Even if he was born in Chiusi. 32 years ago Alessandro Rossi, starred chef of Il Gabbiano 3.0, a restaurant with a warm and refined atmosphere overlooking the port of Marina di Grosseto, the Maremma, with its fascinating history of a wild land, sweet and sour at the same time, rough and ancient, with the infinite suggestions of its landscapes, its pine forests, its uncontaminated territory, its extraordinary sea studded with many 2013 Blue Flags, he has always felt it in his blood.
And when three years ago he arrived as executive chef in the restaurant of his cousins Marco and Riccardo Tomi, 35 seats, large windows that range far over the sea of the Tuscan islands, already strong from a star conquered very young at Filippo Saporito's Legend of the Friars in Florence, he based his cooking philosophy on a lively and intense comparison between sea and land or rather between sea and hinterland, with all the load of flavors and sensations that this entails, soon managing to pin the new Michelin star on his chest.
“My idea of cooking - he says - is to link what we have in front of us, i.e. the sea, with what we have behind us, i.e. the truest Maremma. A union and indeed an intersection with the flavors of the garden. A Mediterranean-style cuisine, without despising some French techniques in some dishes that lend themselves to richer accompaniments. However, the use of many aromatic herbs and delicate flavors lend themselves precisely to the Mediterranean style”.
A cuisine of "high quality" is the title of the Red Guide speaking of the Gabbiano 3.0 in the hands of Alessandro Rossi: "You dine with a view of the marina below, both from the elegant internal rooms and from the veranda for summer evenings. You will admire the sunsets on Elba, Pianosa and even Corsica on the clearest days. In the kitchen, the gentle hand of the chef will take you on a culinary journey where flavor and contrast are at the center, often achieved with unusual combinations. The tasting itineraries can be combined with wines of depth and the young and professional service will be able to advise you in the best way".
The journey of the Seagull is "emotion, discovery, experience and memory", reads the claim on the restaurant menu and Rossi adds: "Each dish is an interpretation of a world of which I feel an attentive guardian free from schemes and prejudices, only with the desire to enhance the 'gastronomic deposits' of the sea and land of our Maremma”. In short, a real act of love for this land which also reverberates in the choice of a green philosophy, respect for seasonality which is first of all expressed in the restaurant's garden where 100 varieties of tomatoes are grown, hundreds of aromatic herbs, various watercress, 12 varieties of mustard, yellow raspberries, different types of basil such as licorice basil and cinnamon basil, various types of shiso, and again in the commitment to limit waste, in the search for products that the territory offers in which no step is left to chance in the constant search for those true and typical flavors of "our Maremma that we work with respect without ever changing their true essence, trying, instead, to enhance their value".
This world of flavors is all found in the recipe proposed by chef Alessandro Rossi to the readers of Mondo Food for this week: Grilled monkfish skewer, wild fennel and bay leaf, pan-fried artichoke, foie gras sauce.
The recipe for the grilled monkfish skewer, wild fennel and bay leaf, pan-fried artichoke, foie gras sauce
Pork net:
Thoroughly wash the net with water and white vinegar until it no longer smells.
Beaten porchetta:
40g blanched garlic
60g mint
80g sage
60gr savory
30g salt
white pepper
Porchetta frog:
Cut the monkfish into bite-size pieces of around 30g, season with the minced meat and close the pork net inside. Insert 3pcs on the skewer, cook on the barbecue.
Fennel sauce:
3kg fennel
9 bunches of fennel
Overcook the fennel in lightly salted water. Wash the fennel and blanch in lightly salted water, cool with ice, blend in the Thermomix. Season with extra virgin olive oil, butter, salt.
Bay leaf sauce:
500g laurel
500g water
Blanch the bay leaf for 10min and blend in the Thermomix with water, sift and store.
Laurel English cream:
80g cream
80g milk
80g bay leaf sauce
4 yolks
sale
Put everything in the bimby with butterfly 7 min 80° speed 3.
Artichokes in the pan:
4 artichokes
50g bacon
2 anchovies in salt
10g garlic
Oil
100ml chicken stock
Clean the artichokes and brown them in a pan with the oil, garlic, bacon and anchovies, add salt, pour over the broth and finish cooking.
Perigourdine sauce:
300g chicken broth
200ml fresh cream
100g foie gras
1l stock of meat
Reduce the broth and cream to 1/4, remove from the heat and add the foie gras by whisking, sift and finally add the meat stock.
Finish the dish with fresh raspberries.
