Senia Rice With Eel Stock And Cherries

Smoked eel stock

Chop and fry the smoked eel in plenty of olive oil.

Brown evenly, then drain well on paper towels.

Gut, bleed and chop the fresh eel.

Fry in the same oil as the smoked eel.

Brown evenly, then drain well on paper towels.

Reserve the oil.

Brown the garlic in a pot with 20 g of olive oil.

Add the peeled chopped vegetables along with the aloe vera.

Allow them to gain some color, then add the pepper, monkfish skins, fried eels and previously soaked chickpeas.

Cover with mineral water and bring to a boil.

Skim and keep over low heat, without letting it boil, for 6 hours.

At this point, add the rosemary to infuse.

Steep the mixture for 6 hours more and strain.

Salt to taste if necessary.



Rosemary olive oil

Infuse the ingredients sealed sous-vide at 80ºC/176ºF for 1 hour.

Refrigerate for 6 hours.

Strain and set aside.



Cherry marbles

Pour the cherry pulp and strain through a cloth.

Save the solids and mix with the water.

Leave for 2 hours more, decant and strain.

This process yields 1 liter of clean cherry juice.

Add the sugar and aloe powder to half of the liquid and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add the other half of clean cherry juice.

Transfer the warm liquid to a syringe and drip over the cold rosemary oil.

Let the marbles cool and coagulate for 12 minutes.

Strain and set aside.



Rice preparation (onions + cuttlefish + 2 rice cooking phases)

(a) Onion noisette

Place the butter in a large pan and, once hot, add the finely chopped onions.

Poach for 3 hours until tender and evenly browned.

Strain while still hot and save all of the butter. This way, the onions have a special flavor but no fat.



(b) Cuttlefish

Gut and clean the cuttlefish.

Chop into small, regular dice.

Set aside.



(c) First rice cooking phase

Sauté the onion noisette in the smoked eel oil.

Add the rice, immediately followed by the hot stock.

It is important not to fry the rice, to prevent it from becoming impermeable.

This way, it will more easily absorb the flavor of the remaining ingredients.

Once it begins to boil, lower the heat and cook for 8 minutes.

Stop from cooking by straining the mixture and cooling the rice.

Save the stock for the second cooking phase.



(d) Second rice cooking phase

In this second cooking phase, we proceed with what will be the final cooking step.

We must keep in mind that this is a rice dish with very complex flavors, and because of its natural structure it is served in small portions.



Final preparation

Sauté the chopped cuttlefish in 10g of oil.

Add the stock and, once boiling, mix in the rice.

This rice only needs 4 minutes to be perfectly done – very pleasantly smooth on the palate without having a texture erroneously called “al dente".

During these final minutes, stir the rice continuously to facilitate the release of soluble solids and the resulting natural emulsion of juices with the grain’s starch.

To finish, add the 10g of remaining oil to reinforce the smoked eel aromas that may have evaporated during the cooking process.



Assembly

Serve the rice on a deep plate.

Finish with 3 half cherries, the marbles and rosemary flowers.