When the sea gets to Lombardy …
We are in Origgio (Varese) where we discover The Box, a container-structure that reserves us an itinerary of beauty and taste. Here the products of the sea, those from the garden, the essential extra virgin olive oil, the passion for art and vintage cars meet and coexist. Let’s find out together.
The Box hosts a huge space dedicated to historic cars, their workshop and restoration. Just think that vintage car carriages arrive from all over the world, often real wrecks that the experience of the tecnicins of Valvole In Testa revives to bring them to new life, and what splendors …
At the helm of Olio is Andrea Marinelli, whom I met for a nice interview.
Hello Andrea, My article talks about the most ‘trendy’ fish dishes for Summer 2022 …Olio, ristorante di pesce con orto … seem to have come to the right place! Of course, we rely on eight excellent suppliers, among which Morenpesca stands out. On the menu you will find a rich selection of oysters, the exquisite morone, Santa Margherita scampi, the oiccole and intense mud mullets that I use in fried food and those of rock in the gnocchi with porcini mushrooms.
Among your favorite fish?
I love the Hamachi Japanese amberjack that I serve with watermelon in osmosis and tzatziki, I have a weakness for the morone that I accompany with crème friache and three different consistencies with beetroot, I love cuttlefish, both roasted with marinated aubergine, black tea and yogurt, both in the super summer version in tartare, cow’s milk stracciatella and fig leaves drssing.
Speaking of summer, what are your customers’ favorites?
Undoubtedly the raw is the most appreciated, the scallop is a trendy mollusc, we often serve it raw or seared. Oysters are also in high demand. we offer them plain, served with the juice of lemons from our garden and vinegar scallions in the form of small pearls.
The fried fish dish ‘Mare e Orto’ has always been a protagonist of the Olio menu. A dish that is the result of a long research, on molluscs and crustaceans, studying the cooking times, the batter, the oil, which fish to use.
We opted for the white Mediterranean prawns, squid, Irish cod, moeche di Chioggia. At the customer’s pleasure, a spray with fresh lemon juice from our garden and, since we have lobster and red prawns on the menu, we use the corals inside the heads to make mayonnaise. No waste.
Can you tell me about your oil?
The green gold we are inspired by is that of Olearia Caldera del Lago di Garda.
Two varieties: Casaliva especially for raw fish and Gran Cuvèe more full-bodied to complete other preparations.
I love the sea. Silvia, my wife, is from Calabria, so we dedicate almost every summer to discovering this region. Beautiful places such as Diamante, the Costa dei Cedri, Tropea Locri, the southern and the Ionian side. The gastronomic culture is also extraordinary, I do not deny that I often let myself be influenced by the local cuisine and then re-elaborate it in my own way.
Well, the squid stuffed with bread and mortadella with cacioricotta and tomato, the ‘almost’ caprese of scampi with a ‘fake’ tomato that hides a tomato paste inside, decorated with buffalo mozzarella ice cream …
What a Hollywood caprese! Other ‘fashionable’ fish?
Sea urchins, considered aphrodisiacs … in my plate of Ferrigni fusilli, ink and cuttlefish lard of which I wanted to balance the flavor with a coconut milk cream.I also love the Adriatic Sea which I wanted to remember with fresh pasta buttons stuffed with mantis shrimp, a dish that recalls the traditional canonocchie, parsley and lemon.
Is there a fish that you prefer to eat if cooked by another person?
Well, maybe not with fish, but … Silvia’s parmigiana … makes me move.
Unattainable!
wHAT ABOUT A ‘TRULY SUMMER ‘ecipe … can you give us one ?
Of course, it can be an ideal start to lunch, perhaps with a glass of champagne: an oyster with celery, cucumber and green apple, a bite that tastes of sea, pleasure and holidays!
OSTRICA CBT (cottura bassa temperatura) SEDANO, CETRIOLO E MELA VERDE
Doses for 4 people
4 Oysters (Chef recommends Claire’s Special or Claire’s Fine)
INGREDIENTS
for the centrifuge:
35 gr green apple
7 gr celery
5 gr of celery leaves
8 gr cucumber
2.5 g of ginger
7 gr lemon pulp
5 gr lime pulp
for the garnish:
Apple blacksmith grandmother
Nepitella
Black pepper
PREPARATION
for the oysters:
vacuum-pack the oysters closed in their shells in a solution of water and balances (500g of water, 7.5g of balances)
Cook in a steam oven at 58 degrees for 30 minutes and quickly cool the bag in water and ice
for the centrifuge
Put all the ingredients in a cold extractor and filter.
Open the oysters with the special tool. Keep the bottom shell.
In a deep dish, place a tablespoon of coarse salt which will serve as a support base for the oyster shell. Insert the vacuum-packed oyster and cover with the centrifuge.
Finish with green apple cubes, garnish with catmint leaves and minced black pepper
As an easier alternative, the Chef suggests using the oyster raw or lightly seared in a non-stick pan on both sides for a few seconds.
