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The recipe for calamari with Roman broccoli, chickpeas and citrus fruits by chef Giuseppe Mulargia, aromas and memories of the Roman seafront

The chef of the Le Spighe restaurant at the Hotel Palatino proposes a dish of poor raw material which is enhanced in a refined recipe that enhances its flavor

The recipe for calamari with Roman broccoli, chickpeas and citrus fruits by chef Giuseppe Mulargia, aromas and memories of the Roman seafront

Born in Rome, between the mouth of the Tiber and the sea of ​​the Roman coast, 40 years ago, Giuseppe Mulargia received the stigmata of cooking when as a child his parents took him for walks along the seafront on Sundays, with the restaurants always full and with aromas of the kitchens that thrilled him.

“The first approach to the kitchen – recalls today the chef of the Le Spighe restaurant” of the “Il Palatino” hotel – was precisely in that of my mother and my grandmothers who I helped before family lunches. With them I rolled out and tasted the egg pasta, I can remember how yellow it was today and how rough it felt when I touched it! For these occasions I had a personal apron that I wore to stir the cannelloni "sauce" which I only removed shortly before having to return home".

The first steps in a professional kitchen - after the hotel school - he began to take naturally in the main restaurants of Fiumicino, such as "Bastianelli al Molo" and then refined himself at the "Hilton Rome Airport" FCO with Chef Angelillo. The desire to learn more about cooking techniques, the treatment of raw materials and the search for new dishes took him to Sardinia, Porto Rotondo on the Costa Smeralda, at the Il Tartarughino restaurant, with Chef Giacomo Rosa. But his greatest professional experience was the one that opened up with his collaboration with Daniele Usai, chef of the 1 Michelin star restaurant Tino in Fiumicino: “I was literally struck by his cuisine and the combinations he proposed, I understood how much I still hadn't nothing done and how much more I had to pedal to improve!” Then comes the call from the Grand Hotel Palatino, in the historic center of Rome, where it enters the dimension of international meetings, leisure groups of all nationalities until 2015 when it takes over the helm of the kitchen left to it by Chef Moscati. In all this, Mulargia, despite having to deal with the great international cuisine, never forgets the basics of a cuisine with a strong territorial imprint and the sea scents of Fiumicino. An imprint that recently earned him the "Italian Cuisine for Rome Capital" Award awarded to him by the Italian Federation of Chefs for his dedication in enhancing the products of the Lazio region by transforming them into refined dishes of the highest quality. Evidence of this is the recipe for Calamari with Roman broccoli, chickpeas and citrus fruits proposed this week to Mondo Food readers.

“This dish – explains the chef – was born between the end of spring and the beginning of summer 2023, when Roman broccoli was running out and chickpeas were starting to arrive on the market. I needed to enhance the characteristics of the squid by combining it with two ingredients that brought freshness and body. After a few tries, I noticed that something was missing that made the dish unique, so I decided to complete it with citrus caviar. This dish reflects my philosophy in the kitchen: starting from a quality raw material and enhancing its characteristics."

The recipe for Calamari with Roman Broccoli, Chickpeas and Citrus Fruits

Ingredients:

200 gr. fresh calamari

80 gr. Romanesco broccoli

1 clove of poached garlic

40 gr. fresh chickpeas

For the citrus caviar

300 ml cold seed oil

lime juice, lemon, orange

200 ml citrus juice

agar

2 gr.

Procedure:

Carefully clean the squid inside and out and check the results.

In a small pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of unpeeled garlic, sauté ¾ of the Romanesco broccoli and ¾ of the chickpeas, seasoning with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Gently fill the squid with the broccoli and chickpeas, leaving 1 cm of space so you can close it with a toothpick. Cook the squid in a non-stick pan over a low heat for 4 minutes (2 per side). Once cooked, remove them from the pan, dividing them into 3 parts and then brown them again on both sides.

Citrus Caviar:

In a saucepan, boil the citrus juice and agar agar and let it cool for a few minutes. At the same time, cool the seed oil in a separate bowl. Once the citrus juice and agar agar have been dissolved, suck it into a syringe and drop by drop into the bowl with the cooled oil. Don't leave the juice drops in the oil for too long.

Once you have prepared the drops necessary for plating, drain and use as desired.

Welcome

Plate the hot calamari, garnishing the dish with chickpea and broccoli cream and with citrus caviar pearls.

Tips:

Let the broccoli be medium sized, do not chop it too much

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