WITH THE WORLD’S CUTTING EDGE CHEFS by FLAVEL MONTEIRO
WINNER OF THE 2019 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS WORLD BOOK AWARDS
WITH THE WORLD’S CUTTING EDGE CHEFS by FLAVEL MONTEIRO
Coffee is my drug of choice. I like its taste, I love its smell. The aroma of roasting coffee gives me a legal high. A day without coffee is a day without sunshine, a garden without flowers. “Let’s go coffee-drinking,” is an invitation to intimacy and good conversation. Coffee shops are happy gathering places, always welcoming, places to meet old friends and make new ones. I’ve never met a cup of coffee I didn’t like! Well, that’s not entirely true; some are too strong, some are too weak, some are too bitter – but when you find that perfect cup of coffee, the angels sing, your taste buds smile and everything is right in the world... Baron Wolman Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A
Coffee is a daily companion for millions of people, myself included; no matter the time or place, the scent of good coffee arrests the senses, leading one inexorably to moments of quiet enjoyment with a petit noir, a café allongé, a grand crème, or that perennial favourite of the Italians and Swiss, a ristretto. Personally, I like to pair a cup of coffee with a financier; to that end I created a bespoke coffee cup for my restaurant boasting a concealed compartment in which to hide one of these dainty little cakes. As cooks we are open to exploration of ingredients from across the entirety of the globe, and coffee firmly merits its place in the cook’s arsenal. I look upon it in much the same way as I would a spice - it can season, enliven, announce itself boldly or take a dish in a new direction. For the pâtissier, coffee is a veritable perfume, one which can transform a preparation, give life to an éclair or a religieuse, and bestow individuality and character to any dessert. I am both delighted and honoured to have been asked to preface this book dedicated to all things coffee and to recipes making use of it. It is an ingredient which has long piqued my curiosity and interest, and I have been fascinated once again by the remarkable recipes in this book. So, pour yourself a cup and… happy reading!
Guy SAVOY
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A passion for the finer things in life a desire to live within the greatest expression of pleasure Lavazza coffee and gastronomy!
COFFEE ABSOLUTE GASTRONOMY is a celebration of coffee, fine cuisine and Lavazza, an iconic brand steeped in tradition. From an initial brainstorm over a lunch meeting in Dubai, this book has allowed me to embark on journeys from Curitiba in Brazil to Sydney, Australia. Along the way, encountering 35 Michelin stars, crossed six continents, 23 countries and been inspired by the genius of 40 of the world’s cutting-edge culinary professionals. As an ingredient, coffee is highlighted in each recipe, some plates are specially created with Lavazza coffee beans, while others feature either ground coffee, an espresso shot, coffee infused in oil or a coffee rub to complement and highlight the ingredients in each dish. From a simple spaghettoni with coffee powder to the elaborate caviar cones with Lavazza beans and Ferrero & Lavazza, each of these brilliant and outstanding chefs have brought out the best of their culinary prowess while working with coffee as an ingredient. Two chefs bring multi five course menus. One melds Eastern and Western cuisine with his signature ‘Meditterasian’ style Lavazza Experience and the other features foraged coffee beans from Central Java, Indonesia with a five-stage roasting menu. With recipes for 70 breath-taking dishes and a specially crafted Lavazza Mocktail conceived by the one and only contributing sommelier, this is a comprehensive showcase of what can be achieved with this singular ingredient. I hope you enjoy this culinary homage to coffee.
Flavel Monteiro
REIF OTHMAN THE EXPERIENCE - DUBAI TERESA CUTTER THE HEALTHY CHEF - SYDNEY
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JOE BARZA ZA’ATAR - LISBON
VINEET BHATIA RASOI BY VINEET - GENEVA ZIYA - MUMBAI
JAMES OAKLEY ALIBI - HONG KONG
GIANLUCA RENZI ATTIMI BY HEINZ BECK - MILAN
MANOELLA BUFFARA MANU - CURITIBA
COLIN CLAGUE RÜYA - DUBAI
CARMINE AMARANTE HEINZ BECK RESTAURANT - TOKYO
DANIEL NEGREIRA HIDDEN BY DN - TAIPEI
GRANT MACPHERSON SCOTCHMYST - LAS VEGAS
VERONICA CANHA-HIBBERT THE SILO - CAPE TOWN
PACO MORALES NOOR - CORDOBA
ILIAS KOKOROSKOS MYTHOS KOUZINA & GRILL - DUBAI
UROŠ ŠTEFELIN VILLA PODVIN - RADOVLJICA
FRANCESCO GUARRACINO ROBERTO’S - U.A.E.
KONSTANTIN IVLEV PRO MYASO - MOSCOW
FRANCESCO ACQUAVIVA SOCIAL BY HEINZ BECK - DUBAI
BALAZS ENZSOL BALAZS ENZSOL PÂTISSIER - BUDAPEST
ELIZABETH STEVENSON-HOCKS RÜYA - LONDON
CONSTANT CHEUNG JE KITCHEN - TAIPEI
FRANCESCO NUNZIATA ATTIMI BY HEINZ BECK - ROME
HEINZ BECK THREE MICHELIN STAR LA PERGOLA - ROME ANNIE FÉOLDE THREE MICHELIN STAR ENOTECA PINCHIORRI - FLORENCE PACO PÉREZ TWO MICHELIN STAR MIRAMAR - LLANÇÀ YOSHIHIRO NARISAWA TWO MICHELIN STAR NARISAWA - TOKYO ONNO KOKMEIJER & ARJAN SPEELMAN TWO MICHELIN STAR CIEL BLEU RESTAURANT - AMSTERDAM KONSTANTIN FILIPPOU TWO MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANT KONSTANTIN FILIPPOU - VIENNA DAVID TOUTAIN TWO MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANT DAVID TOUTAIN - PARIS SAM AISBETT ONE MICHELIN STAR WHITEGRASS - SINGAPORE
WITH THE WORLD’S CUTTING EDGE CHEFS by FLAVEL MONTEIRO MIKAEL SVENSSON ONE MICHELIN STAR KONTRAST - OSLO SILVIA BARACCHI ONE MICHELIN STAR IL FALCONIERE - CORTONA FILIP LANGHOFF ONE MICHELIN STAR RESTAURANT ASK - HELSINKI ALFREDO RUSSO ONE MICHELIN STAR DOLCE STIL NOVO - TURIN GAËL CLAVIERE L’HÔTEL DE MATIGNON ET DU PREMIER MINISTRE - PARIS SIMONE CANTAFIO MAISON BRAS TOYA JAPON - HOKKAIDO JOSÉ LUIS VICENTE GÓMEZ RESTAURANTE CACHETERO - LA RIOJA JAMES KNIGHT-PACHECO SIX SENSES ZIGHY BAY - MUSANDAM, DIBBA SARAH BELANGER THE EMIRATES ACADEMY OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT - DUBAI
INNOVATION THROUGH UNDERSTANDING Comprehension allows you to set ever more ambitious goals and to become more efficient in creation and innovation. This is the deeper meaning of the work Coffee Sapiens, which opens the way for a multidisciplinary approach to the world of coffee. Coffee Sapiens is a multimedia project created by Lavazza and elBullifoundation, founded in 2013 by Ferran Adrià with the aim of promoting experimentation and innovation in the gastronomic field. This Opera Omnia on coffee is one of the pillars of what is going to constitute the most complete database of the Occidental fine dining restaurant industry. This holistic project – developed through the application of the Sapiens methodology – is dedicated to every coffee professional or coffee lover with entrepreneurial attitude who wants to deepen his knowledge of the subject, from the coffee plantations to the harvesting, from the industrial processing to the domestic elaborations, tackling art, history and the realm of the coffee bars.
In the contemporary world, marriages last way less than 20 years – however, this is not the case of our long-lasting friendship with the Lavazza family, whom we consider by now our Italian relatives. Our collaboration started in 2000 with Coffee Design: our way to introduce coffee – a product that was often underestimated – into the world of fine dining. Since then, over the years we have tried to transform, implement and reinvent the use of coffee among gastronomic elaborations, a thought that culminates in our latest project: Coffee Sapiens. With Coffee Sapiens, together with Lavazza we sought to expand the borders of our knowledge and of our experience: what is really coffee? Is it a plant? A seed? When does it become an edible product? What is its role in the gastronomic industry and in the occidental societies? To tackle all these issues, we had to rely on the Sapiens methodology developed by the elBulli team: an analytical process that structures, categorizes and links together all pieces of information regarding a determined study object, following our motto innovation through understanding. As a matter of fact, it is only by digging into the roots of a product that we can fully understand it and – consequently – are able to innovate it in an efficient way. In Coffee Sapiens, we analyzed coffee holistically with a scientific attitude, covering several academic and social disciplines. Hence, we published an authentic opera omnia on coffee, part of our Bullipedia: the encyclopedia of the Occidental restaurant industry. The Coffee Sapiens volume is just a minor constituent of what is going to become the greatest open source platform on gastronomy, where we are going to gather all the knowledge around restaurants: elaborated products, kitchen tools, service organization, management and, of course, the customers’ experience. We applied these concepts to coffee bearing well in mind two pivotal aspects that revolve around our vision: innovation and entrepreneurship. Bullipedia wants to help innovators to become entrepreneurs, to create new spaces for research and investigation and for new dining experiences. Indeed, we can’t conceive a successful gastronomic project that doesn’t try to question the status quo of things: this is the real Sapiens spirit, through which we can understand a product, a project, a company or even a whole sector. Together with Lavazza, we shared attention to everything related to coffee – to all the people who work to grow it, process it, distribute it and make sure it’s in our cups every day. With Bullipedia we share culture, making valuable information available to everyone. This is the meaning of Coffee Sapiens: sharing knowledge to create community. We all know that food – and in our case, a cup of coffee – is a collective and social action. We contend that culture can fulfil the same role. Because making tools of knowledge and empowerment available to everyone – as we are doing with Bullipedia – isn’t just a choice that aligns with our values, it’s an investment for the future of our community.
Ferran Adrià & Albert Adrià elBullifoundation
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Established in 1895 in Turin, the Italian roaster has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Among the world’s largest coffee companies, the Lavazza Group currently operates in more than 90 countries through subsidiaries and distributors, with 63% of revenues coming from markets outside of Italy. Lavazza employs a total of about 3,000 people generating a turnover of more than ₏2 billion in 2017. Lavazza invented the concept of blending - or in other words the art of combining different types of coffee from different geographical areas - in its early years introducing its consumers to flavour consistency as well as innovation, and these continue to be distinctive features of most of its products. With about 30 years of experience Lavazza was also a pioneer in the production and sale of portioned coffee systems and products. Lavazza operates in all business segments: at home, away-from-home and office coffee service, always with a focus on innovation in consumption technologies and systems.
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Over the years, Lavazza has carried the aroma of authentic Italian coffee all over the world, keeping up with changing trends and constantly exploring new ways of enjoying coffee, even in the world of gastronomy. With the Lavazza Training Center came the establishment of the company’s product experimentation division, which included a series of new bar products that proved to be an instant hit with the public, including a collection of recipes known as “I Piaceri del Caffè” - “The Pleasures of Coffee.” Each year, new concepts were added to the recipe collection for coffee lovers to enjoy.
Sometime later, Lavazza began experimenting with food when, in 1996, the company struck a partnership with Slow Food, a global non-profit organization that shares Lavazza’s passion for tradition and quality. Subsequently, Lavazza began working with the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, the first university dedicated entirely to food and gastronomy, and was founded by Slow Food. The partnership with the University today is present with several R&D projects, and even physically at the Lavazza Training Center in Turin which is used by the institution as a satellite campus dedicated to a Master’s Degree program in Coffee Studies. As Lavazza’s positioning within the world of food developed, the company’s efforts were elevated when it began a long-standing collaboration with the man who is considered the world’s top chef and food philosopher: Ferran Adrià. The partnership with Adrià began in 2000 with a series of coffee design experimentations, the first of which was the astonishing èspesso, the first solid coffee in history. Then, teams from the Lavazza Training Center and Adrià’s El Bulli embarked on a process of chiseling away at the concepts of flavour and format. It did not take long before Coffee Design became a fully-fledged trend in the world of Top Gastronomy. Other creations made in partnership with ElBulli include Passion>Me (a cocktail made from coffee and passion fruit juice), Coffesphere and Coffee Caviar (both made using the spherification technique). Following these innovations, 2008 saw the arrival of Coffee Lens, created by another outstanding chef and Lavazza partner, Carlo Cracco. Today, Lavazza continues to work with the ElBulli Foundation for ideation of products and culinary concepts to share with the world of Lavazza.
In addition to Ferran Adrià and Carlo Cracco, Lavazza has forged strong partnerships in numerous countries with leading culinary names, not only to serve the brand’s products in some of the most celebrated restaurants, but also to help build on the Coffee Design trend, push boundaries for new and existing Lavazza products, and continue to elevate the way consumers experience coffee. Some other illustrious Lavazza partners include: Massimo Bottura who in 2018 was ranked the number one chef in the world (and with whom Lavazza developed a unique recipe “Vieni in Italia con Me” or “Come to Italy with Me”), Davide Oldani, Albert Adrià, Denny Imborisi, and Loretta Fanella. These partners and resulting concepts are also presented on an ongoing basis to the public via numerous other strategic global communication activities and at premium events such as Identità Golose (Italy & USA), the Omnivore Food Festival (France), the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards, the Grammys, the Night Before The Oscars, and even at the tennis Grand Slams and other tournaments. Lavazza’s commitment to the world of Top Gastronomy was even translated into the 2014 edition of the famed annual Lavazza Calendar project, titled “Inspiring Chefs,” which featured these collaborators photographed in ethereal situations by German photographer Martin Schoeller. Additionally, Lavazza also has a partnership with Eataly, another Turin-based company which shares a pursuit for Italian gastronomic excellence. With this partnership, Lavazza is present in a number of Eataly locations with in-store cafés both in Italy and abroad. Internationally, these locations include New York City (Flatiron and World Trade Center), Chicago, Boston, Copenhagen, Moscow, Los Angeles and Bologna (FICO Eataly World), the largest agri-food park in the world. Lavazza also inaugurated its first Flagship Store in the centre of Milan, in Piazza San Fedele, where visitors can enjoy a 360° coffee experience as well as the possibility to taste innovative Coffee Design creations. A uniquelydesigned space created to offer an immersive experience in the authentic world of Lavazza coffee. An essential ingredient of our everyday life is presented here in a surprising way, to be discovered in its original aspects through a multi-sensorial journey. This journey embraces tradition and innovation ranging from the classic Italian espresso to the exclusive creations of Coffee Design, the different extraction systems, through to the celebration of the art of roasting. Different expressions, with one goal: to enhance the quality and uniqueness of the Lavazza coffee in all its forms.
INGREDIENTS 2 Yurine bulbs (lily bulbs) 200g Espresso coffee 120g Meat fond 40ml Juniper oil 1 Orange (peel and juice) 4 Fresh sea urchins 10g Orange juniper powder YURINE BULB Select two bulbs of medium size, remove the dirt and wash them carefully, taking care not to break the petals or leaves. Cover them completely with the freshly made espresso coffee, so that the aromas and heat penetrate inside the bulb very slowly. Leave them to soak for two days, thoroughly marinating them in the espresso coffee. After two days, skewer the bulbs and roast them very slowly over a medium open fire until they are caramelised. Patience and flame management are the two secret ingredients that will ensure a successful result.
SIMONE CANTAFIO MAISON BRAS TOYA JAPON HOKKAIDO My passion for the vegetable world, was born in the years spent alongside Michel Bras, his teachings and his visceral contact with the plant world, have captured me over time. As a result, I create recipes and menus that have vegetables, cereals, herbs and flowers at the centre, while looking for nuances and supporting notes in the animal world. The yurine bulb, is a very well-known product on the island of Hokkaido. It is its elegance in form, and taste that has inspired me in the creation of this recipe. A recipe that brings forth touches of sea as well as land such as the fresh sea urchins and a rich vinaigrette flavoured with meat from the island. A vegetable expression that does not forget the animal kingdom and takes us on a journey to the island of Hokkaido, through its best products and their pleasurable combinations.
MEAT VINAIGRETTE Make a classic meat fond. Once the sauce is made, reduce it very slowly on the stove, to obtain a thicker consistency and a more pronounced flavour. When the sauce is still warm, add the juniper oil and a few drops of orange juice to add a sour/sweet note to the vinaigrette. JUNIPER OIL Infuse 150g Juniper in a litre of grape seed oil, heating the oil to 60°C for approximately six hours. Filter the oil to separate the juniper. ORANGE JUNIPER POWDER Let the peel from the orange dry and grind finely to a powder. Mix 500g of orange powder, 200g of muscovado sugar, 5g of fresh ground black pepper and 30g of dried and finely ground juniper. PLATING Gently remove the petals of the yurine bulb, flip the bulb carefully and season it with the vinaigrette. Add the fresh sea urchins. Garnish with some valerian leaves, leaving them raw to preserve their freshness and light bitterness. FINAL NOTES This warm salad of the land and sea, with aromatic shades of coffee, should be served at the beginning of the menu, to open the gastronomic journey with its first stop at the island of Hokkaido and the goodness of its most prized produce.
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INGREDIENTS 400g Filet back loin of pike perch 500ml 10% Salt brine 20g Dried chanterelle powder 10g Freshly ground coffee beans 2g Finger salt Salt the fish filets in salt brine for 10 minutes, rinse with water and dry. Roll the fish filets in plastic wrap, cool down in freezer until almost frozen and cut into portions. Steam for five minutes in a bamboo steamer over a pot of water with 5% Guji coffee beans. Mix the dried chanterelle and freshly grounded coffee with the finger salt. Roll the steamed fish in coffee and mushroom powder before serving. PORCINI AND COFFEE PUREÉ 100g Porcini mushrooms 40g Butter 50ml Filter coffee made of Ethiopian Guji beans Cut the porcini mushrooms into small cubes and fry in butter. When golden, add the coffee and boil for five minutes. Add to a food processor and blend to a smooth purÊe. Flavour with salt. MUSHROOM, COFFEE AND BUTTER SAUCE 50g Onion 10g Whole Guji coffee beans 50ml Chardonnay or similar 50ml Porcini stock 100ml Cream 10g Ground Guji coffee beans 50g Butter Salt to taste Fry the onion in a preheated pot, add the whole coffee beans, chardonnay and reduce to a third. Add mushroom stock and reduce to a third. Add cream and reduce to a third. Add the ground coffee, cover with plastic and let rest for five to 10 minutes. Strain and mix in the butter with a hand blender. Season the sauce with salt. FINNISH WILD MUSHROOMS 30g Porcini 30g Sheep polypore 30g Chanterelle 40g Butter Salt to taste Cut the mushrooms in small pieces. Fry the mushrooms in butter and season with salt. PLATING 20 Spruce shoots 20ml Spruce oil 12 Slices of raw chanterelle
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FILIP LANGHOFF RESTAURANT ASK HELSINKI
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KONSTANTIN FILIPPOU RESTAURANT KONSTANTIN FILIPPOU VIENNA INGREDIENTS BEEF MARROW 2 Large beef marrow bones 1 Pinch of salt HAZELNUT FOAM 500g Hazelnuts (peeled) 1l Cream 200ml Milk 1 Pinch of salt DASHI STOCK 2 Onions 50g Brown sugar 100ml Soy sauce 2l Water 100g Bonito flakes 1kg Button mushrooms 90g Arrowroot powder BUTTON MUSHROOMS 4 Button mushrooms 100ml Dashi stock ZANDER LIVER 4 Zander livers 250ml Olive oil 1 Pinch of salt 2 Sprigs of thyme 2 All spice berries 2 Juniper berries 2 Black peppercorns ZANDER FILLET 200g Zander fillet (boned) 25g Butter 1 Pinch of salt
BEEF MARROW Soak the marrow for 12 hours, changing the water every two hours. Then thinly slice the marrow (5 millimetres), and cut out discs using a round cookie cutter (2.5 centimetres in diameter). Add a bit of salt and keep warm. HAZELNUT FOAM Roast the hazelnuts in the oven at 180°C. Mix the milk, cream, and salt, then heat and add the hot hazelnuts. Refrigerate for 12 hours. Very briefly blend and pass through a fine sieve. Pour into an iSi whipper with two chargers. DASHI STOCK Roast the button mushrooms in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes. Halve the onions and roast them cut side down, until they blacken. Deglaze with soy sauce, add water and bring to a boil. Stir in the brown sugar, then the bonito flakes, and button mushrooms. Remove from the heat and let sit for two hours. Strain and thicken the stock with arrowroot powder. BUTTON MUSHROOMS Cut off the mushroom stems and vacuum seal the mushrooms with a little dashi stock. Cook in the sous-vide basin at 63°C for 20 minutes. Cool in ice water. Finally, cut out with a round cookie cutter (2 centimetres in diameter). ZANDER LIVER Very slowly cook the zander livers together with the spices in hot olive oil (max. 65°C) for about seven minutes. ZANDER FILLET Quarter the zander fillet, sear until crispy on the skin side until transparent, then salt lightly. ZANDER CHEEKS Pour hot butter over the zander cheeks; keep warm for five minutes, then salt. COFFEE OIL Put the coffee beans and the oil in a pot and heat it up to 80°C and simmer for 15 minutes. Put it through a sieve and cool it.
ZANDER CHEEKS 4 Zander cheeks 50g Butter 1 Pinch of salt
ROASTED HAZELNUTS Roast the nuts in the oven at 180°C for about 15 minutes, then chop finely and lightly salt.
COFFEE OIL 200ml Olive oil 60g Coffee beans
PÉRIGORD TRUFFLE Shave the truffle into thin slices and cut out discs using a round cookie cutter (1 centimetre in diameter).
ROASTED HAZELNUTS 250g Hazelnuts, peeled 1 Pinch of salt
PLATING Circularly arrange the zander liver, zander fillet, zander cheeks, and button mushrooms in a deep plate and pour in the dashi stock. Fill the mushrooms with hazelnut foam and cover with the beef marrow. Evenly sprinkle the coffee oil and the roasted hazelnuts on the marrow disc and garnish with the truffle.
PÉRIGORD BLACK TRUFFLE 50g Périgord black truffle
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An exciting journey begins in a small village in central Java, Indonesia where coffee beans are foraged by James Oakley’s mother-in-law. James creates a five-course menu especially for Coffee Absolute Gastronomy. He roasts the beans himself and each recipe highlights the characteristics of the coffee throughout five stages of the roasting process. First Stage: The beans are freshly removed from the berry like fruit, which they are encased in, retaining all of the natural characteristics of the origin. They are best stored at around 22°C and can retain their freshness for up to one year. The coffee is brightly acidic and clean with fruity notes, my palate immediately put cherries and nuts into my mind. The clean acidity enables the coffee to handle and harmonise rich and fatty ingredients.
Second Stage: The first crack. At this stage of roasting the beans are taken to around 196°C at which point the beans will make a popping sound, referred to as first crack. The beans have a very light brown roasted colour, the sweetness is still not developed as the sugars have barely started to caramelise. The coffee has a scent and taste of toasted grain with a grassy flavour and is sharply acidic. Tasting the initial flavour is reminiscent of brown bread with a slight bitterness and finally the sharp acidity.
Third Stage: The coffee beans are roasted to 219°C, this is a medium brown roast and the characteristics of the origin remain, yet the roast is becoming noticeable. The coffee is still brightly acidic but the natural sugars have started to slightly caramelise. These flavours evoke a nice tart berry and some smokiness.
Fourth Stage: Taking the beans up to 230°C, which is around the middle of the second crack. At this stage of the roast, the beans are dark brown, a light surface oil is noticeable and the acidity is almost completely muted. The coffee has a bittersweet, almost caramel-like flavour which makes you feel that this is an ideal stage of the roast for the first dessert. Unfortunately, a lot of the original characteristics are overcome by the roast at this point.
Fifth Stage: At 245°C the beans are quite black and have a shiny, oily glaze. The acidity is almost completely eliminated, and the coffee has distinct burnt tone with some of the remaining bittersweet taste.
VINEET BHATIA ZIYA MUMBAI INGREDIENTS PESHAWARI SAMOSA 100g Desiccated coconut 30g Ground almonds 30g Flaked almonds 30g Pistachio nuts (chopped) 30g Raisins (chopped) 80ml Unsweetened condensed milk 4tbsp Granulated sugar 1tsp Ground cardamom 8 Double-layered spring roll sheets (cut into squares) Plain flour glue to seal Vegetable oil to deep fry COFFEE SHRIKHAND 30g Instant coffee powder 1tsp Green cardamom powder 100g Caster sugar 250g Thick Greek yogurt ESPRESSO SAUCE 30g Coffee powder 80g Moscavado sugar
Chocolate samosa or ‘Chocomosa’ is my most copied signature dish and provided a new ‘avatar’ to the iconic samosa, catapulting it from a savoury to a sweet genre. Ever since, I have come across countless sweet variations of the samosa and have even been served the ‘Chocomosa’ in a couple of restaurants with the server oblivious to who it is being served. Peshawari samosa is another of my variation of a sweet samosa and is inspired from the Peshawari Naan – a bread that is more English than Indian. I encountered this sweet naan once I arrived in London and now have exported my own version to my restaurants. PESHAWARI SAMOSA In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix together to form the sweet filling. For the samosa, divide the cut out spring roll squares into two to form a triangle. Fold to form a cone, sealing the pasted straight edge with the flour glue. Then lift the cone with the tapered end at the bottom and fill with the sweet mix. Seal the open end with the flour glue, pressing the edges firmly together. The prepared samosa should be kept refrigerated for about 30 minutes or until you are ready to use. Deep fry in hot oil until golden, remove and place on absorbent paper to soak excess oil. Samosas can be optionally garnished with melted white and dark chocolate lines, piped through a fine tipped piping bag. COFFEE SHRIKHAND In a bowl add the instant coffee powder, green cardamom powder and caster sugar. Pour in 40ml of warm water, whisk well until the coffee and sugar dissolve in the water. Add the thick Greek yogurt to the coffee mixture and whisk until the coffee is well incorporated. Keep in refrigerator.
GARNISH Baby meringues and chocolate chips
ESPRESSO SAUCE Whisk all the ingredients in 20ml of warm water until a smooth glaze forms.
PLAIN FLOUR GLUE Take two or three tablespoons of plain white flour and add a few tablespoons of warm water to the flour. Keep stirring the mixture and adding more water if necessary. The consistency of this mixture should resemble glue, slightly runny but sticky.
PLATING Spoon the coffee shrikhand on a plate and top it with the coffee glaze. With the back of the spoon, smear the shrikhand and coffee glaze on the plate. Arrange the samosas, meringue and chocolate chips alternatively on the plate.
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After finishing a lunch meeting with Karim Merhi, the former Lavazza marketing manager, I took a few steps to leave when I turned around and said ‘why don’t we do a Lavazza book? A book about coffee and gastronomy’. At the time it was only a thought and Karim had to go back to Lavazza and its Top Gastronomy to sell the concept of a coffee book, creating an awareness of the versatility of Lavazza’s product offering. A book which would be a collective of the world’s best chefs highlighting coffee as an ingredient in their recipes. A few weeks later, Karim got back to me with a very positive reply: “Go ahead with it”. The challenge was to come up with a name for the book and to select the chefs. The first name which came to mind was Coffee & Cuisine and decided to stick with it until we hit upon the correct name for the book. The next step was the chefs and the best way to start was with the first words, I had one person in mind – Guy Savoy, the very best from France and La Liste’s Culinary Best. I sent an email and a few days later got a confirmation that Guy Savoy would write the first words and a few days received the foreword.
The next part of the process was choosing the chefs. My aim was to produce a book that would travel around the world and started with a dear friend Heinz Beck, who graciously said yes, the next was Konstantin Filippou, Grant MacPherson and Vineet Bhatia, three days later I received their materials. From then on we were on a roll, 39 of the world’s cutting-edge chefs and one sommelier, a collective of 35 Michelin stars from 6 continents, 23 countries right from Curitiba in Brazil with Manoella (Manu) Buffara to Sydney, Australia with Teresa Cutter, The Healthy Chef. To see how these chefs have conceived their recipes is an amazing thing. The way they incorporated and infused the ingredient was inspiring. I realised that we needed to have a Lavazza Experience. I spoke with a good friend Reif Othman and during one of our many collaborations, Reif had created a Lavazza dessert called ‘Playful’ but I thought why not have a whole playful menu. So from scratch, Reif created a five-course Lavazza Experience – a caviar course, cep mushrooms, wagyu, tartar and a playfull show with Lavazza beans. Still needed more and reached out to Michelin-starred Chef Paco Pérez who came up with two outstanding plates – Gnocchis de Boletus Edulis y Café Lavazza (Penny Bun and Lavazza Coffee Gnocchi) and a dessert - Ferrero & Lavazza. While chatting with James Oakley of Alibi, Cordis Hotel, Hong Kong, this young brilliant chef told me about his mother-in-law who forages for coffee in Java, Indonesia. It was an opportunity to do a menu starting with the green beans through four stages of roasting. It was a challenge and James got the beans flown in from Java and set out to do a roasting menu. He tried, he did it and he found great joy in his achievement. Well done James!
However, I still wasn’t happy. I wanted something more. I wanted to have Ferran and Albert Adrià in the book, and they did the introduction - Coffee Sapiens, a project that they had previously done with Lavazza. Still there was a touch missing to the book, so I reached out to a dear friend Baron Wolman, the first photographer of the Rolling Stone Magazine, he sent me a beautiful poem which read “I did it for you my friend”. Baron Wolman saw the music. His iconic music photography included shots on-stage with Jimi Hendrix, backstage with the Rolling Stones, and in front of the stage with Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. Grace Slick and the Grateful Dead performed for the camera in his studio. Weeks later, over a lunch meeting, Karim asked me if I had a name for the book, and from the top of my head I said how does ‘Coffee Absolute Gastronomy’ sound? He liked it and now the book had an official name. We worked on several types of fonts and in the end Karim got the right font. This book is all about quality. The way it was created with the warmth of the human touch. It’s not a commercial book, it’s a very personal labour of love and friendship. I am grateful to Lavazza for having faith in me and thankful to everyone who has contributed to this book especially the Top Gastronomy Team of Lavazza and Riccardo Codognola, Lavazza, Head of WEMEA Marketing and his team. I like to thank these brilliant culinary professionals – Guy Savoy, Ferran Adrià, Albert Adrià, Heinz Beck, Annie Féolde, Paco Pérez, Vineet Bhatia, Yoshihiro Narisawa, Onno Kokmeijer, Arjan Speelman, Konstantin Filippou, David Toutain, Silvia Baracchi, Sam Aisbett, Mikael Svensson, Filip Langhoff, Alfredo Russo, Manoella Buffara, Grant MacPherson, Reif Othman, Teresa Cutter, Joe Barza, Paco Morales, Uroš Štefelin, Konstantin Ivlev, Balazs Enzsol, Constant Cheung, Colin Clague, Daniel Negreira, Veronica Canha-Hibbert, James Knight-Pacheco, Ilias Kokoroskos, Francesco Guarracino, Gianluca Renzi, Elizabeth Stevenson-Hocks, Gaël Claviere, Francesco Acquaviva, James Oakley, Francesco Nunziata, Simone Cantafio, José Luis Vicente Gómez, Carmine Amarante and Sarah Belanger. The photographers who allowed me to visualise the recipes, my editors for their eagle eyes and my creative team for making this book a thing of beauty. Tim Calladine, Publishing Director and his team at ITP who despite having to deal with all of my changes, have once again proven why they are the authority in publishing in the Middle East region. I’d like to also thank Maria Aquino, IZZY, Carine Polito, Sílvia Fdez, Lluis Garcia of elBulli Foundation, Noura Barza, Manuela Filippou, Rebeca López, Annette Glover, Rashima Bhatia, Firas Fawaz, Rosie Van Der Meer and Marcela Klofutar. To everyone who went above and beyond, without expecting anything in return, to make this endeavour everything I hoped it would be, thank you. If it hadn’t been for that fateful lunch, this book wouldn’t exist. Merci Karim.
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A passion for the finer things in life a desire to live within the greatest expression of pleasure Lavazza coffee and gastronomy! Flavel Monteiro
ISBN 978-9948-38-628-5
9 789948 386285