Two recipes for the best of fusion food
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Who says fusion food is nothing but confusion?
Cooking fusion food by combining different food items to create a deliciously distinctive flavor can be challenging, but also interesting and fun.
Beginners may need to brush up on their cooking skills and sharpen their knowledge of the different flavors of food items and find combinations that work. As Alila Jakarta executive chef Graeme Ritchie puts it, "sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't".
But when you come up with the right combination, the result will surely please your taste buds.
Chef Graeme reveals two of his creations.
Beef Carpacchio
* 160g beef strip loin or fillet * 50g olive oil * 30g whole grain mustard * 20ml raspberry vinegar * 30g raspberry, frozen or fresh * 10g fresh basil, chopped * Salt and pepper to taste
(Makes 8 servings)
1. Trim all the fat off the strip loin or fillet and spear the meat.
2. Mix together olive oil, raspberry vinegar and fresh basil in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Marinade the meat in this mixture for approximately one hour. Tightly wrap the meat in plastic wrap and freeze. Save the marinade to use as dressing.
3. Slice as required, arrange on a serving dish and garnish.
Salmon Roulade
* 400g salmon fillet * 1tsp olive oil * 1tsp tarragon, chopped * 1tsp basil, chopped * 12 pcs spinach leaves, stemmed and blanched * 12 pcs anchovies * 12 pcs roasted red bell pepper * 4tsp ligurian black olive sauce (recipe below) * 2tsp red wine reduction (recipe below) * 4tsp saffron oil * 4tsp parsley juice (recipe below) * salt and pepper
(Makes 4 servings)
1. Rub the salmon on all sides with olive oil, tarragon, basil, salt and pepper. Roll the salmon strips into roulades with the skin side on the outside. Make sure the thicker part of the salmon is in the center of the roulade.
2. Arrange in a nonstick pan, bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan. Put each roulade in the center of a serving dish and arrange 3 pieces of blanched spinach, 3 anchovies and 3 pieces of bell pepper around the roulade. Drizzle a little ligurian black olive sauce, red wine reduction, saffron oil and parsley juice around the edges of each plate.
Ligurian black olive sauce: whisk together 2 tsp ligurian black olive paste with 2 tsp chicken stock in a stainless steel bowl over boiling water. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Roasted red bell pepper: Put 4 pcs red bell peppers coated with 3 tbsp olive oil and roast on an open grill until they turn black on one side (about two minutes). Turn and repeat. Place the peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for five minutes. Skin and seed them before cutting them to desired size.
Red wine reduction: Cook 1 pcs small onion (peeled, chopped), 1 stalk celery (peeled, chopped), 6 cloves garlic (peeled, chopped), 1 pcs small red bell (peeled, chopped) in 1 tbsp bacon fat or olive oil until soft. Add 2 pcs small tomatoes (chopped), 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp port wine and reduce to a glaze. Add 1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel and slowly reduce by half, skimming fat and residue along the way. Strain through cheese cloth and continue to reduce slowly to about 1/2 cup.
Parsley juice: Blanch 1 bunch of parsley and shock them in 1/3 cup of ice water, drain. Roughly chop the parsley and put in a blender along with the ice water, 1/4 cup of rapeseed oil and season with salt and pepper. Blend thoroughly and strain through a fine mesh sieve. The juice can be kept for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator or it can be frozen.