The Guild of Disfrutar

Serves 10

For the Olive Juice Spheres

Ingredients 

• 500g of unpitted chamomile olives
• 0.2g xanthan
• 100g cocoa butter
• 1g of green dye
• 10 spheres of olive juice (from above)

Method

1. Remove the pips from the olives, juice the flesh and strain.
2. Add the xanthan to 200g of olive juice and blend with the electric whisk until you get a creamy texture.
3. Fill the olive molds with the liquid and freeze.
4. Unmold once set and store in the freezer.
5. Melt the cocoa butter over medium heat, once melted add the dye and blend.
6. Prick the spheres using a syringe and dip in melted butter for 2 seconds, drain and arrange in a Sulfurized paper container.

For the Marinated Mackerel

Ingredients

• 2 mackerels of 350g each
• 1kg salt
• 100g rice vinegar
• 100g Jang sauce
• 150g extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Fillet the mackerel and remove the bones using tweezers.
2. Cover the mackerel in salt for 45 min, then rinse in water and dry using paper towel.
3. Mix the rice vinegar with the Jang sauce and marinate the mackerel fillets in the mixture for 45 min.
4. Drain the liquid and then remove the mackerel skin using a knife.
5. Score all the skin with longitudinal cuts of about 0.2 cm in depth.
6. Cut the loin into pieces of about 1.5 cm thick. There should be at least 2 pieces of  Marinated mackerel per person.
7. Keep  covered with virgin oil in the fridge until service.

For the Piparra Seed Cream

Ingredients

• 200g pickled piparras
• 0.5g xanthan

Method

1. Drain the vinegar from the piparras and set aside.
2. Use a knife to open the piparras and remove the seeds.
3. Place the seeds into a bowl with a little bit of the saved vinegar.
4. Blend the piparras flesh in a blender with the rest of the saved vinegar and pass through a fine sieve.
5. Add the xanthan and mix well to obtain a fine, dense and lump-free cream.
6. Store in a sauce dispenser in the fridge.

To Serve

Ingredients

• 40 pieces of 0.5 anchovies
• 20 pickled capers
• seeds of a passion fruit
• chopped Chives
• virgin olive oil
• flaked salt

Method

1. Place 2 pieces of marinated mackerel drained from the oil on the plate.
2. Spread across the plate, without touching any ingredient between them and leaving the center free: 2 capers, 4 pieces of anchovy, 2 piparra seeds and 2 passion fruit seeds.
3. Place  some of the piparra cream in the spaces on the plate.
4. Place an olive sphere in the center and dress the whole plate with virgin oil.
5. Garnish with chopped chives and place some salt crystals on top of mackerel.
6. Serve.

Recipe Courtesy of Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro & Eduard Xatruch at 2 Michelin-starred Disfrutar in Barcelona.
Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro & Eduard Xatruch Chef Feature

Image © Francesc Guillamet.