During this complex year, we have identified the kitchen as one of the most important means of relief.
As in streetwear, changes and reinterpretations are sometimes criticized, but thanks to a new generation of chefs and increasingly curious audience, culinary innovation has made rapid steps forward and has been received with increasingly enthusiasm.
Hence the idea of our new "Spago e Spaghetti" format, recounting the peculiarities of new chefs and their experimentation, in a journey between fine dining and street food.
Why spaghetti? Our favorite type of folksy pasta, the one that has always linked different cultures via a string!
Our first guest is Sarah Cicolini, owner of Santo Palato restaurant in Rome. She took us to her kitchen and showed us the creation of an unusual and very traditional Roman dish. Scroll down and, on the side, you will find the recipe!
Thanks to @coffeeandlucas
SERVES 4 INGREDIENTS:
Veal sweetbreads: 500G
a bunch of agretti
Clarified butter: 1800 g.
Salt, pepper and oil to taste
Unpeeled garlic
Bay leaves: 4
Untreated lemon: 1
Maldon salt or Cervia’s salt to taste
Optional: meat gravy
Bring to a boil two pots with water, one is for the agretti and has to be slightly salted. The other one is to blanch the sweetbreads, and a bit of white wine vinegar is needed. Remove the hardest parts of the agretti. Wash them thoroughly and proceed with the cooking.
The agretti have to be crunchy. For this reason, after four minutes, let them cool down into a bowl filled up with cold water. Take the sweetbreads and plunge them into boiling water (4/5 minutes are enough). After that, remove the tissue covering the sweetbreads by hand.
Take a pan (an iron pan is desirable, otherwise you can also use an aluminum pan, not a non-stick one). Put the garlic, the bay leaves and the clarified butter into the pan, then turn the stove on. Dry the sweetbreads with absorbing paper and put them into the pan. Start the cooking by melting the sweetbreads with the butter. Flip the sweetbread to the other side and keep cooking. In the meantime, heat the gravy up into a small pot. Remove the sweetbread from the pan and, if necessary, dry it carefully
Dress the agretti with a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper. If you wish, you can also add some lemon slices among the agretti. Place the sweetbreads at the center of the dish and the agretti alongside. Pour a spoon of gravy on the sweetbreads and finish the dish with a pinch of Maldon salt (or Cervia’s salt).
