Beef Tenderloin Recipe by Igor Macchia

As promised, here the first recipe in a long time. As we are talking about Igor Macchia, I have taken the liberty to share his recipe with you. It is a bit labor intensive than many others, but then, you want to cook one Michelin Star cuisine...then you have to work for it....Stars don't come just for a simple steak on the BBQ, no there needs to be more to it than that

It was so much fun working with Igor, he is totally down to earth and happy to coach the team, something they loved as the guest chefs are really changing the everyday routine, mine included. Often these chefs need specialized ingredients like the cassis and spinach powder for this recipe. Of course you can do it without it, but for us here, we want to be as close as possible to the original. So I contacted Igor and he happily shared where I can get all the special ingredients from, it took of course still a lot of mails with suppliers to get it finally delivered to us,..... but that is the fun part, the part where we have to source the best ingredients and then bit by bit actually have a web of suppliers where we can fall back with all the fancy foods....I just love that part

So here is the recipe: Enjoy!

Ingredient for cherry marinated with ginger:

  400 gr. fresh cherry

  140 gr. brown sugar

    50 gr. fresh ginger

Method for cherry marinated with ginger:

season quartered cherry with sugar and ginger. Vacuum pack and cook in steamed oven at 80°C for 3 hours. Chilled and blend. Keep the sauce for presentation of the plate.

Ingredient for mashed potatoes:

1500 gr. potatoes

                Sea salt

  150 gr. diced butter

  150 gr. mascarpone cheese

               Salt

               Pepper

Method for mashed potatoes:

wash potatoes and pierce with a fork. Cook with sea  salt in oven at 200°C for 1 hour.

Mashed potato and add mascarpone cheese and butter. Season with salt and pepper and keep for presentation of the plate.

Ingredient for watercress sauce:

250 gr. fresh watercress

             Xantana

             Salt

             Pepper

Method for watercress sauce:

Cook watercress in salted water. Chilled and blend.

Add xantana and season with salt and pepper. Keep for presentation of the plate.

Ingredient for presentation of the plate:

480 gr. wagyu beef tenderloin

120 gr. foie gras

   30 gr. cherry pure’ from boiron or capfruit

   20 gr. beef juice

   10 gr. watercress sauce

     2 gr. cassis powder

     2 gr. spinach powder

   60 gr. mashed potatoes

   40 gr. cooked cherry

   40 gr. saute fresh spinach

               Extra virgin olive oil

               Maldon salt

               Sea salt

               Pepper

               Fresh sprout

Method for presentation of the plate:

Season beef with salt and pepper and cook in a hot pan with olive oil. Finish to cook in oven at 200°C for 5 minutes.

Garnish the top of cooked beef with all ingredient and plate in a hot plate garnished with cherry and watercress sauce.

Use cassis and spinach powder for garnish the plate.

Cooking with a Michelin starred Chef

Lobster Carpaccio

Today I just wanted to tell you a bit about our latest event we did with a Michelin starred Chef. His name is Igor Macchia and he traveled all the way from Italy to us in Maldives to cook with us and produce 2 amazing dinners. Igor usually works in "La Credenza" a lovely Gourmet Restaurant close to Torino in north Italy

The Canapes

We have cooked together a couple of years ago and I am really happy to have Igor over again, this time in a different hotel, and show us the art of Italian Fine Dining

Chef Igor and me

Busy Plating

As the hotel is pretty full, it is not always easy for the chefs to make time and come over to Naladhu, the private island, and cook with the master chef. That is why most of the chefs actually took a day off so they have time and invest it to learn something new

Caesar Salad

We started off with a cocktail at the beach for around 60 guests. An absolutely amazing event as we had. We finished off the canapes in a make shift kitchen at the beach, the chef went around to meet the guests and everyone had a great time having some stunning food and watching the sunset. Of course the dinner was sold out within no time and we had 2 evenings with 32 guests each time....booked to capacity.

Lobster Carpaccio

Rabbit

The dinners were great too, the setup was outside, next to the beach under the stars....could not be any better. Igor and the chefs all busy in the kitchen we sent out course by course, accompanied by wonderful Italian wines.....yes, each wine was sent to the kitchen as well for a taster...much appreciated

Wasabi Risotto

Wagyu, Foie Gras and Cherries

I have a whole load of photos, so you can see the food a bit and I will try to post some of the recipes soon, they are absolutely easy to do, especially if one thinks that this is Michelin star level cooking

Pre Dessert

Chocolate Mousse and Spice Cake

So next will be a nice wine dinner with wines from Antinori and then there are another 3 Michelin starred chefs on the program in the next three month....something really exciting...and lots to write about.

The Brigade at work

The Brigade after work

It has been too long

As the title says, it has been too long that I have not written a single Blog and one of my new years resolutions is that I am writing again regularly, something that I actually always enjoyed but due to a really hectic time at work totally put on the back burner.

It has been a fantastic time here in Maldives, I am not complaining, we have done a lot here at Anantara and have now culminated on a fantastic New Years Eve buffet...not just one but we had on Dhigu one buffet, then another one on Veli and 2 of the a la carte outlets served set menus...so yes we were running a bit

One of the main attractions was the ostrich eggs that we had in Dhigu....something most of the team members here have never seen nor touched. So when I got up this morning I saw plenty of photos on Face Book with the ostrich eggs

It took me more than 6 month to get them here....from the initial idea to contacting a super supplier in South Africa to finding out that the supplier actually needs an export permit for the eggs. The supplier went onto it and obtained a permit from the South African government, then got everything in place to send them to us which again is a challenge as they need to be

fresh and sent between Christmas and New Year.

 They did arrive in Male airport in the morning of December 30...then customs and yehee....arrived safely with us late in the evening, just in time for the next days events

But of course not just the Ostrich eggs were a big attraction. As usual the pastry outdid themselves and every year got better....I have attached a couple of photos as I really like these pastries very much0 In future there will be again a lot more....not just promising, but really taking the time to write a little bit

Fruit Bread

We have started an amazing little cheese board in one of our outlets, called The Living Room. Here we serve a cuisine which we like to call personal dining. This means, the chef goes to see the guests during breakfast, asks them what they like to have and then will cook a personal menu for them for either lunch or dinner or both. Of course there are many guest that still like to opt for the normal a la carte, but the personal dining gives a whole new dimension to the experience here

So with the cheese board that has mainly European cheeses on at the moment, I needed a bread that compliments it to perfection and I started digging in my old recipes.....what I found you can see below and of course I am happy to share the recipe

I am very happy now with the cheese board, it reminds me of home and sometimes I can't stop but have a little nibble

Recipe
200 g Dried Pears
300 g Dried Figs
200 g Dried Prunes
200 g Dried Apricots
200 g Dried Apples
1000 ml Water
600 g Flour
40 g Yeast, fresh
 Salt and
cinnamon

120 g Almonds
160 g Hazelnuts
100 g Walnuts
150 g Raisins

Method
Cut the dried fruit in cubes
Leave in the water over night Add yeast and flour
 Add nuts let the dough rest for at least one hour

Form the loafes proove them for another 20 min before baking

Break time is over

Looking for stories? Found them!!!

It has been a while since I have published a blog, it has been a busy time here in Maldives and the writing was not high on the priority list....but I think I can make a little time to publish a blog from time to time

Maldives are amazing, the islands, the sunshine, the snorkeling and of course the amazing hotels. The three hotels I am in charge for the kitchen have kept me nice and busy and so much happened in the last 12 month, so I think it is time to tell you a bit about the happenings here

So you can expect new posts, new recipes and of course a lot of new stories with photos. It has been far too long since you heard from me last and there is so much to tell you about

There was the chef competition in Colombo, my first time as a judge, then the 2 cooking competitions in Male, one of them was a great success, then of course the recipes, we have changed a lot of menu and of course some which we cooked at home, was real fun

There were guest chefs coming to cook with us, highly decorated ones with loads of Michelin stars, all of that I need to tell you and not just keep for myself

So stay tuned.....the channel

is open again with loads of interesting stuff

Anantara Maldives

It has been very quiet lately on my Blog. The reason for this is my new job, Cluster Executive Chef at Anantara Maldives.

As you can imagine, the cluster stands for more than one hotel, and yes in fact there are three hotels which are very close together and I am currently looking after all the culinary aspects. So the time for writing on my Blog is very much limited, but I am sure over time I will find more time to share recipes and stories again.

The hotels here are absolutely amazing. Each island/hotel has its own identity.

There is Anantara Dhigu, the biggest of all with 110 villas, some over water and some on the beach, but all are absolutely beautiful. Here we cater more for families, there is a kids club and kids are allowed everywhere. On this Island we have a couple of Restaurants, there is Fushi Cafe where we serve breakfast and an international dinner buffet. We have Terrazzo, our Italian restaurant which offers authentic Italian cuisine from our Chef de Cuisine Alessandro. It is an eclectic mix of traditional and modern cuisine. We have Fuddan, our Fusion restaurant...but this one will soon change to a different restaurant, stay tuned for more news about that soon. We have Aqua serving light snacks from 10 till 6 pm and drinks till late

The there is Anantara Veli, the romantic island, no kids during the evening, loads of honeymooners and couples are staying here. Here we have Origami, Japanese, then 73 Degrees with Breakfast and daily changing theme evenings and we have Dhoni bar for drinks and snacks

On the way to the last island you will pass Baan Huraa, our thai restaurant. I always love stopping here as everything is Thai, service, chefs and of course the food. We fly in all ingredients from Bangkok....yes we like to do the real thing.

That brings us to the last hotel island, Naladhu. Naladhu is actually not an Anantara brand but we are of course looking after it as it has only 20 rooms and is super luxury. So you guess it right, our restaurant here is The Living Room where we cook fine dining, progressive cuisine or simply what the guest likes to have. The chef is talking to the guests and will then cook what they feel like.

So and then there is one more island, called Guli Fushi. We have a little pop up restaurant on there serving light foods cooked mainly on the grill and in the Tandoor.

But that is not all, we have one last island called Marina. That is where most of the staff is living and all the main offices and stores are there

So we have to get everything from Male by boat to the stores and then from the stores to the different islands....then like pastry for example, we send again to the different islands as the pastry and bakery are on Veli. Not an easy operation, but trust me it is a lot of fun.

So you can expect a lot of new stories and recipes very soon, keep tuned

Breakfast: Potato, Leek and Gruyere Tart with poached egg

Trust me, here in the Maldives we are absolutely rocking. We just opened our new Restaurant Outlet, Marrakesh, now just 2 weeks later we are starting a new a la carte Breakfast outlet. We decided that the guests of our Pool Suites should have something special, after all the Pool Suites cost nearly double of a normal suite. So we decided to have something like an Executive Lounge just for them.

Here one can have Breakfast in tranquility, sitting outside beside the pool, everything is possible. The best thing is, one does not have to go and choose the goods from the buffet, no, here the buffet comes to the table. Fruit, Cheese, smoked fishes and Pastries are served family style, then the hot breakfast is a la carte.

The first Breakfast is a delicious Potato, Leek and Gruyere Tart with a poached Egg and Garden Greens. Simply delicious and relatively easy to prepare.

The Gruyere Tart can actually be made in advance and can be frozen, then you just defrost the Tart and bake it up again.

Of course you can as well use this dish for a lunch or a brunch..... anything is possible. I always think of Asia where there is no continental Breakfast as we know it, yes there are breakfast dishes, but not like we have in the Western World

Anyway, let's not talk too much, here is the recipe and enjoy

Recipe

Dough
300 g Flour
135 g Butter
6 g Salt
120 ml Water

Filling
150 g Leeks
30 g Onions
10 g Garlic
150 g Potatoes
100 g Gruyere Cheese
120 ml Cream
120 ml Milk
3 ea Eggs
1 g Nutmeg
4 g Salt
2 g Pepper

Poached Egg
10 ea Eggs
1 l Water
50 ml Vinegar

Garden Greens
100 g Mesclun Lettuce
50 g Baby Carrots
50 g Green Asparagus
70 ml EV Olive Oil
30 ml Balsamic Vinegar

Method
Mix all ingredients for the dough quickly
Keep in the fridge at least 2 hours, best overnight
before using
Roll the dough 3 mm thick, cut round discs and put in Individual quiche forms, punch holes with a fork and freeze
Bake at 180 C straight from the freezer till half baked

Cut the leeks in small cubes
Cut the onions in brunoise
Chop the garlic finely
Peel the potatoes and boil till soft
Saute the vegetables in butter, add potatoes
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg

Beat egg, milk and cream till well mixed
Season withsalt and pepper

Put the vegetables in the quiches, pour Royale on top
Bake in the oven at 180 C till golden brown and baked

Bring the water and vinegar to a boil
Take the pan off the heat
Give the water a swirl and add one egg at the time
Poach to your desired cooking temperature

Plate the tart, put the poached egg on top
Cut the carrots and asparagus in fine slivers
Plate the salad next to the tart and drizzle with oil and vinegar

Recipe is for 10 friends

Cheese Room at Soneva Fushi

I think it is time to brag a bit again. It has been a while since I last wrote about the resort I am working for as Executive Chef. This time I like to show you some photos of our cheese and cured meats room.

Like the chocolate room, the cheese room is always open and mostly it is included in the room price. Mostly meaning during breakfast and lunch you can go wild, but if you feel like a nibble some artisan cheeses and cured meats during dinner or late afternoon, then we charge a small fee.

I spend a lot of time with the sourcing of these cheeses and meats. We have one main supplier, called Vanilla Venture where we buy most of our products from, but from time to time I can find something else that is special and I will put it in the Deli Room.

From time to time we have as well the owner of Vanilla Venture coming out here to do some training with the chefs. This is really important as most of the cheeses are really special. They are made in small batches, many times from raw milk. One of my favorite cheeses is the Tomme that is made from Goats milk, something really special.

The same is for the cured meats. We don't just have Parma Ham, no, we have different types of Pata Negra, the famous Spanish ham, we have the Ham from Bayonne, one of the best available, everything is local, the meat, the herbs and even the salt for curing comes from the River that is in that region.

Of course we have Asagio Speck from South Tyrol, a cured ham that is smoked as well for a wonderful intense flavor. We have about 5 types of salami, from Italy and Spain, I could not tell you which one is the best, they all taste fantastic

We have the possibility that you cut your own meat or we have a couple of plates of pre-cut delicacies. One of them I just have to mention is the Truffled Mortadella....it is just so sexy, the smell of the truffles, the finesse of the meat, all just too good to eat!

Then of course there are all the condiments, the olives which we marinate ourselves, the Kumquat jam, the Membrillo, a Spanish quince pate and of course the freshly baked bread. Now I am sure you can imagine why I have a daily quality control here in the Deli Room, just have to make sure all the meat and cheese is top!

I think I can say that the chocolate and the cheese room are something absolutely unique here in Maldives. I have not heard about any hotel that has something similar. This is why Soneva Fushi is well known for the food, it is not just the cooking, but as well the special offering we have here for our guests.

Fresh Tuna

Today is no recipe, but a little story that just happened a little while ago.

We are trying to buy as much local as possible, but sometimes it is not easy. The fishermen don't always have the fish we want and this time we were really running around. We had an arrival who wanted to buy an entire tuna, he then wanted to see it and after that we would have to cut out bit by bit and cook it for him in different ways and methods. Generally no problem except.....our fishermen are not lucky with yellow fin tuna at the moment.

So we took it in our hands, went off and took the speed boat to see a close-by island that has a tuna canning factory on it. We thought they must have fresh tuna and would part with one or two of them. We were all in a great mood and off we went.

On the way we saw a fishing boat with tuna, so we made a little detour and checked it out. There are about 8 men living on board the vessel, there was a tiny little kitchen, nothing I want to photograph and put on my blog, trust me, it was really terrible. But we did not come to see their kitchen, but the tuna.

 

They had quite a bit, all stored in big containers filled with ice water. The tuna was nice, just the price they wanted was more than double than our normal fisherman is charging us. Maybe they could feel that we were sort of desperate for fresh fish. Anyway, we thanked them and off we went to get to the island we originally wanted to see, being convinced that the price will be less.

our bill for the tuna

Till.......one of the engines gave up, caramba, we really did not need that. In the middle of the sea, the gears just fell out and the boat would not go any further. So we had to turn around, without our priced tuna, to get back to our island, which now of course would take about 2 hours instead of 20 minutes.

We had no choice, but go back to the other fishing vessel, schmooze them a bit and buy a tuna or two. They were still happy to sell tuna, of course there was absolutely no bartering at all, we had to pay the given price. I was naturally a bit picky about the tuna, but after checking out a couple of fishes we found some really fresh and lovely tuna.

We put it on the boat, covered it with a towel and prayed it with water, we still had quite a bit to go till we were home. So as it took such a long time we knew that we miss lunch, so what would be close than just stopping on one of the slands and have some lunch. Our boat crew knew about a restaurant and called them up....yes, these islands are so small, they don't just have food for 5 people, hehehe, so we pre-ordered our food, the choice was fried chicken noodles or chicken noodle soup!

Enjoying lunch

The food was actually really nice, we had some starters and then some tea as well, sweet and sticky but very welcome. Then the bill was presented, or whatever you call this tiny little piece of paper whit the number 237 on it. that was the amount in Maldivian Rufiyaa and translates to a little more than 15 USD. Yes for that we could feed 5 grown men and we nearly had some food left over too.

We then went back on our "speed" boat and arrived back at Soneva Fushi literally 2 minutes before the guest arrived. On arrival we chowed him the fish and he could see that we just came back with his fish, so he was absolutely happy about it and chose the bigger fish which we then served in all sorts of ways.

The food bill

It is not every day that we get out like this, but with all the miss hap we had on this trip, timing was at the end absolutely perfect and we had another happy guest.....and we had a great time after all too.

Pepper Crab from Sri Lanka

Happy New Year to everybody!!!!

The recipes keep on coming, today another lovely recipe with crabs. The crabs we have are absolutely amazing, the meat is sweet and juicy and the way we prepare it they become a real feast. We are getting the crabs as well from Sri Lanka, so they are really nice and fresh.

As we do not fly any life animals at Soneva Fushi, the crabs we buy are quickly boiled to kill them and then flash frozen, only then they are sent to us. I think over the last couple of blogs you could see that we do things different here at Soneva Fushi. We try to keep our carbon foot print down and are busy reducing it to Zero by the end of 2014, a big thing to do. The of course we go as much as possible local, organic and sustainable.......I think in the long run this is the only way all the hotels should go but unfortunately only a small fraction is actually doing it.

So one of the things we don't do is flying life animals around half the globe that our guests can savor them, no, this is cruel to the animals so there is no way that we will do it, no oysters, no fresh lobster from US and Canada, but still we buy the best available products and have extremely happy guests......we call that as well Intelligent Luxury.

Anyway, back to our crab dish. The sauce is extremely easy as we don't want to overpower the crab, just onions, garlic and oyster sauce, a little extra pepper and that's it.

Here is the recipe

Recipe
3 Kg whole Crabs
250 G Butter
750 Ml Oyster Sauce
125 G Garlic
75 G Onion
100 G Spring Onion
50 G Sugar
30 G Black Pepper Powder
1.5 Kg Steamed Rice

Method
Cut the crabs in large pieces, crack the shells open, especially the claws
Dust the crabs in corn flour and pepper
Saute in oil for a couple of minutes, add sugar and some more pepper

Cut onions and garlic finely, then add to the crab
Add the oyster sauce, bring quickly to the boil
Toss quickly

Serve the crabs on a plate, garnish with fresh spring onions and lotus root chips

Steamed rice separate