Daniele Usai, Michelin-starred chef of the Il Tino restaurant in Fiumicino (RM), has two pedals on the piano with which he makes his cuisine play: the sea and the vegetable garden. The dish that he offers to First & Food readers, "The Iodine Garden", takes its cue from the Territory and is inspired by the fish auction in Fiumicino. So the fish chosen change continuously according to what the sea offers. And the innumerable aromatic herbs also change, almost all raised at home or harvested in the fields. And it presents itself as a great triumph of marine and terrestrial flavours. A dish that is a concentrate of precious and healthy nutritional elements for our body, especially Omega three and Vitamin C. It is very rich in ingredients, but it can be considered a game right from the moment of finding the raw material. We can conceive it as an invitation to build it to measure, appropriating the territory. The Chef suggests, when possible, to use seasonal fish even if not famous like the ones we usually bring to our tables. And this in itself should prompt us to talk more with the fish market, to inform us about the local catch, to learn about humble fish species that are rarely used, but with great flavour. And then the invitation is to play on the herbs, to go and look for them on the seashore or in the meadows. Of particular note, among the many components, is sea fennel (its scientific name is Crithmum maritimum), an unknown herb that Usai keeps very carefully in his garden.
It is a very ancient plant, known by both the Greeks and the Romans. John Evelyn, an English polygrapher of the XNUMXth century, in his work Acetaria noted its innumerable and excellent medicinal and food properties.
Exceptional therapeutic properties are attributed to the plant, it is rich in minerals (especially calcium), antioxidants, essential fatty acids, which makes it ideal for healing purposes, in fact it promotes digestion by stimulating gastric and biliary secretion, decreases intestinal fermentation , stimulates diuresis, has purifying capabilities of the blood from toxins and waste substances, and also performs a vermifuge action against intestinal parasites.
Sea fennel grown in the garden of Daniele Usai Chef 1 Michelin star
But what has made it famous over the times is its high concentration of Vitamin C. Precisely because of this last prerogative, sea fennel was much appreciated by sailors, who made large stocks of it, since it allowed them to prevent scurvy during the long crossings that did not allow the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.
But besides being a traveling pharmacy it is also very versatile in the kitchen, it has a strongly aromatic taste between fennel, dill and celery. It is traditionally used in preserves, cooked as a vegetable or added raw to salads, to flavor sauces or to enrich fish, meat or egg dishes. In Ancona and in the Conero Riviera, the plant is known by the name of paccasassi and is much appreciated as a side dish for fish dishes, to season pasta or even pizza (in this case called "pizza Dorica") or crescia. Sea fennel is also used in traditional Apulian cuisine to prepare "critmi e mint", boiled in water and then cooked in a baking dish with a splash of vinegar, breadcrumbs, oil and mint. But it can also be preserved in vinegar, to be used throughout the year to flavor various dishes, as is done with capers.
Ingredients for 4 people:
Pand the iodized jelly:
500 ml of water
Star anise, fennel seeds, black pepper
20 g mint
20 g basil
20 g fennel
200 g glasswort
3 Gr agar agar
1,5 sheets of isinglass
For the fish:
300 Gr red mullet or weever or marmora or bream or cork etc etc
100 g coarse salt
50 g sugar
300ml white vinegar
300 ml water
For the dulse seaweed sauce:
50 g dulse seaweed
Water to taste
For Mediterranean oil:
100ml extra virgin olive oil
20 g spring onion
10 g basil
10 g wild fennel
10 g mint
Other Ingredients:
4 red prawns to be served raw
4 pink prawns to be served raw
2 oysters
4 sea razor clams to be served raw
30 g cuttlefish julienne
16 lupine clams
50 Gr of already blanched celery brunoise
50 g cooked black quinoa
30 g of mixed dried seaweed rehydrated and seasoned with champagne vinegar
Aneto
Oregano
Menta
Basil
4 Cretan oregano flowers
4 dashi button flowers
4 clover sorrel leaves
4 tops of sea fennel herb
4 buds of purslane
4 glasswort tops
4 tops of wild fennel
4 glacial mebnta leaves
4 buds of santonin
4 tops of burnet
Procedure:
For the iodized jelly:
heat the water to 90 degrees with the spices and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Filter, add agar agar, and bring to the boil. Then add the already soaked isinglass. Dissolve and blend with the already blanched herbs. Season with salt and cool immediately. Slightly melt with a whisk before using.
For the plug fish:
fillet and flatten the fish. Marinate the fillets in salt and sugar for at least 20 minutes. Rinse off the salt and marinate in water and vinegar for another 20 minutes. So dry.
Pfor the dulse sauce:
blend the seaweed very finely with the water and sift.
For oil:
bring the oil to 100 g with the herbs and spring onion, blend, sift and leave to cool immediately.
Plating:
Proceed by plating all the ingredients precisely on a plate.
