Recipe by Felice Lo Basso: Marinated mackerel with garlic, oil, and chili pepper served with cucumber gazpacho

Ingredients for 4 people

For the marinated mackerel

2 mackerels
1 tablespoon of honey
5 liters of still water
250 ml of rice vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 shallots
Herbs and spices (juniper berries, whole peppercorns, garlic cloves, thyme, rosemary, sage) 500 g of brown sugar
600 g of fine salt

For the fake mozzarella garlic

250 g buffalo mozzarella
150 g of semi-whipped cream
12 g of fish glue
10 ml of milk
3 g of kappa
Salt to taste

For the fake chili pepper

400 g of cherry tomatoes
2 shallots
1 chili pepper
4 g of agar agar

For the cucumber gazpacho

4 cucumbers
2 celery stalks
1 green apple
½ lemon

Method

For the Mackerel

Eviscerate the mackerels thoroughly, remove the bones, and clean them from seawater. Meanwhile, mix salt, sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest. Then let it rest for 2-3 hours. Reduce 50% of the water with vinegar and herbs, adjusting the salt. Warm the mixture to a temperature of about 40°C and immerse the mackerels, letting them marinate for about 30 minutes. Store them under oil in a cool place.

For the fake mozzarella garlic

Blend the mozzarella with 80 ml of the reserved water. Then strain and add the previously softened and heated fish glue. Let it rest for a few minutes, then semi-whip the cream and add it to the mozzarella mixture, stirring from bottom to top. Adjust salt and pepper and transfer to garlic-shaped molds. Freeze in the negative. Then, in a saucepan, heat the mozzarella water with a splash of milk and a teaspoon of kappa to 70°C. Using a toothpick, dip the fake garlic into the mozzarella and kappa water.