Our quest is for diverse, indigenous cuisine brought by the many ethnic people to St. Maarten from all over the world. We have done well and covered many ethnic groups – not all yet by any means – we have had some input about wines; we have covered high-days and holidays and we have looked at individual foods, resolutions and certain celebrations.
Restaurants competing for #1
This year, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony took place at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. It is the first time that this ceremony has been held outside London. Next year’s awards ceremony will be held in Melbourne, Australia.
Originally, this award started as an industry magazine idea and has turned into a global powerhouse garnering more attention than the once all-powerful Michelin guides. The top restaurants are often forerunners of molecular gastronomy. Most of the restaurants serve haute cuisine.
The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the British magazine, Restaurant, and is based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics; the votes from these 1,000 chefs and industry professionals are for their favourite places they’ve eaten at in the last 18 months. (It is not possible to ensure that they have.)
The Chef's Choice list is based on votes from the 50 head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year's list. The world is divided into regions with a chairperson in each region appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 35 members, who cast a total of 5,859 votes.
There is no list of nominees; each member of the international voting panel votes for their own personal choice of seven restaurants. To ensure that there are winners from many regions, judges are encouraged to vote for up to three restaurants in their own region, with the rest cast outside their home region. No voting member is allowed to vote for their own restaurant, or one in which they have an economic interest, and voters must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate within the past 18 months.
It has become so popular that sub-lists are now out; 50 Best Restaurants in Asia and 50 Best Restaurants in South America have been established. The sub-list is growing.
As so often happens in competitive events, the list has been criticized, the voting system, in which voters are not necessarily anonymous and are allowed to accept free meals and trips, is still a consistent target of criticism. So is the list’s tendency to elevate cutting-edge gastronomy above traditional cuisine; it has been said that the list’s embrace of the new is more important than its rankings. The ranking is an indication of trend and direction because the 50 chefs who choose to step out from their comfort zone are pushing the boundaries and leading the culinary scene of tomorrow.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants annual awards have captured the dining public’s imagination and become a global phenomenon providing an annual barometer to the greatest food, wine and restaurant experiences from all around the world.
The ranking changes yearly with some restaurants moving up a place or two or sometimes taking a large upward leap; it works the other way too, some ranked restaurants just drop off the list. As can be expected, eating at these restaurants can cost far more than the average diner is used to.
Here is the list of this year’s top 6 and the average cost of eating there.
1. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy - US $234-260
2. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain - US $184-218
3. Eleven Madison Park, New York City – US $295 (service-included)
4. Central, Lima - US $95-119
5. Noma, Copenhagen - US $289
6. Mirazur, Menton, France - US $110-273
Osteria Francescana offers guests a full a la carte menu or the choice of two tasting menus:
Tradition in evolution & Sensations. This restaurant is in the heart of Moderna (Italy) and has 12 tables.
The menu has water colour embellishments and the words – Tradition in Evolution: We approach our gastronomic traditions from a critical point of view, not a nostalgic one, to bring the best of the past into the future. Sensations: Sensations is expression of our contemporary vision by looking at the world through the eyes of a child. Seriously sounds like somewhere one has to dine!
El Celler de Can Roca, founded in 1986 by the Roca brothers is housed in a purpose-built building and has held a place right up there at the top for a couple of years now, 1st, 2nd, 1st but now lies 2nd again. The cuisine is traditional Catalan with creative twists. Some dishes served are based on perfumes, and with unusual presentations such as caramelized olives served on a bonsai tree.
The restaurant wine cellar has about 60,000 bottles.
The brothers are chef, sommelier and pastry chef. They offer such unusual and amazing creations that they have been invited to Harvard University as part of the Science and Cooking program.
Wouldn’t mind trying the tasting menu next time I am in Spain.
Perhaps an easier restaurant to go to would be Eleven Madison Park – it is closer to home after all.
The co-owners are focused on breaking down the boundaries between the kitchen and the dining room. The Front-of-house staffers are very familiar with all the dishes – something that is sadly lacking at many restaurants. One of the super things at this restaurant is that the chef often tailors dishes to the individual diner, creating something fun, quirky and personalized. The price has been adjusted with service included so is now a bit more per person; seven-course will be served at lunch and dinner instead of 14, the plating will be in minimalist fashion but larger than often found on a tasting-menu. There is a favourite dish enjoyed at 11 Madison Park - duck with lavender honey. It is served with much ceremony, as all plates are.
The chances of going to these top rated restaurants is not on the cards for many, but one can always try to cook similar dishes one sees on the menus. The following recipes are not exact recipes from the restaurants, some of those exquisite dishes are prepped using appliances not generally found in the home kitchen. However, the flavouring is similar – why not try to step outside the box a little.
RECIPES
Roasted Lamb
With Lavender and Honey Glaze
Ingredients
For the lamb
1 x 2 kg leg of lamb, boned
1 head garlic
1 x 75 g tin tinned anchovies, in oil roughly chopped
1 bunches lavender, freshly picked (as this is not possible, I use dried, bottled lavender)
350 g lavender honey – if you can’t get this, then a good flower honey will do
1 tbl olive oil
1 lemon
Lavender honey glaze
100 ml lavender honey
100 ml olive oil
As a general rule, lamb is cooked 30 minutes per 450g.
Method
Preheat oven to 180° C/gas 4.
Make incisions 2 cm deep all over the lamb
Separate the cloves, peel, cut into thin strips and push into the incisions in the meat along with a bit of anchovy fillets and a sprig of lavender.
If using dried lavender, make a paste of garlic, anchovy and olive oil and push this into the lamb.
Place lamb in a roasting tin, season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil and honey.
Halve the lemon and add to the tin.
Roast for 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes.
Warm honey and oil in a saucepan, pour into a liquidizer or use an immersion blender and blend on high speed until the honey and oil are emulsified.
Pour the glaze over the lamb after it has been cooking for 40 minutes.
Continue roasting 20 minutes more.
Gratin potatoes and roasted tomatoes are excellent side dishes
Duck Breast
With lavender, beetroot and sweet potato – the following recipe comes from the Gressingham site; duck lovers, do peruse this site. http://www.gressinghamduck.co.uk
Ingredients
Spiced duck breast:
4 duck breasts
100g of Szechuan pepper
100g of coriander seeds
50g of cumin seeds
50g of fennel seeds
100g of lavender, dry
100ml of maple syrup
Beetroot and sweet potato:
2 large beetroots
2 sweet potatoes
olive oil
butter
salt
Method
Combine Szechuan pepper, coriander, cumin and fennel in a dry pan - toast 5 minutes.
Roughly crush spices in a mortar and pestle.
Combine with lavender, mix well, set aside.
Preheat oven 375° F.
Cook beetroot and potato in the same oven – see the timing:
Cover beetroot with foil, cook until tender1-1/5 hours.
Cool, peel while still slightly warm, cut into large cubes.
Dice sweet potato, lightly season with salt, coat with olive oil.
Bake until tender 40-60 minutes.
Duck:
Season breasts evenly with salt.
Place each breast skin side down into hot, dry pan, slowly render down the fat.
Remove excess fat as it is rendering.
Cook for 6 minutes, turn, cook 4 minutes more.
Finish in the oven for 2 minutes at 475° F.
Remove from oven, lace breasts flesh side down into spice mix, allow to rest 5-7 minutes.
Heat a second pan.
Add butter, allow to foam, add roast beetroot and sweet potato.
As soon as vegetables are heated through, season with salt, remove pan from heat.
Once the duck has finished resting, return to pan, flesh side down – sear spices.
After 1 minute, add maple syrup and coat duck until it reduces down to a sticky glaze.
Remove from pan, slice and serve on a bed of the root vegetables.
