by Quique Dacosta
Looking at the dish above – a skilful creation by master of Spanish cuisine, Quique Dacosta, who heads up the kitchen at his eponomously named restaurant in Spain – it’s no wonder that the creator began his education in the culinary age at the tender age of 14.
For him, food has turned into an obsession; an obsession which has earned him and his restaurant numerous prestigious culinary accolades, including the highest amount of Michelin stars a restaurant can receive, along with a place on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
If you’re looking to impress your guests this Christmas, forget the tinsel… instead, serve up Quique’s chicken and golden egg dish from the recipe below, which is lavishly garnished in lashings of gold leaf. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Chicken and porcini stock
250g pig’s feet
500g oxtail, chopped and fried
1/4 beef shank
1kg free range hen
750g free range chicken
1 ham hock scraped with a brush
500g chickpeas, soaked
500g white bones from beef knees
10l water
750g porcini, caramelized
Salt
0.5g gold powder
0.5g freeze-dried coffee
Gold Leaf
2.5g powdered aloe vera
1g gold powder
Mild olive oil
Gold acrylic
1l water
250g Senia rice
7g Himalayan crystal salt
2gStevia rebaudianajuice
5g gold powder
Gold chickpeas
170g tapioca starch
1l water from cooking chickpeas
20g salt
3g gold powder
Free range young chicken egg
4 eggs (about 40 g each)
salt flakes
freeze-dried coffee
Method
Chicken and porcini stock
Place all of the ingredients, except the gold powder and coffee in a pot. Bring to a boil and skim. Lower the temperature and keep over a low heat for 6 hours. Steep the mixture away from heat for at least 2 hours, then strain through a fine sieve. This should yield 7.5 litres of optimal stock. Salt to taste, clarify and set aside. Allow 35g of this stock per serving. Just before serving, mix in the gold powder and freeze-dried coffee.Gold leaf
Combine the two powders. Pour a few drops of olive oil onto a baking sheet and spread using a paper towel. Dust with the aloe vera and gold mixture and place in a steam oven for 2 minutes at a temperature of 95C. Remove the sheet from the oven, air it out and allow to sit for a few moments. Very carefully peel off the layer of gold. Keep in a cool, dry place until service.Gold acrylic
Cook all of the ingredients except the gold powder for 25 minutes. Once cooked, strain and add the gold. Using a brush, paint the centre of a very hot plate so that it dries as quickly as possible.Gold chickpeas
Cook the tapioca in salted water for 15 minutes. Blend, strain and while still hot, mix with the gold powder. Transfer to a syringe and refrigerate for 6 hours.
Drip pearls of the mixture onto a silicone sheet and bake with the vent open at 120C for 1 hour. It is important not to open the oven so that the pearls do not lose volume; they tend to swell and acquire a very subtle crunch that withstands the moisture of the accompanying stock.
Free range young chicken egg
Cook the eggs at 62C for 40 minutes. Leave them to rest and peel. Salt to taste and lightly dust with the coffee.To serve
On the hot deep plate painted with gold, place the egg. Arrange sheets of gold paper over the egg and three gold chickpeas on the plate.
Serve the stock at 80C without touching the gold leaf so that it does not lose its texture.