If you still haven’t been to eat at The Kitchen at Maison, you need to make it a priority. The new menu is some kind of magic with chef Arno Janse van Rensburg really letting his skill and creativity come to the fore. Each dish is designed with availability in mind, where the seasons determine what ends up on the plate. Everything is locally sourced and of the highest quality. Chef Arno’s food needs no introduction, forming an important part of Cape Town’s incredible dining scene. With the year drawing to a close, there’s never been a better time to take some time out to spoil yourself. Choose a number of dishes to create your own unique tasting menu or go all out and order every dish. You won’t be sorry if you do – everything is simply stupendous.
We managed to chat to Arno about his inspiration and got hold of this closely guarded recipe.
Crush: What was the inspiration behind the dish?
Arno: We were working on more vegetable centric dishes, trying to shift the focus from protein portions to vegetal portions by using smaller components of animal in some of the dishes.
Crush: Nettle is an unusual ingredient, are you foraging for this yourself?
Arno: Yes, we utilize quite a few ingredients from our immediate surroundings.
Crush: What sort of flavour profile does it bring to the dish?
Arno: It brings a grassy and fresh profile to the dish. Nettle comes out quite a bright green color once it has been blanched and blended.
Serves: 4
Difficulty: some effort
Prep time: 20 minutes plus 2 days curing time
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes plus overnight dehydration time
CURED EGG YOLKS
2 eggs
8 Tbsp (120 ml) salt
4 Tbsp (60 ml) brown sugar
CHICKEN SKIN
500 g chicken skin
BABY POTATOES
350 g baby potatoes
2 C (500 ml) duck fat (See note)
salt
black pepper
NETTLE PURÉE
200 g nettles
45 ml canola oil
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp (35 ml) water
CURED EGG YOLKS
Start the egg yolks 3 days before you wish to serve this dish.
Separate the eggs and keep the yolks intact. You won’t need the egg whites in this dish so use them in another recipe or store them in the freezer until you need them.
Mix together the salt and brown sugar. Spread out half of the salt mixture over the base of a small roasting tray. Using the back of a tablespoon, create 4 depressions in the salt mixture, spacing evenly. Carefully place an egg yolk in each depression. Gently sprinkle remaining salt mixture over yolks and tightly wrap dish with plastic wrap. Cure in the fridge for two days, or until semi-firm but still bright and translucent.
When the eggs are cured, preheat the oven to about 65 °C and set a cooling rack or trivet within a roasting tray and spray with non-stick spray.
Remove the egg yolks from the salt cure mix and gently brush off the excess salt. Very, very carefully rinse under cold water to ensure that there is no remaining salt and softly pat dry with paper towel. Place in the oven on a trivet or cooling rack set over a roasting pan and allow to dehydrate overnight until the texture of a firm, dry cheese. Place in an airtight container until ready to use.
CHICKEN SKIN
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
You will need 2 equal sized roasting sheets. Line one with parchment paper. Place the chicken skin on the paper ensuring that it is completely smooth and flat. Cover the skin with another sheet of parchment paper and then the second roasting tray. Roast for 7 minutes to render out the skin. Lower the temperature to about 100 °C and leave to dehydrate overnight.
BABY POTATOES
Peel the baby potatoes and trim down to even, marble-sized balls. Vacuum seal with the duck fat, salt and a crack of black pepper. Sous vide at 84 °C for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through but not falling apart. If you don’t have a sous vide machine, cook the potatoes in the duck fat in a roasting tray covered with foil at 100 °C for at least an hour. When cooked through, gently remove the potatoes from the duck fat.
NETTLE PURÉE
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and quickly blanch the nettles for about 30 seconds. Refresh in a bowl of ice cold water and drain well. Roughly chop the nettles, then place in a food processor or a jug with a hand blender. Add the oil and the water and blend to form a smooth purée. Season to taste. Set aside until ready to serve.
TO SERVE
Ensure that the potatoes are warmed through by carefully reheating in the oven or in a saucepan. Remove from the pan, divide between 4 plates and drizzle with the nettle purée. Rest shards of the chicken skin against the potatoes and grate about half of a cured egg over each plate.
Note: you can find duck fat at specialist ingredient stores such Chef’s Warehouse or at Woolworths.
To make a reservation for this special new menu, call 021 876 2116 or visit the website for online bookings.
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