Great chefs: Stefano Mazzone
Born in 1975, native of Treviso, Sicilian parents.
Chef of the famous Grand Hotel Quisisana, Capri, Italy
He started his career with Gualtiero Marchesi and after only two months experience, became Chef de partie for appetizers. Mr. Marchesi educated him to think of the dish and paper, to design it according to a certain style and then turn into realty, with a rigid discipline, an absolute rigour to maintain the same level of quality, through hours of painstaking work.
No genius, but great determination, knowledge, experimentation and a bit of creativity, so that, according to Mazzone, allows the extra step to be an innovator, to
do something unique. This severity sounds pretty amazing from a chef so open minded, with intuitions, sometimes born of constraints, such as prosaic request of a grilled fish, then comes with a grilled mackerel in tomato vinaigrette
After the “military service” with Marchesi, Mazzone learnt how to cultivate, as Sicilian, the being Mediterranean, the fun in the kitchen from a Teutonic by Heinz Beck, “one with a kitchen so colorful and vivid to seem of a chef South of France, chaotic and volcanic, but the best marketing manager between chefs, an example of how to talk to the customer even after the dinner, as not to miss the opportunities of the market, through a clear business plan.”
Professional periods in Sicily, where he gave excitement to his cuisine. He arrived at the Grand Hotel Quisisana in 2007 in a new and challenging adventure, that faced with the ease of the veteran.
The apparent simplicity conceals peaks of flavor that are the result of analysis, study, experimentation, innovation, such as when the bones of the bird, be it a pigeon or a partridge are cooked on the bottom, on the grill, slowly to avoid burning, and focus on taking a note smoked flavor that enhances the sauce making it completely new.
Tastes, texture, even the temperatures tend to be warm “as the body temperature, natural, non-invasive”, are recognizable, clean, touch the memory of smells and tastes that everyone has, at a deep level as it has evolved palate and trained, and at the surface, to their immediate pleasure.
Grilled Mackerel with cherry tomatoes and Oregon flavoured mayonnaise
| Ingredients (4 persons) 4 Mackerels of approx. 250/300 gr. Each 1 kg cherry tomatoes 1 red onion 300 wild Oregon 2 egg yolk 300g olive oil 2 lt. Mineral water 30 g wine vinegar Salt Instruments Mixer Siphon |
MethodMackerel: cut the fish but leaving the tail and remove the fish bones with a little pincher. Tomatoes: soak in salted boiling water for 10 seconds and immediately make cold, peel them in quarters and wash seeds and gelatines. Peel the onion and cut in little slices.Mayonnaise: clean the oregon and wash it quickly with water. Place it for few seconds in boiling mineral water and immediately make cold. Fill a little can and mix with a high speed mixer. Whip the yolks with salt and olive oil; when the mayonnaise is done add mineral water until the sauce becomes semi-liquid. Add the oregon that has been previously winnowed and fill it in a Siphon. Load a cartridge for the cream and keep in the refrigerator for few hours.Plate assembling: Add the onion to the tomatoes, add salt, olive oil and vinegar, leave it for few minutes. Cook the Mackerel on a very hot grill, place the tomatoes well dry from their juice in the plate in ring-shape. Place the mayonnaise and on the top, one mackerel. Garnish with salt, oregon and little oregon flowers, olive oil. |
For more information contact Barbara3@rogers.com