This is the finale of the Mare menu at Moebius Sperimentale. Chef Enrico Croatti brings this culinary journey to a close with a sense of coherence, marine notes, and a hint of savory depth. The seaweed, paired with white chocolate, lemon, and celery, evokes the lemon sorbet served in seaside trattorias after a grilled fish meal—a dish the chef recalls enjoying with his feet in the sand during his lunches in Rimini.
Seaweed, Celery, and White Chocolate
Ingredients
Lemon Jam
For the Salicornia Namelaka
- 82 g milk
- 5 g glucose
- 150 g salicornia
- 4 g gelatin
- 120 g white chocolate
- 6 g cocoa butter
- 170 g heavy cream
For the Vegetable Charcoal Crust
- 210 g flour
- 120 g sugar
- 90 g butter
- 15 g freeze-dried sea lettuce
- Vegetable charcoal, as needed
For the citrus gel
- 75 g lemon juice
- 25 g lime juice
- 125 g water
- 30 g sugar
- 4 g agar
- 1 g salt
For the osmosis-treated celery
- 1 stalk of celery
- 100 g sugar
- 100 g water
- 10 g freeze-dried seaweed
For the celery and lovage sorbet
- 500 g celery
- 15 g lovage
- 80 g water
- 20 g yuzu juice
- 150 g sugar
- 150 g glucose
- 5 g salt
For the sea lettuce in isomalt
- 200 g sea lettuce
- 100 g water
- 100 g isomalt
Candied kombu seaweed
- 200 g kombu seaweed
- 400 g water
- 400 g granulated sugar
- Salicornia tips
- Sea grapes
Other plant elements by Koppert Cress:
- Blinq Blossom
- Salty Fingers
Method
For the salicornia namelaka
Blanch the salicornia in boiling salted water or seawater for a few minutes, then shock in ice water.
Heat the milk and glucose, add the salicornia, and blend
Add the chocolate, cocoa butter, and gelatin to the hot mixture, and blend until smooth. Add the cold cream and blend again. Strain and let rest for 12 hours.
For the vegetable charcoal soil
Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; when everything is well blended and the mixture resembles soil, stop the mixer and bake at 180°C for 15 minutes.
For the citrus gel
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Let cool completely, then blend until the mixture is smooth.
For the osmosis-treated celery
Combine water, seaweed, and sugar and bring to a boil to create a syrup. Dice the celery into brunoise, place in a vacuum-sealed bag for osmosis, and let sit for one day.
For the celery and lovage sorbet
Combine water, lemon, sugar, and glucose and heat to 85 °C; blend with the celery, lovage, and salt. Freeze and pacotter.
For the sea lettuce in isomalt
Make a syrup with water and isomalt, add the previously blanched sea lettuce, and cook for 5 minutes. Cool until sugar crystals form.
Candied kombu seaweed
Make a sugar syrup and submerge the kombu seaweed; simmer until it reaches 70° Brix, using the French candying method by evaporation.
Plating
Just before serving, combine all the preparations. Finish the dish with BlinQ Blossom, to add juiciness, texture, and a natural savory flavor, and Salty Fingers: the latter, in addition to providing a pleasant crunch, introduce a savory-bitter note essential for sealing the dish’s flavor balance.
Contact
Via Alfredo Cappellini, 25, 20124 Milan MI
Phone: 02 3664 3680
