The ocean within

Mar adentro
Alkimia
Chef: Jordi Vila
Country: España
City: 08025 Barcelona
Address: Indústria, 79
(+39) 932076115

From the creative hands of Jordi Vilà we have a dish that is so colorful, so attractive, so impactive… like the ocean itself. It is also very delicate, especially when the markets allow for the complete repertoire of shellfish; an oyster, two cockles, a few barnacles, sea snails, a few pieces of seaweed and, sometimes, a spoonful of his majesty, monsieur caviar. Each element expresses its full identity without intermingling with the rest. The common thread of all these oceanic treasures is a Mediterranean broth: an exquisite, blue-tinted soup flavored with kombu seaweed. Brilliant. Genius, even. To successfully create a blue colored dish is no easy task. It’s especially brilliant (no, we wont tire of saying it) because this gastronomic milestone was created naturally, using nothing more than purple basil which, in combination with the oceanic base turns into the sea–and what an exquisite sea it is.



The Recipe



The ocean within
Ingredients

Blue water

  • 1 l mineral water
  • 100 g kombu seaweed in salt
  • 1 bunch of purple basil
  • Ingredients
  • 4 oysters
  • 8 cockles
  • 12 barnacles
  • 8 sea snails
  • 60 g wakame seaweed
  • 4 teaspoons caviar

 

Method

Blue water

Combine the water and seaweed in a pot, bring to a boil then remove from heat and leave to cool in the walk-in overnight.
The next day, drain the water and blanch the basil leaves then cool them in ice water. Cool the blanching water as quickly as possible.
Liquefy the basil leaves.
Mix the blanching water with a few drops of the liquefied basil at the last minute, giving it the desired color.

The oysters are not cooked.
Blanch the barnacles for 15 sec.
Blanch the cockles until they open 1 millimeter.
Cook the sea snails in salted water for 45 minutes.
The seaweed is also not cooked, but remove any excess salt.

Assembly

Place the seaweed at the base of the plate, topped by the oyster, with the rest of the ingredients encircling.
Serve with the blue sea water in front of the client.
Note: this dish is recommended to be served in a tasting menu portion.

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