Mosaic of Baccalà and sweet horn

by chef Rosario Bernardo - restaurant Il Palagio

Ingredients

 

For the baccalà

  • 100 gr. - Baccalà (salted codfish: rehydrated, de-salted)
  • 20 gr. - I Dedicati - Special Olio Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Fish – Olitalia
  • 1 - Lemon
  • Qs - Thyme
  • Qs - Green peppercorn

 

For the peppers

  • 1 - Green horn-shaped pepper (e.g. Friggitelli variety)
  • 1 - Red horn-shaped pepper (e.g. Corno di Toro variety)
  • 1 - Peperone giallo cornetto
  • Qs - Taggiasca olives
  • Qs - Salina capers

 

For the whipped pil-pil sauce

  • 1 gr. - Sucro (sucrose esters)

 

For garnishing

  • 5 gr. -Parsley powder
  • 5 gr - Olive powder
  • 3 - Fried capers
  • 30 gr. - Pepper powder (possibly the Senise sweet pepper variety)

 

Mosaic of Baccalà and sweet horn 1

Method

For the baccalà

    • 1

      Cut the baccalà into a parallelepiped and vacuum-pack it with some lemon, green peppercorn and I Dedicati Special Extra Virgin Olive Oil for Fish - Olitalia.

    • 2

      Cook in a steam oven at 45°C/113°F for 30 minutes.

    • 3

      Cool it down in a bowl with water and ice for it to stop cooking.

     

    For the peppers

    • 1

      Roast the peppers on charcoal until the skin has burnt completely. Let them cool down and peel the skin off.

    • 2

      Cut the peppers into 2cm x 2cm squares and let them marinate for at least 6 hours with extra virgin olive oil, capers and olives.

    • 3

      Choose the red pepper parts, remove all the seeds and peel the skin off. Mix with a blender and whip well by adding gradually some extra virgin olive oil.

     

    For the baccalà pil-pil sauce

    • 1

      Drain the baccalà from its drippings and strain it using a fine-meshed chinois strainer.

  • 2

    Add the sucro and mix by using a hand blender until it has incorporated enough air.

  •  

    Food plating

    • Put the pepper cubes at the centre of the dish, and alternate the three colours to make a mosaic. Lay some baccalà on them, after softening it slightly, and garnish with some pil-pil foamy sauce, fried capers, and the parsley, olive and pepper powders.