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Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_10_št.14 - Index

GooDslovEnianINNS
black risotto with olive air.
he added shrimp tails. A lot has changed in the culture of eating
shrimps. They used to be prepared a la buzara or grilled; today,
they are served almost raw, only marinated for an hour in olive oil
with salt, white pepper and a little lemon. The current global trend
of seafood cuisine is to serve and eat the dishes raw, or almost
raw, which is something that the Japanese, the greatest masters of
seafood, have always done. For the last few years in JB, they have
also prepared fish like that, and if they bake it, they try to keep it
juicy; therefore they do not exceed 160 degrees Celsius.
“There are more and more guests who appreciate genuine,
elementary flavours. Even when roasting meat, we should keep it
from being overdone, as it loses its juiciness,” says Bratovž.
In the rooms of JB, the homeliness of aromas and senses echoes,
probably also due to the baker’s oven, in which they bake their
own bread from ecologically produced flour. The also prepare
small bread rolls of different shapes, with the addition of olive,
onion, rosemary, pine nuts etc. For the bread to be good, they say,
the dough has to be kneaded three times: the first time, when it is
kneaded ready, the second time, when it rises and the third time,
when the rolls are formed. They also make their own tortellini
and ravioli, while the noodles and spaghetti are Italian, as well as
the olive oil produced in Dolina near Trieste, which is excellent for
cooking roast meat and fish.
Another special feature of JB, is the use of low cooking temperatures
to give the dishes even better flavour. By slow, 12-hour cooking at
65 degrees Celsius, they prepare beef cheeks and shoulder of foal
that have enough for the meat to end up juicy and tender, but
not too much, in order to maintain the structure. During this slow
cooking, the juice drips out of the meat and a jelly substance is
produced, which is the best basis for the sauce that needs to be
added to olive oil, shallot, red wine, balsamic vinegar and aromatics
and spices, if necessary. Thus, they also cook vegetables in bags,
in a vacuum cooker, for two hours at the same temperature and
they remain firm and full of healthy flavour. Slow cooking at low
temperatures is a type of molecular cuisine and is no different than
our grandmothers used to cook, when they set a pot on the edge
of kitchen-range in the morning and let it cook slowly.
Bratovž promises to devote his next book to the good old cuisine
and forgotten popular Slovenian dishes, prepared in a new,
modern manner, and he emphasises that our past hides real
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culinary wealth. Here, different cuisines, different influences and
traditions have come together. In this spirit, exquisite barley soup
was made, which unites the past with the present. Bratovž got
the idea for this soup in Primorska, where they add tomato to the
traditional barley soup to give it some freshness. Janez has added
his pinch of culinary masterpiece. He cooks half of the vegetables
together with the barley, while he cuts the remainder, particularly
carrot, celery bulb and courgettes, into small pieces and spreads
them over the soup when it is served. The vegetables thus remain
fresh and firm, and the barley soup is fresh and full-flavoured at
the same time.
In addition to the flavours, presentation is also very important,
so they keep to the principle that good and beautiful things are
extremely simple. They follow this principle in preparing plates
that inspire guests with beauty. Their most important guiding
principle in designing the plate is that everything should be edible
and in accordance with the flavours of the dish. The other guiding
principle is minimalism, thereby following Japanese masterpieces.
Veal medallion in pork mesh with noodles and artichoke.