Coco chef close-up: in the kitchen with Alex Atala
The Brazilian chef describes his approach to cooking using responsibly sourced Amazonian products
For the aromatic pepper oil
200g aromatic pepper
30ml cachaça
15ml white-wine vinegar
1 rosemary stalk
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic
750ml canola (rapeseed) oil
For the scallops
8 Brazil nuts
12 sea scallops, cleaned
25ml lemon juice
salt
150ml coconut milk
6 mint leaves
For the crispy mango
300g mango flesh
1 vanilla bean
100 ml glucose
To assemble
cilantro (coriander) sprouts
For the aromatic pepper oil
Mix all the ingredients and let them infuse in a vacuum-pack bag for 30 days at below 15ºF (8ºC).
For the scallops
Grate the Brazil nuts on a microplane and set aside. Place the scallops in a bowl on top of a bain-marie filled with ice. Add the lemon juice and a little salt and let them marinate for 1 minute.
Add the coconut milk and the aromatic pepper oil. Mix well.
Chiffonade the mint leaves and add to the mixture.
For the crispy mango
In a blender, blend the mango with the seeds from the vanilla bean. Pass it through a sieve, and reserve. Heat the glucose until it melts and mix it with the mango.
Preheat the oven to 230ºF (130ºC).
On a nonstick silicone baking mat, make very thin layers of the mango mixture and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes until crunchy.
Keep in a cool, dry place until needed.
To assemble
In each soup plate, arrange 3 scallops and a little of the marinade.
Place the grated Brazil nuts, 1 piece of crispy mango and a cilantro sprout in each bowl.
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