. Sometimes the most unexpected products are sent to the grill — for example, beef udder, which is served in the glass room "Colleagues 2.0" on Taganka.
"When thinking over our concept, we decided to focus on offal, as they are undeservedly poorly prepared in the capital," Alexey Pavlovsky, the project's chef, told Izvestia. — Udder on the grill has already become our specialty, beef lung in pepper sauce has also recently been added to the menu, and kidneys will soon be added to them.
Beef udder teriyaki
Before getting on the plates, the udder is soaked for 12 hours in ice water, after which it is prepared using the sous-vide method for 24 hours with allspice, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary and garlic. At the final stage, it is fried on a wood-burning grill on birch coals and caramelized with teriyaki sauce.
The main feature of udder is the pronounced taste of melted milk, which may confuse many. In order to neutralize it, the by-product should be soaked in cold water for a long time, the expert advises. Also, during cooking, you should add different spices to the udder at your discretion, which will help saturate it with additional flavors.
Add the legs
Nowadays, a grill is also a space where techniques and tastes of different gastronomic traditions meet. Chefs use heat as a universal tool that allows them to combine seemingly distant cuisines. So, in the Kazan wine bar Graa, working in the itameshi style, octopus is prepared at the junction of Japanese and Italian gastronomy.
— The idea arose naturally: octopus is widely used in both Italian and Japanese cuisine, — says Artem Laptev, co-founder and concept chef of the restaurant. — The product itself became the starting point for combining two culinary traditions in one dish. We took the techniques and ingredients typical of both cuisines and tried to mix them so that they complement each other organically.
Octopus with romesque sauce and mashed potatoes
To begin with, the bar prepares a rich octopus broth. It is based on a mirepoix made from onions, carrots and celery, to which Asian ingredients are added — soy sauce, ginger, a little lemongrass and kombu seaweed. All the ingredients are boiled, achieving a deep and concentrated taste. Octopus tentacles are boiled in this broth, then lightly grilled and only then sliced. The clam is served with mashed potatoes, topped with parmesan cheese and furikake seasoning, as well as baked sweet pepper ramiro. Instead of fresh tomatoes, which are often found in Italian cuisine, kimchi tomatoes are used here. Another important element of the dish is the sauce. Instead of the classic gremolata, guests are offered an author's interpretation of the chimichurri made from parsley and coriander, seasoned with lime oil, shiso and a small amount of ponzu sauce.
According to Chef Laptev, octopus tentacles are best suited for grilling. They should be boiled beforehand, allowed to cool slightly in the broth and cut into portions. The main secret is not to overdo the product on the fire. Since the octopus has already undergone basic heat treatment, it only needs to be quickly fried until golden brown, having previously been generously greased with olive oil. If you leave it on the grill for too long, the meat will become tough and dry.
Duck stories
Duck shish kebab is not the most obvious solution, but it is precisely such gastronomic finds that are also appearing on restaurant menus today. For example, the new Moscow cantina Tatooine, inspired by modern Caucasian cuisine and the aesthetics of Star Wars, offers its own version of this dish called duck magre.
Magre duck with lingonberry sauce
— I cooked duck shish kebab for the first time about four years ago, when I suddenly had a large supply of this bird. Now this is one of our most popular positions," Biso Chechenov, the restaurant's brand chef, told our publication. — For the dish, we use a fillet of semi-wild duck from Karachay-Cherkessia. It has dark meat, the taste of which is especially interesting to reveal after cooking: first it literally melts in your mouth, and then the receptors pick up the characteristic liver tint of the game.
For shish kebab, skinless duck fillet is marinated for a little more than ten minutes in a mixture of vegetable oil, mountain honey, soft Dijon mustard, dried garlic, onion and mineral water, adding a little paprika for color. Before sending the meat to the grill, it is cut into medium-sized pieces at an angle of about 30 degrees. During cooking, the shish kebab is periodically greased with vegetable oil to preserve its juiciness. The meat is fried to medium roast, and served on a flatbread made from matzoni dough with a mix of Caucasian herbs and lingonberry sauce.
You can listen to Biso Chechenov's detailed story about modern Caucasian cuisine in the Izvestia podcast "Conversation with Taste".
Steak lunch
Gastronomic hybrids continue to gain popularity, and today this trend has already reached dishes cooked on fire. A striking example is a steak with elements of kharcho and elardji, which can be tasted in the Georgian restaurant "Ojakhuri" (Moscow).
Grilled striploin with elargi and signature sauce
"Brand chef Sergey Batukov and I like to modernize Georgian cuisine and rethink traditional dishes, while preserving their character and meaning," says Chef Lasha Kenchadze. — We took as a basis the idea of the Megrelian kharcho, the key ingredient of which is beef, and decided to interpret it through the steak format. The addition to the dish was elardji made from corn flour and suluguni.
Kharcho sauce is made on the basis of rich beef broth and walnuts. It also contains tomatoes, onions, garlic and Georgian spices, which make the taste bright, spicy and layered. The sauce is spread on the bottom of the plate, and a strip is placed on top, grilled to medium roast. The composition is rounded off by elardji, which is served not in the usual form of thick porridge, but in the form of a steak with an appetizing crispy crust.
Who's in the oven, who's on the firewood
A log in gastronomy usually remains behind the scenes, acting only as a source of heat and smoke. But in the Maya restaurant in Moscow, the concept of which is largely built around cooking on an open fire, it has been made a full-fledged part of the dish and trout is baked on it, achieving a special taste of fish. They complement the position with polenta and grilled corn.
Trout baked on a birch log
— We did not copy any particular dish, but rather were inspired by the principle of cooking on wood, which is used in different cuisines of the world, - Vladimir Velichko, chef of Maya restaurant (Moscow), shared the details of the idea. — We wanted to combine fish and natural material to get a unique flavor and texture, and birch log seemed to be the most interesting solution.
The key step in cooking fish is to pre-marinate it in a mixture of salt, sugar, citrus peel and dill. All the ingredients together create a classic but vibrant balance: salt and sugar work as a natural preservative, helping to preserve juiciness, while zest and dill add freshness and light spicy notes. Another important point is the presence of a pizza oven in the restaurant, where trout is baked and smoked at the same time. Being on the logs, the fish warms up evenly, while the wood slightly slows down heat transfer at the point of contact, and as a result, the fillet remains very juicy inside.
Trout baked on a birch log
According to our expert, it is quite possible to cook other fish in this way — the result will also be excellent. In this case, you can use not only birch, but also other tree species, the main thing is that the logs are the right size for the carcass. With this method, it is especially important to monitor the temperature inside the fish. It is optimal to bring it up to 52 ° C, as this is the ideal cooking point when the meat remains tender and moist. Chef Velichko also recommends soaking the logs in water at least an hour before cooking — this will prevent them from catching fire and ensure that the fish stews evenly over the coals.
Steamed lamb
Previously, after the steam room, guests were content with simple snacks, but recently they have become increasingly interested in a more advanced gastronomic recreation program. Feeling a new demand, many complexes develop their own conceptual menus and rely on bright original dishes. Some of them become business cards of establishments and attract no less than the bath procedures themselves.
"At some point, we realized that we were missing a truly signature dish - one that would have a wow effect on the guests and be associated with us," said Angelina Trimbashevskaya, marketing Director of the Bani Malevich project. — This is how the idea of a large tandoor lamb leg appeared, which is cooked and served on juniper paws. This component allows you to maintain the connection between the dish and the bath: the smell of wood, pine needles, warm resin and hot meat adds up to a single memorable impression.
Lamb leg on juniper paws
The main feature of the dish is the long multi—stage preparation of meat. A leg of lamb is marinated for about 12 hours in a spice mixture with Asian accents, after which it languishes for more than two hours in a tandoor on fir branches. Thanks to this, the meat retains its juiciness and literally breaks down into fibers. It is served on the paws of fresh juniper in a wooden tub with baked mini potatoes and a sauce of fresh herbs.
Juniper should be used carefully, as it is a very expressive ingredient that can easily attract attention to itself, warns our interlocutor. It works best not as a spice, but as a source of flavor and atmosphere. For grilling or serving meat, it is better to use fresh slices of juniper branches after washing them thoroughly. Their coniferous aroma goes especially well with mutton, game and other rich meats.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
