NAVARRA GOURMET

Balance and structure through plants

Carlo Crisci “Le Cerf”, in Cossonay-Ville

“Vegetables are part of the dish, not a garnish”

Carlo Crisci, an Italian-born Swiss chef, is one of the greatest exponents of a cuisine which separated from the French cuisine a short time ago. Crisci's three-star Michelin restaurant bases its light and modern cuisine on a new inspiration, using vegetables in its dishes.

In his recipe "Fillet of swordfish, semi-cooked in an aubergine sheet and wild salsify curry", the Swiss chef used various aromatic roots and tubers. "The aubergine wrapped round the swordfish serves two purposes: firstly, once browned, it makes the dish aesthetically more pleasing, and secondly it protects the swordfish, making it juicier and preventing it from drying out", he explained.

The second dish he presented was a cauliflower consommé to accompany lobster, a dish in which he uses nitrogen to vacuum pack the consommé with the cauliflower. This innovative technique, which the chef presented in Pamplona, was also used in his third recipe. "Rags of cod cooked in nitrate with a crispy asparagus and colt's foot duo ", in this case the nitrogen was used to preserve the crispy texture of the asparagus. With regard to all these dishes, the chef highlighted the fact that vegetables "are not a garnish, but part of the dish, holding the same importance as meat or fish".

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