Martin Berasategui’s Warm Pickled Oyster

For the Oysters

Ingredients

• No 1 Sorlut Oysters (1 per person)

Method

1. Open the oysters carefully without breaking them. Place them in a bowl.
2. Strain the water from the shell through a sieve.
3. Wash oysters in the water.

For the Cucumber Sake

Ingredients

• 250g cucumber juice
• 100g Sake
• 45g Mirin
• 30 mint leaves
• 20g sugar
• 45g lime juice
• 1 sheet gelatine

Method

1. Blend the cucumber with the skin, and all other ingredients except the lime juice.
2. Combine in a processor and marinate for 15 minutes.
3. Strain through a fine sieve.
4. Add the lime juice and mix well.
5. Season to taste.
6. Put in the freezer to freeze, stirring every 5 minutes to maintain a bright green slush.

For the Light Escabeche Marinade

Ingredients

• 1 bulb garlic
• 3 medium onions
• 3 carrots
• 3 shallots
• 2 stalks celery
• 250g manzanilla wine
• 250g white wine
• 600g sherry vinegar
• 1.5 litre ham stock
• 250g olive oil
• thyme
• rosemary

Method

1. Saute the vegetables starting with the garlic in oil over low temperature.
2. Once all the vegetables are lightly cooked, add the manzanilla wine and white wine and reduce to almost dry.
3. Then add the vinegar and boil for 15 minutes to remove the intensity of the vinegar until you are left with a nice marinade.
4. Then add the ham stock and reduce by half.
5. Once the marinade is ready, pass it through a fine sieve.
6. Reserve the vegetables to one side and the marinade broth on another.
7. Take one part of broth/escabeche (about 150 grams) and add it to all the vegetables in a processor and puree until you achieve a fine smooth creamy texture.
8. Save the rest of the broth to warm the oysters with.
9. If necessary add some more broth and xanthan to the creamy mixture.

Ham Stock

Ingredients

• 400g water
• 150g small potatoes
• 300g ham
• 4g garlic
• 1 small onion

Method

1. Together in a saucepan add the water, potatoes, diced ham, garlic and onion.
2. Cook for 1 hour at low heat, semi covered so as to not evaporate too much.

For the Pickled Shallots

Ingredients

• 100g apple cider vinegar
• 70g acacia honey
• 60g mineral water
• 2g ground black pepper
• 2g fresh thyme
• 50g sliced shallots

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients except the shallots and place on the heat.
2. Once hot, add the shallots and let them cook on low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Cover with baking paper and put inside the refrigerator for 12 hours.

For the Sea Pearls

Ingredients

• 160g oyster water
• 25g mineral water
• 5g lemon juice
• 3g sodium gluconate
• 0.7g silver powder SOSA
• 1g xanthan gum

Method

1. Combine  sea water, mineral water, lemon juice, gluco silver powder and xanthan.
2. Mix well in a processor until completely combined.
3. Take the mixture into a syringe and remove the air 3 times.
4. Using the syringe drop little “pearls” from a height of about 5cm into the alginate bath.
5. Leave in the bath for 1 minute and refresh in cold water.

For the Alginate Bath

Ingredients

• 1 litre water
• 4g alginate

Method

1. Combine the water with alginate.
2. Let stand for at least 2 hours.

For the Spicy Apple Foam

Ingredients

• 200g spicy syrup
• 400g granny smith apple puree
• 6.5g gelatine

Method

1. Heat a pot with the spicy syrup.
2. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat and add the dissolved gelatin.
4. Add the liquid from apples to the mixture and place in a whipping siphon; cream gun.
5. Close the siphon and introduce two loads of gas.
6. Keep the food inside the refrigerator.

For the Spicy Syrup

Ingredients

• 500g water
• 150g sugar
• 4 fresh peppers
• 100g Txakoli

Method

1. Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan. Infuse with fresh chilies, breaking one of them.
2. Once infused drain and add the Txakoli.
3. Reserve.

To Finish

1. Once the oysters are open and clean, arm escabeche to 70 degrees.
2. Remove from heat and add oysters for 45 seconds.
3. Plate on the shell.
4. Top with escabeche (aprox 70 degrees).
5. Add cucumber sake, pickled shallot, apple foam.

Recipe courtesy of Martín Berasategui.