Chef Jerome Lanmark Calayag is the S.Pellegrino Young Chef winner for the UK & North Europe Region.
Sourdough, Savoy Cabbage and Browned Butter
Ingredients
Sourdough: 400g
Einkorn flour: 50%
White flour: 50%
Hydration: 100%
Salt: 12 g
Caster sugar: 20 g
Butter
Savoy cabbage: 400 g
Cream: 300 g
Shallots: 2 small
Lemon juice: 30 g
Salt
Butter: 70 g
Lemons: 1
Rapeseed oil: 100 g
Fresh onion greens: 30 g
Chives: 20 g
Baby spinach: 20 g
Left over onion and herbs
Dill
Chives flowers
Jerome Lanmark Calayag shares his recipe for a versatile vegetarian dish featuring sourdough and seasonal Savoy cabbage. It's the ideal starter for a three-course dinner for guests or an at-home dinner date.
Calayag's inspiration for the dish came about after seeing savoy cabbage grown in the fields local to him in Sweden, boasting a far better environmental footprint than greenhouse grown cabbages. He introduced the sourdough element because it's something that he always has freshly-baked at home. "I love sourdough because of the health benefits and its versatility. I use it to make pancakes, seed crackers, bread and more. I never buy bread from the store anymore, I bake artisan sourdough loaves instead," he says.
Calayag recommends everyone give this dish a go at home - not only is it simple to make, it also shows how easy it is to make delicious food out of simple seasonal produce. The dish can also be adapted to what's in season wherever you live, like adding mushrooms, and making the flavours local to you.
Find out how to make Calayag's delicious vegetarian starter in the step-by-step instructions below:
Savoy cabbage in cream
Reduce the cream until there's around half left.
Finely chop shallots and add to the cream.
Pick the savoy cabbage leaves and slice out the root and save it for something else, like broth.
Cut the cabbage leaves into 3mm wide strips.
Add the savoy cabbage and cook until perfectly cooked.
Add salt and lemon juice to taste.
Browned butter
Heat up butter in a saucepan on medium high heat while mixing with a whisk every minute or so until it's golden brown and smells sweet and nutty.
Lemon fillets
Peel a lemon, cut out the pulp, take out the seeds and slice into small pieces.
Onion and herb oil
In a saucepan, heat rapeseed oil, or any other neutral oil, to 85°C-95°C.
In a blender, blend the oil, onions, chives and baby spinach (ideally leftovers and or trimmings) for 3 minutes.
Strain with a chinois or a fine sieve.
Pan-fried sourdough
If you don’t already have a sourdough at home, you can go to your local bakery and ask for a little.
Add salt and sugar to the sourdough.
Preheat a non-stick pan or a cast-iron pan.
Add butter and fry the sourdough, just like pancake but until dark brown and crispy.
Chef tips: A teaspoon of sourdough would be enough and then you just feed It with equal parts of flour and water. If you choose to start your own sourdough, mix equal parts of good quality flour and water, discard about 80% of it and add equal parts flour and water again. Repeat for seven days or until it starts to bubble and rise while keeping it in room temperature.
Plating
In a serving pan, add the creamed savoy cabbage.
Scatter the lemon fillets on the cabbage.
Garnish with the herbs and flowers.
Drizzle a little bit of onion and herb oil.
Serve the pan-fried sourdoughs and browned butter on the side.
Put the pan-fried sourdough on a plate.
Add the creamed savoy cabbage on top.
Scatter the lemon fillets on top of the creamed cabbage.
Garnish with the herbs and flowers.
Drizzle a little bit of onion and herb oil.
Finish the dish with a spoonful of browned butter in front of your guests to let them really enjoy the aromas of the browned butter.