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The recipe for cod, almonds and ponzu sauce by Chef Luigi Salomone, which makes cod the protagonist of a starred cuisine

The chef of the Re Santi e Leoni restaurant in Nola is inspired by the memory of his mother's simple recipe to give a touch of creative gourmet elegance to a traditional popular dish

The recipe for cod, almonds and ponzu sauce by Chef Luigi Salomone, which makes cod the protagonist of a starred cuisine

Less than 12 kilometers separate Nola, the city that was the birthplace of Giordano Bruno and the philosopher Pomponio de Algenio, both burned by order of the ... Holy Inquisition, today an important agri-food and commercial centre, from Somma Vesuviana, the city that since the 600s has linked its name to cod, for having been, thanks to the Benedictine monks of the Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Arco, one of the first centers for the importation and processing of fish coming from the Baltic Sea in Italy. Fish which was widely spread among the poor people, initially then taken as a fundamental element of the table after the Council of Trent decreed the eating of lean meat during Lent and the official holidays to testify to temperate conduct after the harsh condemnation of Martin Luther's 95 tables .

Even today the Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Arco is the object of profound veneration by the faithful from Nolan who go there on pilgrimage but the use of cod and stock has also remained alive in the food choices of the Nolans, all of it is consumed abundantly the year in multiple combinations as a first course, as a second course and as a side dish.

Long gone are the times when cod was considered a poor food for poor people, today it has become part of the menus of the most prestigious chefs in Italy. And obviously it could not be missing from the menu of the Re Santi e Leoni restaurant which has long brought to the sky of the Campania town a Michelin star maintained solidly in the expert hands of its executive chef Luigi Salomone.

The recipe that we propose to the readers of Mondo Food for this week is inspired by the memories of his childhood, by a simple and tasty salad brought to the table by his mother: "Cod, almond ricotta, green beans and ponzu sauce", a recipe with which he starred chef demonstrates how a poor material can become fine dining without betraying its origins and its identity.

For Luigi Salomone, the body of polenta or stale bread in the mouth is given by the almond element which, blended, becomes a fatty and enveloping sauce. The cod part, on the other hand, gives the dish a satisfying "fleshiness", an elegant but decisive taste, giving emotions to the palate that taste of history and tradition. A tradition which for the Chef is first of all a memory linked to the holidays and the territory: "as a child I didn't even want to see it or smell it, at Christmas my grandmother brought it to the table I turned away, then over the years I learned to love it” says Luigi Salomone and continues “the inspiration for this dish comes from my mother who made it with salad with rocket, green beans and potatoes”. To tell the truth, as a child Luigi Salomone didn't love cod all that much "I didn't even want to see it or smell it, at Christmas my grandmother brought it to the table I turned away, then over the years I learned to love it ”. Not only did he love it but, as in the recipe we propose, I infused it with the nori seaweed used in Japan for the preparation of sushi maki and soy sauce, giving it a creative elegance.

Finally, an important thing to underline is that the memory of a rural childhood is also reverberated in the no waste concept of the chef who on this occasion of cod does not throw anything away, neither the bones nor the skin.

The Recipe: cod, almond ricotta, green beans and ponzu sauce

Recipe for 4 people:

4 pieces of cod of 150 gr

100 gr of cod bones

200 g of boiled green beans

100 gr of cod skins

200 gr of almonds

20 g soy sauce

20 g nori seaweed

20 gr granulated sugar

20 g white vinegar

For the broth:

Toast the bones in the oven, cover with water, add soy, sugar and vinegar. Boil for 15 minutes. Infuse the seaweed. Filter and add lemon juice. Almond emulsion: Place the almonds and 100 g of water in a pacojet. Freeze and pacotize 3 times.

For the cod:

Place the Baccala under vacuum and cook at 56 degrees for 10 minutes. You can also proceed by immersing the cod in sunflower seed oil in a pan. Cover and cook at 60 degrees for about twenty minutes or more, depending on the size of the cod portions.

For crispy skin:

Blanch the hides in water, dry them and dehydrate them in the oven at 60 for 12 hours. Fry in sunflower oil until crispy.

For the green beans:

Clean and blanch in water.

For plating

Place the almond ricotta on the bottom, then the cooked cod, on top of the green beans. Use the ponzu sauce to finish the dish. To finish, you can use edible flowers or even toasted almonds. chopped or sliced, to give a crunchy touch

Kings Saints and Lions

Via Anfiteatro Laterizio, 92, 80035 Nola

Phone: 081 278 1526

Reservationsthefork.it

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