As a child he cultivated three passions. The one for his land, the one for travel, the one for the beauty of art. Three absolutely compatible passions. But Giuseppe Biuso, now thirty-three-year-old starred chef of the Il cappero restaurant of the exclusive Therasia Resort in Vulcano, when he went to work in a tourist village he was immediately convinced of the fact that to understand yourself and the world you have to accumulate experience, you have to grow, just to be able to fully enjoy your emotions. And so after enrolling, at the age of 14 at the Hotel Management Institute of Palermo, he leaves Palermo, his hometown, abandons the idea of an art school, and leaves for the world. He goes to Morocco.
He devoured the teachings of the hotel institute, he researched himself, he read books, as an autodidact he gave himself such credible culinary training that, despite his young age, he manages to get a job as a chef. Surely another would have immediately gone to his head. Not so the young Giuseppe, animated by great dynamism but also by great humility who feels he still has to walk a lot, even more so he feels the desire to discover new gastronomic cultures, new cooking techniques, new dishes and from the Marocco flies to Venezia where he manages to arrive at restaurant "MET", flagship of the 5-star Metropole Hotel in Venice, in Riva degli Schiavoni led by Head Corrado Fasolato, one Michelin star, then doubled, which introduces it to the universe of haute cuisine.
For Giuseppe, that is the main road to follow. And here he is, shortly after, catapulted to Ischia by that great master who is Nino Di Costanzo, 2 Michelin stars, with his “Mosaic”. Fundamental and decisive experience. Biuso is grateful to him: «Nino is a true master, both from a human and professional point of view. He is an artist who manages to create, using only the raw material, dishes and flavors that many would seem impossible just to think about ».
Never satisfied with new experiences, here he is after a couple of years working at the restaurant "La Siriola", 1 Michelin star in San Cassiano. And then always animated by the sacred fury of the flame from the flying stove in Finland at the restaurant "Chez Dominique" 2 Michelin stars. He learns what he needs and flies from Finland to the restaurant Relais "Villa Crespi" 2 Michelin stars on Lake Orta at the court of Antonino Cannavacciuolo. By now his training is so consolidated that Cannavacciuolo, who has taken over the management of the food activities of the 5-star luxury resort in Serralunga d'Alba, appoints him on the field sous chef at the 1 Michelin star “La REI” restaurant.
And the 2016 the year of the big turning point, the year that indelibly marks its history. It is the year in which marries, in which a son is born and in which he decides it is time to embrace his never forgotten Island, after traveling around the world. It's time to square the circle of a life lived with frenzy and recapture the flavors and history of the culinary traditions of his Sicily.
Giuseppe Biuso takes office as executive chef in the luxury resort of Vulcano Therasia where they entrust him with the management of the Capper restaurant where he can give vent to the important experiences acquired to revisit traditional Sicilian dishes in a gourmet key, which immediately receive the starred honors of the Michelin Guide. He claims an entirely original Mediterranean style, where his youthful passions meet again, the attachment to the roots of his land, the desire to bring the experiences of the world into the home, the passion for art that is transmitted to compositions that enhance the aesthetics and colors with the flavors. Witness the scallop sandwich with chives and hazelnuts, pan toasted bread and yuzu kosho mayonnaise, the paso doble of an oyster leaf with green apple sphere, red apple cream and truffle mayonnaise and the green apple brunoise with barbecue seared oyster and Sicilian truffle or the scampi beat, puffed rye, sea buckthorn sorbet and wild fennel cream. Or Octopus with paprika mousse, cinnamon gel and lemon with notes of mint.
To the readers of Mondo Food, chef Giuseppe Biuso offers an original Cannolo made with aubergines, ricotta, basil, confit tomatoes and caper powder. A dish that comes from his desire to pay homage to the seasonal ingredients protagonists of the summer that have given Sicilian culture so many dishes, the Aubergine, the Tomato and the Basil
“We developed the dish – specifies the Chef – completely moving away from what could have been a reinterpretation and this is how we created the aubergine cannoli”. A recipe that may appear complex at first sight and vice versa recreates in the mouth a harmony of flavors and aromas that make you dream of the sea of Vulcano
The recipe for Cannolo made with aubergines, ricotta with basil, tomato confit and caper powder
Ingredients:
For the cream:
3 eggplants
100 g Fresh tomato sauce
1 onion
Sale
For the cannoli wafer:
300 g aubergine cream
66 g isomalt
36 g caster sugar
12 g glucose
1 teaspoon of charcoal
For the basil ricotta cream:
400 g cow ricotta
300g of basil
25 g salted ricotta
30 g milk
For the datterino cherry tomato cream:
400g of datterino tomatoes
30g of powdered sugar
to taste salt, pepper, aromatic herbs, basil, orange zest
For finishing:
caper powder
Method
for the aubergine cream:
We cut the aubergines in half lengthwise and place them in a baking tray seasoned with salt and oil, then bake at 185 °C for about 35 minutes.
While the aubergine is cooking, cut the onion into julienne strips and simmer it slowly in a pan.
Once the aubergine is cooked we will remove the peel and add it to the onion.
At this point, add the fresh tomato sauce to the whole, mixing well, and let it cool.
We complete by blending and sieving the mixture.
For the cannoli wafer:
Dissolve the sugars in a saucepan over high heat, once done, add the aubergine cream and the vegetable charcoal, mixing well and letting it simmer for a couple of minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
Once cold, it is placed in the refrigerator to let it rest for a couple of hours.
At this point we spread the dough on a silpat mat, bake it in the oven at 170°C for 10 minutes and as soon as it is ready we will place the wafers on the cannoli cone molds to create our wafer.
For the basil ricotta cream:
clean, blanch and cool the basil, squeeze it and add it to the previously sifted ricotta, add the extra virgin olive oil, pepper and finally complete with salt. Blend everything for a couple of minutes and sift
for the tomato confit cream:
Wash and cut the datterini tomatoes in half.
We place them on a plate, season with oil, salt, pepper, icing sugar, herbs and citrus peel. put them in the oven for 2 hours at 80 °C to let them dry.
Blend the cherry tomatoes to obtain a homogeneous puree.
Introduction
With the help of a sac à poche we will make a spike of ricotta cream in the center of the plate to place the cannolo on top, previously filled with the aubergine cream.
We decorate the dish with other ricotta spikes, the cherry tomato cream and complete everything with the previously dried and blended caper powder.
