“As a child in autumn, around mid-October, we went to visit our grandparents in Austria. The mountains were covered with red and orange trees. In those days my grandmother took me for walks in the woods. I remember the smell of damp earth as we walked, I remember the bright green moss on the roots and bark of the trees. My grandmother moved the dry logs and she always found many mushrooms that she placed in the basket that I carried. An unforgettable scent of humus emerged from the basket. On our way home we passed by small farms where wild animals were quietly making their noises. Among these, the cry of the ducks to which I threw pebbles to disturb them was the loudest and most acute. And once at home in the large 'Stube' we cooked chestnuts”.
Born from these beautiful and indelible childhood memories is the interesting dish that Emanuele Paoloni, born in 83, Chef Patron of Aqualunae Bistrot, the restaurant in Piazza dei Quiriti opened in 2018 which in a short time has established itself as one of the the most innovative quality restaurants in the capital, offers the readers of Mondo Food. A dish that condenses all the important professional experiences of his career formed in Italy and abroad.
Important experiences examined by Heinz Beck's rigorous three-starred cuisine at La Pergola, to begin with and then that of chef Massimo Sola, the starred cook who conquered Manhattan with his idea of express pasta, 90% ingredients from Italy and organic. And then for other experiences in France and in the States, all an important school for learning the techniques of processing raw materials but also for being able to best express his desire for innovation and his imagination, which today allows him to "take various ingredients and combine them, remix them to create unusual flavors capable of immediately conquering the palate”
The autumn menu proposed by Paoloni flows like a video of his professional career, in his dishes Paoloni gives shape to travel, sensations, study, seasonality and the desire to do something different that can always surprise the customer.
The card pits between Meditation dishes, renamed Appetizers and Temptations. The smokes are very intriguing, as in the case of the Pumpkin and leek meatballs on mountain cheese cream, burnt leek and carrot, ginger and honey gel which are cold made with cherry wood.
And then there are bold but convincing flights of fancy such as Carnaroli, a very original dish, creamed with yuzu butter, caviar and the scent of litsea, whose citrus scents contrast with the opulent structure of the risotto and the caviar made using nitrogen in the risotto , or better, by placing a fresh and intense essence known as the "smile elixir", due to its relaxing properties and beneficial effect on mood, in a saucer with boiling water flavored with litsea. The litsea also has digestive, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal action ".
Autumn and the mountains triumph not only in the Fettuccine with chestnuts, mushrooms, black garlic and crunchy goose, whose recipe we also propose in the crunchy buffalo mozzarella on red cow Parmesan cream and fermented pumpkin gel. And Japanese references reverberate in the Mezzelune with creamed 'katsuobushi' dried tuna flakes, tuna tartare, soy, lime and sweet pepper specially produced for the chef by HQF.
In the recipe for Fettuccine with chestnuts, mushrooms, black garlic and crunchy goose, memories of the past take shape in the dish of persistent scents of the woods, the land, the meadows, like a film of his walks, hand in hand with his grandmother, discovery of fascinating worlds that captivated his imagination, a film that in addition to the colors also manages to capture their infinite sensory range. “I conceived it – she says – as if it were my autumn. I added a balsamic note given by the black garlic thanks to the smell of which the lungs open wide and allow you to breathe all the wood on the plate”.
The recipe: Fettuccine with chestnuts, mushrooms, black garlic and crunchy goose
Recipe for four people
For the noodles:
12 yolks
400 gr flour
A drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt
Work them to obtain a homogeneous dough, let it rest for 30 minutes, then roll it out thinly and cut it.
For the autumn ragu
200 gr of porcini mushrooms
100 gr of previously boiled chestnuts
250 g of goose breast
3 cloves of black garlic
60 g of goose stock
A glass of wine
50 gr parmesan
Salt and oil to taste
For the bottom
Garlic, oil, onion, carrots, thyme, juniper, rosemary and goose bones
Let everything cook starting from hot, once it is well browned, add plenty of water and reduce for about 6 hours.
For the goose powder
30 g goose
Cook some thin slices of goose and leave them in the dehydrator for 12 hours
Cook the goose breast previously cut into cubes over a high flame with a drizzle of oil, deglaze with the wine. Then add the diced mushrooms and chestnuts, season with salt. Then mix the blanched fettuccine in plenty of salted water, adding the garlic reduced to a cream, the gravy and the Parmesan. Finally, implant by adding the crunchy goose powder.
Aqualunae Bistrot
Piazza dei Quiriti 19/20; 00192 Rome
Tel. 06.31076456
www.aqualunaebistrot.com
Facebook and Instagram: @aqualunaebistrot
