dining
Made with love
Top chefs share family recipes adopted from their mums. By Apple Lee
Oca rosta Serves 4-6 Ingredients 1 young goose, 4-5kg 1 bunch of fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage 200g butter 1 whole garlic head 3 anchovies 100g chopped salami Salt Black pepper 1 glass of dry white wine 4 dry apricots or figs
Method
Davide Borin Executive Chef of Pici and The Pizza Project My mum Antonella is an amazing cook. Over the years, I’ve stolen many recipes from her. She never really had a recipe book on hand because she makes everything based on experience and her personal taste, like many home chefs. Everything was “a cup of this,” “add a spoon of that” or “a pinch of salt here.” For me, it was difficult to understand how she always nailed the right flavours. At my hometown Treviso, Italy, we have Oca Rosta (roasted goose) for the Sunday dinners when we gather around with family and friends. We serve this rich and indulgent dish with a side salad made of borlotti beans, raw celery and white onion sliced thinly. I still ask my mum to make it for me when I go home for the holidays. Davide Borin and his mum
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1. Set the oven at 140°C as the goose requires a low baking temperature. 2. Clean the goose nicely and remove the interior portions if still there, but keep it aside for the sauce. 3. Stuff the goose with the fresh herbs and set on a wide baking tray before placing it in the oven. 4. After 30 minutes, when the goose has sweat out the fat, it is time to remove it from the oven. Wait till the goose has cooled down before breaking down the breast and legs with a kitchen knife or a big pair of scissors. 5. Re-arrange all the parts of the animal on the tray (including the liver and heart) and add butter, garlic, salt and pepper for seasoning. Also be sure to add the white wine for flavour. 6. The meat should simmer in the fat and make what is called confit in French. Add the dry fruit, anchovies and salami for a richer sauce. 7. Continue baking the goose at 140°C for one hour or until the meat of the leg falls off the bone. This is the best way to know when poultry is cooked. 8. Once the goose meat is cooked, set it aside and strain all of the sauce into a blender. Blend the sauce with some water until smooth. 9.Plate the goose with the sauce and serve.
Nathan Green Chef de Cuisine of Henry, Rosewood Hong Kong Shepherd’s pie is hands down the ultimate comfort food for me. This is something my mum makes me whenever I go back home to the UK. This dish brings back so many memories, from coming home after playing rugby in the cold to family time spent in front of the fire watching TV together. This recipe is based on how my mum taught me to make Shepherd’s pie. The truth is we don’t really measure anything – it’s all done by eye. My mum is a fantastic cook and she is great at making homely comfort foods. This has in turn influenced me a fair deal as everything I now create is aimed at taking my guests back to that place of love and comfort found from home-cooked meals.
Nathan Green and his mum
