Chef Salvatore Bianco is Master Guest Chef at Italian Cuisine World Summit 2014, and took the time to answer a few questions about this venture, as well as his work at Michelin-starred restaurant Il Commandante.
Can you tell our readers about the Italian Cuisine World Summit in Dubai and what it means to you to represent Italian cuisine?
The Summit in Dubai has been a great opportunity to give international visibility to the Italian Cuisine, outlining one of the main strengths of our culture and a crucial leverage for tourism.
I was personally very proud of being chosen to represent my Country and my Region as well. Also, taking part into the Italian Cuisine World Summit was a good chance to debate and exchange opinions and impressions about food.
How do you describe your food?
My cuisine is simple and very focussed on the tastes of my homeland, but I never let Campanian culinary culture be a limit for me: tradition is actually my starting point to create new savours, through a constant search for innovation.
Do you start with a concept in mind or do you decide based on availability and season of the produce?
When I create a new dish, I always start from an idea or an intuition. Obviously, as I want to use only the freshest ingredients, before adding the new dish to Il Comandante’s menu, I consider and respect the season of the produce.
Do guests come to Il Comandante because of its Michelin star rating or because of its menu?
If I said the Michelin star was not an element of attraction for a restaurant I would not be honest! Without a doubt this award has brought more and new customers to Il Comandante, but the menu, the food quality and the experience you make them live is what gets them to come back over and over.
Can you share with our readers one simple recipe that best illustrates your style and that they could attempt reproducing at home without being accomplished cooks themselves?
As one of my favourite ingredients is egg, I would like to share with The Tastemaker’s readers the recipe of the so called “Egg 65° with buffalo mozzarella, potato mousse and caviar”.
Ingredients
4 free-range eggs
200 g smoked buffalo mozzarella
300 g buffalo milk
100 g “00” type flour
500 g potatoes
chicken broth q.s.
70 g double cream
20 g extra virgin olive oil
15 g caviar
Salt q.s.
Black pepper q.s.
Process
Cook the eggs in a water bath for 45 minutes at 65° (Celsius degrees).
Meanwhile cut into pieces the smoked mozzarella and put it in a vacuum cooking bag, along with buffalo milk, flour and all milk taken from cutting the mozzarella; then add salt, seal the bag and steam it in the oven for 45 minutes at 90° C. Then open the bag and, after mixing the content, sieve.
Wash the potatoes, peel them, cut them into small pieces and cook them with chicken broth, until obtaining a very soft texture. Emulsify the final mixture with double cream and oil, add salt and pepper; then dilute with some chicken broth, until obtaining a consistency similar to a sauce. Put the mixture obtained in a whipping siphon with 2 capsules of gas and let it stand for about 50 minutes.
Finally set up the plate, by positioning the smoked mozzarella cream on the basis of the dish with the help of a spoon; open the egg and overlap it with the cream; then cover with the potato mousse and caviar, by using the siphon.
Chef Salvatore Bianco is head chef at Il Commandante restaurant, in the Romeo hotel, Naples:
http://www.romeohotel.it/hotel/naples/en/Il-Comandante.html
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