Chef Alexandre Alves Pereira is the S.Pellegrino Young Chef finalist for the North West Europe Region.
Photo: courtesy of Chef Alexandre Alves Pereira
Difficulty
Intermediate
Total Time
1H 0MIN
Ingredients
Eucalyptus leaves: 25 g
Grape seed oil: 70 g
Cucumber: 1 piece
White cooking vinegar: 100 g
Water: 200 g
Caster sugar: 50 g
Eucalyptus leaves: 1 piece
Cucumber: 1 piece
Salt: to taste
Cod: 600 g, with bones
Water: 500 g
Salt: 150 g
Water: 700 g
Cream liquid: 250 g
Thyme: 1 branch
Garlic: 1 piece
Pepper seeds: 5 pieces
Olive oil
Eucalyptus leaves: 10 t0 15 pieces
Cucumber: 1 piece
Olive oil
Salt
This recipe is a delicious, delicate dish with salted codfish and the light summer freshness of cucumber and eucalyptus. It’s a great dish to enjoy at lunchtime while it’s warm, or also as a starter if you want to prepare a nice dinner for family or friends.
For this recipe, chef Alexandre Alves Pereira worked with elements he is particularly fond of: raw fish, herbs/plants and vegetables. He also uses different techniques and was inspired by his Portuguese origins. The idea of the salted codfish and eucalyptus came from there. It is a unique and surprising dish reflecting Pereira's personality, but also influenced by worldwide gastronomy.
Salted codfish is a famous Portuguese dish (bacalhau), and there are many ways to prepare it. You could say that this dish is like Proust's madeleine for Pereira, connected to many memories from Portugal.
01.
For eucalyptus oil
Put the eucalyptus leaves in a mixer bowl.
Heat oil at 60°C.
Pour the oil onto the leaves and mix for one minute.
Strain in a sieve with filter paper.
Rest for 2 hours (or until the next day).
Chef tips: If you don't have fresh eucalyptus leaves you can use dry leaves.
02.
For cucumber pickles
Put water, vinegar, and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil.
Take it off the heat and add one eucalyptus leaf to perfume the syrup.
Take a melon baller and make cucumber balls
Put the cucumber balls in the syrup and keep it in the fridge for later (ideally, the preparation should rest for a couple of hours).
03.
For cucumber granita
Take the rest of the cucumber and grate it with a microplane, season it with salt.
Put the grated cucumber in a bowl and into the freezer. Continue to grate it with a fork every hour until it’s completely frozen. You should obtain a granita consistency.
04.
For salted codfish
Put water and salt in a pot and bring it to the boil. Let the water completely cool down.
Filet the fish, remove the fish bones and the skin.
Put the codfish in the cold salted water for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how thick the flesh is.
Rinse the codfish in clear water for 5 minutes and reserve in the fridge.
05.
For Fish Fumet
In a pot, put a bit of olive oil, then add fish bones and make it sweat for 2 minutes.
Add thyme, garlic, pepper and water.
When water boils, cook it on low heat for twenty minutes. After, let it rest for another twenty minutes.
Strain with a sieve, bring the remaining liquid to the boil and reduce it at least by half, and then add the cream.
Cook on low heat until it gets a creamy texture almost like egg custard.
Reserve it for later.
06.
For Cucumber on Fire
Wash cucumber, then cut it in half and rub it with olive oil, add a little bit of salt.
Put a skewer through the cucumber, place it on a grill, with eucalyptus leaves under it, then char it on both sides.
Wipe the cucumber with a paper towel
Cut it into a brunoise, remove the cucumber seeds.
07.
For cutting the fish
Cut the codfish in two parts.
Slice the tail into tartare and add it to the cucumber brunoise.
Slice the codfish diagonally, into slices of 2 mm each.
Align 5 to 6 slices of fish, and roll them together (not too tight).
Lightly apply pressure on the slices in order to 'open' them and make it look like a rose.
08.
For Plating
Put one large spoon of fish fumet onto the plate
Dip the handle of a small spoon in the eucalyptus oil and lightly put a few drops of the oil on the fish fumet cream.
Put the codfish rose on one side.
A large spoon of grilled cucumber and tartare.
A spoon of cucumber granita, with 3 drops of eucalyptus oil.
Strain cucumber balls and place 3 pickled cucumbers balls on the plate.
09.
The final dish.
