Alfredo was living in London for three years and always in Shoreditch. Rivington, Pitfield, Chesire and at the moment he is living in Hackney Road. He works as a chef de Partie at Tramontana (Old Street square Curtain Road), it’s a recently opened tapas bar. Also he worked in many Shoreditch restaurants : Cargo, Hoxton Square, Electricity Showrooms just to name a few…
Part 2 – Fresh Cheessie Toast
Today I bring you a toast dish that is prepared in under fifteen minutes but has an unforgettable flavour. My great friend Tomi, who I have known half my life, showed me this dish on one of his trips to London. It works with any kind of goat’s cheese but I especially recommend a trip to Androuet, located on one flank of Spitalfields Market, to enjoy one of the best cheese shops in London. Another important aspect is the caramel, you can use shop bought caramel but it is not the same as making it yourself. It leaves an incredible aroma around the whole house for a few hours and of course the flavour is light years ahead of the ready to use variety. If you don’t know how to make caramel, Youtube is your answer.
Ingredients (2 people):
1 Baguette
150g goat cheese
50ml clotted cream or 25ml double cream+25ml melted butter and mixed
1 big orange
8-10 pieces crushed hazelnuts
Small mint leaves for decoration
Salt & Pepper
Side salad
Bunch of frisse
Garlic
Olive Oil
10-15 Pomegranate grains
Caramel
50g Demerara sugar
Bit of water to help
Method of preparation:
1. Cut the baguette diagonally to obtain long, thin slices. Toast.
2. In a bowl mix the cheese with the clotted cream. Pepper to taste. Place in the fridge for 10 min.
3. On the toasted bread, using the reverse of a spoon as a spatula, make three waves of the mix on each slice of toast to give the dish some height. If you find this complicated (it really isn’t) you can spread it with a butter knife as normal.
4. Peel an orange, removing all the white skin. Remove the top and bottom bases. Run the knife along the edge of each segment and remove cleanly. We will need three segments per slice of toast.
5. Caramel. Melt the sugar on a slow heat until it starts to turn a hazelnut colour. You can add a couple of spoonfuls of water to help the process it the mix is too consistent. Set aside for a few minutes. The perfect consistency is when the caramel slowly falls off a fork, with a similar texture to that of honey.
6. Side salad. Chop garlic very thin. Add the pomegranate, salt and oil in a bowl. This will act as the vinaigrette of the salad. At the time of serving, add the frisse and stir lightly.
7. Serving. Once the mix has been spread on the toast, place a segment of orange at the base of each wave of cheese. On baking paper, and with the help of a fork, drizzle the caramel on to the toast. Place the crushed hazelnuts on top, a few mint leaves for decoration and the salad to one side, giving the dish a little bit of height. A sure-fire hit!
