Food: Inspiration from the latest Madrid Fusion culinary summit

Last week Madrid was transformed for three days into the world's gastronomic capital by hosting the 15th Madrid Fusion culinary summit. Guests ranged from top worldwide celebrity chefs to new young talent. Focusing on a different theme each year, Madrid Fusion has evolved into one of the world's leading gastronomic events. This yearly occasion unites pioneering chefs from the likes of the Roca brothers, Juan Maria Arzak and his daughter Elena Arzak, Angel Leon, the incredible Janice Wong and many others. It was a great honor as well as a fabulous experience for me to attend such a prestigious conference. Standing in a room filled with over 90 Michelin stars in total was an unforgettable, overwhelming moment which I shall treasure for the rest of my life. Following the conference, I returned home to Sotogrande, Andalusia, extremely inspired and enlightened by spending three days with these incredible chefs and their wonderful recipes. I picked three of these to share with you. The first recipe is carpaccio of yellowfin tuna. The two other recipes were inspired by our experiences in chef Paco Morales's Noor restaurant in Cordoba (that boasts one Michelin star). Somehow, the summit has reminded us of the particular tastes we found on our visit in that ancient city and we tried to recreate some of them: The outcome was the two other recipes I bring to you: Shoulder of lamb served on light green pea puree; and grilled wild sea bass. The writer is a trained chef from the Savoy Hotel in London and former owner of restaurants in Israel and New York. Today, he and his wife run Yaya Food & Travel Ltd. www.jewishheritagetourseurope.com; massiasisaac@yahoo.es Yellowfin tuna carpaccio Served with grilled pumpkin and greens Makes 8 portions as a starter ■ 1 kg. very fresh tuna fillet (yellowfin, bluefin or bonito) ■ 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard ■ 1 tsp. black pepper ■ ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ■ Sea salt ■ ½ kg. mixed leafy vegetables (arugula, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce) Rinse the tuna fillet very well and dry it with a paper towel. Spread the mustard all around it, sprinkle the black pepper on top and drizzle the olive oil all around it. Place tuna on a kitchen board and cover it with plastic wrap. Try to roll it into a roll form, close it very tightly and put into the freezer for 24 hours. Two hours before serving, take tuna roll out of the freezer, remove plastic wrap, and with a very sharp knife slice it as thin as you possibly can. Place the slices on serving plates, around 10 slices to each plate. Put all the greens in a bowl with olive oil, a little honey, vinegar, salt and pepper, and mix well. In the middle of each of the tuna plates, place a handful of the greens. Just before serving, drizzle olive oil on the tuna, sprinkle sea salt on it and serve. It goes great with freshly baked focaccia bread. Grilled shoulder of lamb Served on a light green pea puree and grilled root vegetables ■ 2 kg. shoulder of lamb (try to get the butcher to remove the bone) ■ 1 onion, chopped ■ 1 carrot, chopped ■ 4 garlic cloves, chopped ■ 1 turnip, chopped ■ 1 small leek, chopped ■ ½ cup dry white wine ■ ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ■ ½ cup tomato puree ■ 1 liter beef or chicken stock Pea puree: ■ 1 medium-size boiled potato, chopped ■ 1 kg. frozen green peas Divide lamb shoulder into six pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Put in meat and sauté until golden brown. Add the onion, carrot, leek, turnip and garlic; mix well and then stir in the wine, tomato puree and all of the stock. Cook for around one hour. You will be left with a thick sauce, and the meat of the lamb will be very soft and tender. Boil the green peas and boiled potato for seven minutes and place in a blender. Mix until you have a very light and creamy puree. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Just before serving, spoon some puree onto the middle of each plate. Place one piece of the lamb on top. Cut root vegetables that were cooked with the lamb and place around the puree, and finish the plate by drizzling sauce on top of the meat. Grilled wild sea bass Served in a fish stock and soy sauce Serves 4 portions as an appetizer ■ 1 kg. fresh sea bass (ask the fishmonger to fillet it for you, but to give you the head and bones to make a stock), to make 2 fillets ■ 1 onion, peeled ■ 1 carrot, peeled ■ 2 garlic cloves, peeled ■ 1 liter water ■ ½ cup soya or teriyaki sauce. ■ ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro ■ ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil ■ ½ cup dry white wine ■ Salt and pepper Start by making fish stock by boiling the fish bones and head, onion, carrot and garlic in one liter of water for about one hour. Pass all of the stock through a sieve, place the clean stock on the fire again and add the soya, wine and cilantro. Boil until the stock is reduced and a little thicker. Cut each of the two bass fillets into four pieces, get a stainless-steel pan and add a little olive oil. When hot, sauté the fish. Remember to dry the skin of the fish, so you get a crispy skin and it doesn't stick to the pan. Sauté one minute on each side and remove. Serve immediately. Place some of the stock in deep serving dishes and place two small fillet pieces on each plate. Sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve very hot. It might remind you a little of Japanese miso soup.

Food: Inspiration from the latest Madrid Fusion culinary summit

Standing in a room filled with over 90 Michelin stars in total was an unforgettable, overwhelming moment which I shall treasure for the rest of my life.

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Food: Inspiration from the latest Madrid Fusion culinary summit

Standing in a room filled with over 90 Michelin stars in total was an unforgettable, overwhelming moment which I shall treasure for the rest of my life.

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