Within an opulent dining room in the heart of Barcelona, chefs Carme Ruscalleda and Raül Balam serve an extraordinary selection of dishes at their two-Michlin-starred restaurant Moments. The Les Dîners de Gala-themed tasting menu takes inspiration from Salvador Dalí’s cookbook while incorporating standout Catalan flavours and produce. One of the stellar creations is the quail egg and caviar tartlet, which the duo have shared the recipe for below…
For the Tartlet Shell
Ingredients
- brick pastry dough
- olive oil
- salt
Method
- Line a tartlet tin with a thin layer of brick pastry.
- Drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt.
- Place another mould ontop and bake in the oven until crisp and golden brown.
For the Quail Eggs
Ingredients
- 3 quail eggs
Method
- Steam the eggs at 65ºC for 25 minutes.
- Remove from heat but keep the shell on – only peel the shell off just before service.
For the Leek Cream
Ingredients
- 50g leek
- 500g cream
- 20g soy sauce
- 20g chopped chives
- oil
- salt
- black and white pepper
Method
- Cut the white part of the leek into a brunoise.
- Confit the leek with salt and pepper until soft.
- Once the confit is done, add the cream and reduce it by half. Add a pinch of white pepper but not any salt.
- Once reduced by half, add the soy sauce, and cook for 2 minutes.
- Once cool, blend and pass through a sieve. Taste and season with salt if necessary.
- Add the chopped chives.
To Plate
Ingredients
- tarlet shell
- 3 quail eggs
- leek cream
- chervil
Riofrío caviar
Method
- On the base of the tartlet, put the cream.
- Place three beautifully laid quail eggs on top.
- Place three quenelles of 10 gr of Riofrío caviar next to the eggs.
- Garnish with sprigs of beautifully placed chervil.
Recipe courtesy of Carme Ruscalleda and Raül Balam of Moments restaurant at Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona