Inspiration is flying around the kitchens in many homes, the holidays are just around the corner and it’s hard to miss. Last weekend, together with the magazine Fuera de Serie of the El Mundo newspaper, one of the national newspapers with the largest print run, you could obtain the Joselito with stars special. A recipe book, fruit of the JoselitoLab project with 20 dishes by the best chefs in the world, who conveniently arrive on these dates to offer suggestions. JoselitoLab is the gastronomic research and experimentation project by Joselito, the laboratory that took its first steps more than six years ago with the aim of exploring the possibilities of Joselito Ham and acorn-fed Iberian pig products in the kitchen from different countries and culinary perspectives.
JoselitoLab first began in 2013 with Ferran Adrià. It is nothing new that the chef from Barcelona is a lover of gastronomic laboratories and having his creations is a privilege, and without a doubt, the best possible start for JoselitoLab, which now has over 120 recipes, with more being added every year. These recipes are the work of five chefs from different countries, schools and styles, and between them have a total of 15 Michelin stars and a coveted place on the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world 50 Best, synonymous with the recognition of having one of the worlds leading restaurants.
The flesh of the Iberian pig is an extraordinary gastronomic heritage. It gives rise to a multitude of cuts and imaginative possibilities in the kitchen due to its sheer versatility and its outstanding properties, such as the high oleic acid content of the meat for example. The Iberian pig is becoming more well known and valued outside of our borders, thanks to the process of internationalisation of Spanish cooking, the recognition of the excellent home-grown chefs overseas and initiatives such as JoselitoLab.
The Joselito laboratory raises awareness of the virtues of acorn-fed Iberian pig and its culinary applications in different settings and every year at the hand of a chef from the international gastronomical elite, who expresses the essence of their cooking in dishes with an Iberian stamp. With Joselito Ham as the point of the lance, recipes follow from popular cuts such as sirloin, presa (a small cut, taken from between the top of the shoulder and the loin) or loin, and others not quite so well known such as the belly or cabezada (the front part of the loin).
Although Iberian products are very much associated to the peninsula, they have the advantage that they happily admit other culinary styles, here and in any other part of the world, it is easy to cook with good material The creativity of the five chefs that have so far participated in the annual JoselitoLab appear captured on the web-app at the same name, which contains a selection of recipes that arose from this gastronomic fusion. Choosing the recipes that would form part of JoselitoLab was difficult, but choosing only 20 from among them for the publication of Joselito with stars was even more so.
Four recipes were chosen from among the most representative each chef, thus achieving a recipe collection with final touches from the five editions; the journey through the reinvention of German cooking withJoachim Wissler, the Japanese avant-garde of Seiji Yamamoto,the most brilliant gastronomy of the Netherlands at the hands of Jonnie Boer, the tradition of Italian cooking incarnate in Massimiliano Alajmo, and the gastronomic revolution with its own name of Ferran Adrià, as the inspiration for the menus for this Christmas.
Although the Iberian pig also has important role in pastry making, due to the fusion of fat which creates lard with which delicious pastry is made, the suggestions of Joselito have focused on the starters and main courses, irresistible combinations of haute cuisine, but with an acceptable degree of difficulty, some are even easy to make.
What would you think of beginning with a starter of Joselito Ham with spicy prunes and avocado by Joachim Wissler? Something light to whet the appetite created by the latest chef to join the JoselitoLab team. You could follow that with Iberian sushi, sounds original, doesn’t it? To continue the starters, from Japan, we would recommend Seiji Yamamoto's Sushi with two flavours. And then some broth... a Joselito consommé with trimmings by Ferran Adrià? The Catalan chef made the most of the opportunity given him by this project to explore new uses for the fat from Joselito Hams.
To follow, seafood, with the signature of the Dutchman Jonnie Boer... And don’t the Scallops with Joselito Ham, ricotta style goat’s cheese and bean juicelook appetising? And for the main, how about a Joselito featherloin with pickled roast tomato and mozzarella? To finish with the indisputable Italian touch of the chef from Le Calandre, Massimiliano Alajmo. This is only a suggested menu for Christmas but you can find many more in JoselitoLab.
