There was a fate that led straight to the sea in the youth of Mirko DeMattia, a young talented chef who settled in the kitchens of Level1, in Eur, one of the last born among the top-level fish restaurants, in the effervescent panorama of Roman restaurants, intending to say something new, as the title given to the restaurant suggests, which is a prelude to further ambitious culinary levels.
The young Mirko, originally from Ariccia, takes his first steps in the kitchen between the stoves grandmother's and aunt's houses, originally from the Marche region, who lived in the same building as him. So on Sunday he made his first approaches to the scents of Adriatic seafood specialities, i brodetti, stockfish all'anconitana, but also with i vincisgrassi, the frascarelli, the ciavarri, poor traditional dishes with an indissoluble bond with the past, the result of skilful craftsmanship linked to peasant stories kept alive by the elderly cooks of the house.
And it is no coincidence that one turns to professional cooking starting once again from the sea, or by frequenting the Hotel Management School of Anzio. From here he takes off for a series of experiences that take him around Italy: at "Poggio antico" in Montalcino in Tuscany with starred chef Roberto Minnetti, at the "Milan Sporting club La Peralsa", at the "Gavius ”, the restaurant of the Novotel Roma Eur, until arriving in 2016 at "Level 1" where his destinies cross with another starred chef – not by chance in love with the sea, with Puglia this time – Felix Lo Basso, the well-known TV chef engaged in the “Senti chi Mangia” program alongside Benedetta Parodi and Eugenio Boer, fresh from the Alpen Royal in Selva Val Gardena, where in 2011 he obtained the first Michelin star and then from Unico, the highest starred restaurant in Europe (on the 20th floor of the WCJ in the Portello area).
And, of course, the sea is the absolute protagonist of Level 1, in its original formula of restaurant-fishmonger, a format that quickly guaranteed him great success with audiences and critics. Meanwhile, the raw material here is sovereign, it is guaranteed by The Pescatoria next door but which is one with the restaurant's stocked retail outlet fish coming every day from the trawlers of Anzio, Ponza and Fiumicino, how to say from the producer to the consumer. To the raw material, fresh and in season,
Mirko draws liberally by declining his cuisine in three distinct moments: the elegant restaurant and modern immersed in a refined marine atmosphere; The Fish&Cocktails a space reserved for raw food lovers, where you can enjoy a selection of the best oysters on the market, paired with Paladin Prosecco or a Franciacorta or, again, for cocktail essentials, pairings of hot and cold samples accompanied by a wide choice of wines from the well-stocked cellar. In the end, takeaway and delivery service for the fish chosen at the counter, cooked, to be eaten at home.
In the kitchen Mirko De Mattia moves following his own innovative flair: creativity and imagination are accompanied by the pleasure of bringing out from his dishes all his great passion for the sea, one dives fully into that sea of flavors to bring them integrally to the table of his diners, without heaviness, awkward forcing of tones, creating the suggestion of a emotional experience in the discovery or rediscovery of what the sea can always and still offer to the palate.
Sensitive to the concept – extremely topical these days – that food should be good but also do you good, Di Mattia in recent years has deepened and absorbed the concept of "Wellness cuisine" following among other things Chiara Manzi's courses. she is a nutritionist and founder of the European Academy of Culinary Nutrition, professor of Culinary Nutrition and Antiaging Cuisine at the University of Milan and researcher at the University of Parma.
Recognized as the best promising chef by the Académie internationale de la Gastronomie, together with the Italian Academy of Cuisine which awarded him the International award "Chef de l'avenir" in 2019, also obtained a prestigious certificate from the "Art Joins Nutrition Academy", for its cuisine attentive to well-being and nutritional properties.
In short, we all know how healthy fish is for our body, Mirko De Mattia with his "Level 1" offers it to us on a tasteful silver platter.
The recipe for Ricciola, pumpkin, radicchio, raspberry and sea bottom alla cacciatora, which the chef offers to the readers of Mondo Food, signs his desire to interpret fish cuisine in an innovative way, combining flavors of the land with flavors of the sea, a creativity that however does not confuse them, leaving them perfectly readable in a dish that is quite pleasant on the palate.
The recipe for Amberjack, pumpkin, radicchio, raspberry and seafood Cacciatore style
Ingredients for people 4
600 g of fresh amberjack
For the pumpkin cream
500 g of Mantua pumpkin
100 g of sweet potatoes
50 g of honey
Salt to taste
For the bottom of the sea
4 cloves of garlic
50 g of rosemary
100 g of olives
30 g of salted anchovies
a little hot pepper
200 ml of wine
150 ml of vinegar
2 liters of water
For the marinade
120 g of granulated sugar
30 g of brown sugar
150 g of fine salt
For radicchio in osmosis
A radicchio from Treviso
30 g of sugar
10 g of salt
50 g of raspberry vinegar
100 g of fresh raspberries
seal
12 raspberries
red beet leaves
Method
Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds and cut it finely. Proceed in the same way with the potatoes. In a saucepan, flavor a drizzle of olive oil with the rosemary. Add the squash and potatoes and cook for about 50 minutes.
Blend, add honey and salt.
Prepare the amberjack marinade by mixing the sugars and salt well. Fillet the amberjack, cover the meat with this preparation and leave it to rest for thirty minutes, rinse it well with water and pat it dry with paper towels.
Take the radicchio, divide it into four equal parts and season with the sugar, salt and raspberry vinegar. Place it in a vacuum bag and leave closed for four hours. Remove from the bag and dry with absorbent paper.
For the seafood alla cacciatora, toast the bones and the head of the amberjack in the oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. Brown the four cloves of garlic, the anchovies, the rosemary and the chilli pepper in a pan for 10 minutes. Deglaze with wine and vinegar and cover with water. Leave to simmer for three hours and filter.
Put back on the heat and reduce to the desired density. Blend the fresh raspberries, pass them through a sieve and place in a sac a poche.
Divide the amberjack into 4 pieces and sear them for two minutes over high heat on both sides.
Introduction
Arrange the fillet on a plate with a hot pumpkin cream quenelle next to it, some raspberry coulis tips, the radicchio and sprinkle with the sauce. Garnish with fresh raspberries and red beet leaves
