What The Chefs Eat: Papaya, Shrimp And Pickled Lotus Root Salad

2023 Author: Amber Richards | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 00:24

A photo: Archive of press services

How many times a day and what do you eat yourself?

Three to four times a day when it comes to weekends. It seems to me that when I'm at home, I eat something all day. But on weekdays - once, because at work all the time I have to try something, and nothing else fits into me. Therefore, I try to have a good and correct breakfast - I eat cottage cheese or porridge, I drink tea with honey and nuts. Honey and nuts are always on our table. But I especially love the cheesecakes that my wife prepares, they are even better than mine, although mine, I will not be modest, are excellent. I put my daughter on my knees and we eat together. But dinner, frankly, is optional. When I turned 28, I began to notice that if you eat at night, you don't sleep well.

How do you feel about diets, did you have to go on a diet and with which diets are the dishes you cook compatible with?

I confess that in my youth I loved to hang out, and at some point I noticed all the signs of premature aging of the body. And at this moment I grabbed the diet as a lifeline. I sat on a kefir diet, a chicken diet, a vegetable diet. Then I decided to limit myself to only steamed vegetables, and then I wanted to start eating raw. And then I realized that I was starting to go crazy. Stir avocado with nuts, pour lemon juice, sprout wheat. Fortunately, I didn't last long. It was not diet that helped, but normal timely nutrition and sports. Since then, I have been ambivalent about diets. The main thing is that they do not harm your health.

How do you feel about GMO foods, fat-free foods, fortified with vitamins - is this a marketing ploy or does it make sense?

GMO foods are unacceptable to me, but I don't believe in low-fat foods. This is pure marketing aimed at making money.

As well as foods fortified with vitamins. A drink that lists a string of vitamins and minerals on the label cannot be cheaper than a glass of regular freshly squeezed juice. Therefore, I prefer to drink fresh.

Who would you like to feed?

The whole world! And if you look at things more realistically, then, first of all, those who have no idea about cooking, and those who, due to their life circumstances, will never be able to taste some interesting dishes.

What would you like to try yourself?

My dream is to try the dishes of all the best chefs on the planet! My dream is to find out products that I have not tried yet. I want to discover new ingredients that have a unique ability to combine the flavors of other products, to balance them, as, for example, olive oil can do.

What is your favorite food?

I don't have a favorite food. More precisely, I have a practical week - a new favorite dish, depending on what menu I am working on, what new products and combinations of tastes I have recently discovered for myself. In the fall, I ate ceviche from dorado with medlar almost every day - before I could not even imagine all the advantages and hidden possibilities of medlar. Then I switched to rice noodles with beef and celery - I like the harmony of complex sauces that combine completely different tastes, and I also tasted Chinese celery, thin, without the characteristic celery bitterness.

On the next page: products undeservedly forgotten by the hostesses, but very important for any chef

Undeservedly forgotten products according to Ilya Zakharov, the chef of the Zodiac gastronomic bistro

Feijoa

Feijoa relatively recently came to the attention of culinary specialists. This plant began to be cultivated just a hundred years ago in Brazil. Its name, whatever associations it may evoke in you, is just the name of the Brazilian naturalist Joanie de Silva Feijo. Today, an exotic berry that tastes like pineapple and strawberry (or pineapple and guava) at the same time is grown wherever the climate permits. Feijoa is eaten raw, as well as jams and all sorts of drinks are made from it. But in its raw form, it is more useful. Feijoa is a vegetable record holder for iodine content, rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.

Goat cheese

A worthy alternative for people who are allergic to cow's milk products. In terms of the content of phosphorus, magnesium and selenium, goat cheese even surpasses cow's. But the main thing here is not the benefit. The main thing is taste and color. A white, aromatic slice with a delicate creamy (fresh cheese) or sharp specific (aged cheese) taste is the best bait for a gourmet.

Medlar

Medlar (usually a Japanese medlar) is too delicate for export. But nevertheless, fruits with a large stone, pleasant to the taste, can be found on the market during the season. This berry is low in calories (about 52 kcal per 100 g) and is closest to an apple in its chemical composition. But the taste is much more interesting - a cross between guava and passion fruit.

Wheat germ

First, wheat germ promotes fast saturation. Secondly, their consumption increases immunity, the level of hemoglobin in the blood, improves the condition of nails, skin and hair and, ultimately, helps to diversify the diet. The main thing is not to miss the time. If the grains are overexposed (sprouts larger than 2-3 mm), they can become poisonous.

Jerusalem artichoke

He is an "earthen pear". He is the "Jerusalem artichoke". The tubers of the plant are eaten, which taste like cabbage stump or turnip. From Jerusalem artichoke, what is not prepared. It is fried, boiled, dried to the state of chips, made from it a surrogate for coffee and alcohol.

Papaya salad with shrimps and pickled lotus root

A photo: Archive of press services

You will need:

Shrimps (size 16/20) - 150 g
Papaya - 250 g
Roasted cashews - 10 g
Sweet chili sauce - 90 g
Fresh mint - 2 sprigs
Pickled lotus root - 30 g
Watercress - 2 sprigs
Salt, pepper to taste

Peel and cut papaya into slices. Chop the pickled lotus root thinly.
Peel the shrimp and remove the intestine. Boil in salted water for one minute.
Mix papaya and lotus root with shrimp and sweet chili sauce, season with salt and pepper.
Place the salad in a deep bowl and sprinkle with roasted cashews on top. Garnish with mint and watercress.