Alex Atala blazed a new culinary trail in Brazil when he opened D.O.M - his São Paulo restaurant - in 1999, and over a decade later, he is still at the helm of contemporary Brazilian cuisine. Last year he opened his second restaurant, Dalva e Dito, specialising in local dishes, and next up is his São Paulo padaria, a traditional bakery opening in July. Here, Brazil's best-known chef tells us how to recreate some of his iconic dishes.
Advisory panellist: Alex Atala
Advisory panellist: Alex Atala
Photograph by Cassio Vasconcellos
Heart of palm fettuccine with coral butter and glazed shrimp
Serves four
Ingredients:
For the coral butter
500g shrimp heads
30ml olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
400g creamed butter
300ml water
For the fettuccine
1,3kg fresh hearts of palm
12 cleaned big shrimps with the tail
Salt
Black pepper from the mill
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a big frying pan. Add the minced garlic and fry until it starts to release its perfumes.
Add the shrimp heads and mix until they release their coral (which adds colouring and flavour to the butter). Continue this process for 5 minutes.
Transfer the heads to a deeper pan and deglaze the frying pan with a bit of water. Add the resulting liquid to the deeper pan.
Add the rest of the water to the deeper pan and cook for approximately 20 minutes. Cool down and add the creamed butter. Mix well until it is all incorporated.
For the fettuccine:
Peel the bark around the heart of palm and slice it with a Japanese mandolin to make long strips like a fettuccine in the length. The thickness must be around 1mm.
Place the salt in a pot with boiling water. Add the fettuccine for about a minute, until they are soft.
To finish:
Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the blanched fettuccine and season correctly. Stir the hot pan in circular movements until the sauce thickens.
For the shrimp:
Season the shrimp heads with salt and pepper and grill them in a very hot frying pan until they are bronzed. The center must remain uncooked.
Glaze the shrimp heads and serve with the fettuccine.
Photograph by Cassio Vasconcellos
Chilled beetroot cream, mandarin, priprioca with cold squids
Serves four
Ingredients:
For the beetroot cream
400g peeled beetroot
100ml concentrated mandarin juice
60ml water
20ml olive oil
10ml priprioca essence
Salt
Pepper
Tabasco
Preparation:
Thinly slice the beetroot.
Cook the ingredients in a vacuum bag and cook in bain-marie with the thermocirculator for five hours in 85 C.
After the cooking, with the help of a Thermomix, mix the ingredients until it acquires a homogeneous consistence.
Season to taste.
For the cold squid
500g baby squids
120g coarse salt
900g ice
4 litres water
A one-litre bucket with a lid.
Preparation:
Place inside the bucket 30g of the salt, 300g of the ice, 1 litre of water and the squids.
Put the lid on and shake the bucket vigorously for about five minutes or until it creates a thick foam. Repeat this operation three more times.
Then beat the squids again with the remaining ice and water for more 10 minutes.
Leave it in water and ice until serving.
Decorate the dish with wakame seaweeds.
Photograph by Cassio Vasconcellos
Green Tomato Gel
Serves four
Ingredients:
20 green tomatoes
15ml white vinegar
8g salt
4g sheets of gelatin
4g coriander seeds, rushed
4g black salt
5ml extra virgin olive oil
4 units toasted Peruvian corn
1 unit of red tomato seeds
1 unit of orange supreme, divided into 3 parts
Sprouts of beetroot, chervil, basil, coriander and celery
Borage flowers
Clover
Watercress
Purslane and jambu leaves
Preparation:
Using a centrifuge, extract the juice of the tomatoes and filter it through a thin chinoix with a sterile wet cloth.
Season with salt and vinegar.
Hydrate the gelatin leaves in cold water.
Heat the tomato juice to 60C and mix the gelatin.
Put 3 level soup spoons of the mixture in the dishes and place them in the fridge for two hours.
To finish:
Add the olive oil, black salt and the coriander seeds to the gel.
Place the orange supreme on the surface of the gel and finish with the basil leaves and a dash of fine salt over each supreme.
Place the tomato seed over with the coriander sprouts
Decorate with the sprouts, flowers and leaves, and serve.
