The recipe for Sole, lentils and beurre blanc: haute cuisine and sustainability by chef Ariel Hagen who brings nature right into the center of Florence

The chef of the Saporium restaurant, trained at the school of Norbert Niederkofler and Gaetano Trovato, attests to a culinary philosophy conceived as a journey from the countryside to the city, a gastronomic laboratory of biodiversity, regenerative agriculture filtered into seductive culinary techniques.

Bringing the scents, scents, taste and magical atmospheres of the Tuscan countryside into the city: this is how the concept that guided Jeanette and Claus Thottrup, owners of Borgo Santo Pietro in Chiusdino, a five-star organic luxury farm immersed in a 300-acre estate in Valle Serena, where sheep, chickens, rabbits, pigs and bees are raised to produce artisanal cheeses, free-range eggs, cured meats and raw honey, where vineyards, fruit and nut trees are grown, where c It is also an aromatic herb house and a fermentation laboratory all dedicated to the restaurant's finedining cuisine, bringing this extraordinary world of biodiversity to the historic center of Florence, on Lungarno Cellini where, on the remains of the old restaurant La Bottega del Buon Caffè they gave life to Saporium. A true gastronomic laboratory that combines the principles of biodiversity and regenerative agriculture, attesting to an inventive quality cuisine that respects and highlights the rhythm of nature and the authentic taste of the territory.

Managing the two kitchens, that of Borgo San Pietro and that of Saporium, is a true talent of the latest generation of cooking, only 30 years old, Ariel Hagen, young but with a very respectable history behind him: first steps in Florence with Nicola Dolfi, a historic Florentine chef, then made a leap to Belgium to work at the Osteria Romana in Brussels, to immediately dive into the world of French haute cuisine with Le Passage, a Michelin star by Rocky Renaud in Ukkel. From there a great leap, the one in the kitchens of the three-starred Norbert Niederkofler in St. Hubertus and then returning to his Tuscany to work as Sous Chef at the two Michelin star Arnolfo in Colle Val d'Elsa alongside Gaetano Trovato, a great master of life and cuisine through which great names of Italian cuisine have passed, entering the firmament of stars, from Nino Di Costanzo to Eugenio Boer, from Michelino Gioia to Aurora Mazzucchelli, from Matteo Lorenzini to Filippo Saporito.

The etymology of Saporium derives from the word which in Latin means taste, and the subfix 'orium' means identifying a place with a specific function: and this is the philosophy of Ariel Hagen who conceives her cuisine as a journey that begins with the harvest of the ingredients of the Valle Serena estate and culminates in seductive culinary techniques to achieve an incredible balance between nature and innovation.

A complex operation that Hagen leads at the head of a close-knit team in which the head gardener, the vegetable garden team, the cheesemaker, the baker, the fermenter, the butcher, feel involved with the chef and his cooks in giving shape to the gastronomic experience in both restaurants. There is Luca Ottogalli, experiences at Robuchon and St Hubertus and Casa Perbellini, and then at Arnolfo, Marco Sforza, student of Gualtiero Marchesi, Marco Stagi, specialized in Tuscan cuisine, Stefania de Leo, expert in the science of nutrition, responsible for Fermentation Laboratory that found in Ariel the perfect partner to create and include fermented ingredients in the Saporium menu with the aim of working with respect for the raw material and according to an anti-food waste philosophy. And there is Mazic Izudin, head gardener of Borgo Santo Pietro who takes care of the vegetable and herb gardens that provide fresh produce for the Saporium restaurants in Chiusdino and Florence.

What Ariel has been able to build in a short time with surprising results is an alchemy of enthusiasm and participation of skills and specificity, which reverberate in his menu. “My culinary philosophy – she says – is to be able to create unique dishes thanks to the total control of the raw materials, which guarantees me the quality that makes the experience unrepeatable”. No abstruse experimentalism therefore, the cuisine here, right in the city centre, is a natural work of art.

The recipe for sole, lentils and beurre blanc

Sole, lentils and beurre blanc is an iconic dish of my cuisine – explains Ariel Hagen – it is one of those that represents me most. A refined dish rich in technique that speaks of haute cuisine and at the same time sustainability. One of the courses on our PES-CARE menu which offers all dishes created following the rules of sustainable fishing with extreme care and attention.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

Sole swivel

Ingredients:

1 sole weighing 400g

2g Lemon zest

2g Chives

White wine

Extra virgin olive oil

Sale

Procedure:

Peel and fillet the sole. Once filleted, spread the fillets on the appropriate cutting board and season them with salt, finely chopped chives and lemon zest. Roll up the fillets and use a skewer to skewer the rolls to prevent them from opening during cooking. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the oil and position the rolls vertically until completely golden. Rotate the swivels and brown the second part. Once golden brown, blend with white wine. After adding the wine, cover the pan with a lid for a few seconds so that the heat reaches the heart of the sole. Remove the cap and place the sole on a grill and let them rest for a few minutes.

Lentil salad

Ingredients:

100g lentils

500ml vegetable broth

30g salt

20g microgreens

2 cloves of soulless garlic

2 bay leaves

1 carrot

Procedure:

Prepare a pan with water, garlic, the carrot previously cleaned, peeled and cut into 3 parts, bay leaves and salt. Add the lentils and cook them for 16 minutes. Once the lentils are cooked, drain them and place them in a container covered with vegetable broth. Before serving the lentils, heat them in a saucepan with a drizzle of oil and lightly moisten them with vegetable broth. Add 20g of previously prepared micro vegetables. Once hot, add chopped chives.

For the Microgreens:

Ingredients:

1 celery

1 carrot

Procedure:

Clean and peel the carrots and celery. Cut the vegetables into a micro brunoise of approximately 1mm. Then blanch them for 5 seconds in acetic solution and drain them well.

For the acetic syrup:

Ingredients:

190g apple cider vinegar

120g white wine

175g sugar

7,5g salt

2 juniper berries

1 clove of garlic

1 bay leaf

Procedure:

Bring all the elements to the boil and filter the liquid.

Sprouted lentils

Ingredients:

80g lentils

5 g mustard

3g Chives finely chopped

5g EVO Oil

2g Salt

Procedure:

Soak the lentils for 1 and a half hours. Prepare a shallow baking tray with 4 sheets of paper folded in two and spread out covering the entire surface of the tray. Once the lentils have soaked, drain them and spread them out on the paper. The quantity of lentils in the pan must not be too much to ensure that they breathe during the germination phase. Wet the lentils with plenty of water using a spray bottle. Cover them with paper and wet it too to keep them moist. Water the lentils 3 times a day to keep them moist until they sprout. Then keep the lentils in the fridge, wetting them once a day. When serving, season the lentils with oil, salt, chopped chives and mustard.

Beurre Blanc

Ingredients:

2 sea bass

4L with beef soup

3l white wine

5 leeks

60g butter

Procedure:

Clean and fillet the sea bass. Remove the eyes, cut the bones into pieces and put everything in a container covered with water to purge them. Blast chill and freeze the filleted sea bass to use in other preparations. Once the bones are purged, drain them from the water and roast them in the oven at 200° for 18 minutes. Meanwhile, clean and cut the leeks into julienne strips. Melt some butter in a rondeau and stew the leeks. When the bones are toasted, add them to the leeks, deglaze the trays with water to extract all the flavors of the caramelisation of the bones. Add the white wine and let it evaporate for a few minutes, add the beef consommé and simmer for 1 hour, constantly degreasing it. Finally, pass it through the chinoix and etamine. Whip 100g of beurre blanc with 40g of butter and season with salt and white wine. Serve hot with some spring onion oil inside.

Spring onion oil

Ingredients:

210g seed oil

70g green part of the spring onion

Procedure:

Clean and cut the green part of the spring onions. Place them in the thermomix with the seed oil and blend them for 12 minutes at maximum speed until the mixture reaches 70°. Then filter the oil with a chinoix for a day. Finally, let it settle overnight in a piping bag in the fridge. Finally, eliminate the water part by cutting the tip of the piping bag and extract the spring onion oil.