Sylvestre Wahid’s Cauliflower with Curry Leaves, Goji Berries, Fresh Horseradish & Frozen Milk

For 4 Servings

For the Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 cauliflower head
• 50ml white vinegar
• 300ml olive oil
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 clove of garlic
• 10 black peppercorns
• 10 curry leaves
• 10g pink Himalayan salt
• 10g yellow curry powder
• 500ml soy milk
• 50g fresh butter

Method:

1. Wash the cauliflower and then slice it into 4 beautiful slices of 3cm thickness each. Set them aside.
2. Separate the remainder of the cauliflower’s tops gently, ensuring that you do not damage their shape. Set them aside.
3. Arrange the beautifully sliced cauliflower into a vacuum cooking bag, and add the curry leaves, Himalayan salt, yellow curry powder, soy milk, fresh butter and seal.
4. Cook the bagged cauliflower slices in a steam oven* at 90 ° C for 35 to 40 minutes. At the end of the cooking, immerse the bagged cauliflower in ice-water and reserve it in the fridge for 1 hour.
5. Once they have cooled, open the bags and collect the cooking juice on a plate about 5 cm deep and place in the freezer for 3 hours.
6. Once the liquid is perfectly frozen, scrape it with a fork to obtain a frost of granite texture. Keep frozen until needed.
7. In a large saucepan, heat the white vinegar with the olive oil, thyme, rosemary and garlic, then add the black peppercorns.
8. Bring to liquid to a boil, then add the cauliflower tops and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until cooked. Keep warm in the liquid until ready to serve.

*Chef’s trick: If you do not have a steam oven, cook the cauliflower for 35 min over low heat in a saucepan by immersing completely in the prepared liquid until is has cooked completely – it should be soft.

For the Goji Berry Purée

Ingredients:

• 500ml water
• 200g dried goji berries

Method:

1. Place the water in a saucepan and then add the goji berries.
2. Bring it to a simmer and allow the berries to rehydrate for about 5 minutes to rehydrate.
3. Drain the liquid from the berries reserve it. Blend 3 quarters of the berries to form a smooth purée. Keep the last quarter of berries for garnish.

For the Black Garlic Purée

Ingredients:

• 100g fermented black garlic
• Olive oil

Method:

1. Peel the fermented black garlic and pass it through the sieve to purée it.
2. Whisk the purée up with some olive oil until it forms a smooth consistency.

To Finish

Ingredients:

• 50g fresh horseradish
• Candied lemon rectangles
• 4 nasturtium leaves
• Coriander cress
• Broccoli cress
• 5g dried mango powder
• Olive Oil

Method:

1. Place the cauliflower slices in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and brown them lightly on both sides.
2. Using a brush, lacquer the slices, then caramelize a few minutes in the oven in grill mode.
3. Arrange them on plates and grate the horseradish with a Microplane® grater over them.
4. Place 1 spoonful of goji berry purée and 1 spoonful of black garlic
   purée on the plate.
5. Break apart the candied lemon rectangles and sprinkle the pieces on the cauliflower slices.
6. Place the cauliflower tops and the quarter of goji berries filled with reserved juice, then sprinkle with the cress herbs.
7. Just before serving, sprinkle over the the dried mango powder and add a dash of olive oil.
8. Present the milk frost in a separate dish.

Recipe Courtesy of Sylvestre Wahid of 2 Michelin-starred Restaurant Sylvestre Wahid at Hotel Thoumieux in Paris.

Sylvestre Wahid Chef Feature.