ALL ABOUT APPLES


‚ A tasting menu from Scott Carsberg of Lampreia „

a tastingmenu creation
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SCOTT CARSBERG & LAMPREIA

By Hillel Cooperman
3

INTRODUCTION
By Scott Carsberg
14

ALL ABOUT APPLES

Dungeness Crab wrapped in Red Delicious Apples
15

Buckeye Apple filled with Foie Gras

served with Preserve Fig Vincotto as a condiment
23

Red Cabbage Velouté with Apple Geleé

35

First published in 2004 by

tastingmenu.publishing Cooked & Raw Zumi Apple with Red Prawn
Seattle, WA & Virgin Olive Oil Dressing
www.tastingmenu.com/publishing 46
Copyright © 2004
Pork prepared two ways with Apple Cider Sauce
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
& Tyrolean Apple Dumplings
or otherwise, without prior consent of the publisher. 53

Photographs © tastingmenu and Peyman Oreizy Gorgonzola d’Oro with Shaved Apples & Truffle Honey
63
All About Apples
by Scott Carsberg, Hillel Cooperman, photographs by Peyman Oreizy Apple Soup with Cinnamon Cream
72
The typeface family used throughout is Perpetua, designed by Eric Gill in 1929-30.
Bolzano Apple Cake
81

THE MAKING OF ALL ABOUT APPLES

By Hillel Cooperman
91
 SCOTT CARSBERG & LAMPREIA

I’ve been eating with friends at Lampreia

(as in lamprey eels), a small, special restaurant in Seattle’s Belltown area, for over two years. The
first year was spent exploring the menu. The second year was spent abandoning it. And these last
few months were spent having Chef Scott Carsberg show us how he makes us so happy. But I’m
getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning.

Scott Carsberg was born March 4, 1963 at Stanford University hospital in Menlo Park, CA.
He has one elder and two younger sisters. His father was a cryptologist and then worked for a
chemical company. Mom raised the children. The family is a mix of first- and second-generation
Portuguese and Swedish immigrants. Scott still feels connected to his Portuguese heritage. The
family moved to Seattle when he was two.

What was his first memory of cooking? Carsberg used to take his sisters’ Easy-Bake-Oven™
and bake cakes with his own ingredients. But he could never get the chocolate to melt. So he
would put the chocolate on the baseboard heater in little plastic containers to melt it. Mom did
all the cooking at home. Simple. Hearty. Chicken, meat, fish, stews. Goulash. There were twelve
things that she did well. There were four kids so everything needed to scale. She made cakes
and cookies. She was working full-time so it was hard. She worked as a waitress at a restaurant
frequented by longshoremen—Nifty’s under the West Seattle bridge. Only once in a while did his
family go out to dinner, and that was to the Jolly Roger, a popular dance hall and restaurant with
a checkered history.

Scott’s first job was at the age of 14 as a busboy at the Royal Fork Cafe in Seattle. The chef was in
the union. He was Swiss, and his job was buffets. He had big barons of beef and ham. For $4.50,
you’d load up. Scott enjoyed being a busboy. It was a good job, and it kept him busy. He did dishes
for a while. He liked to cook, and he knew he liked to spend time in the kitchen. He also liked the
girls who were at the Royal Fork. But although his manager tried to get him excited about staying
on, Scott already knew that type of food wasn’t for him.

When Scott was 14 turning 15, his mom, dressed in her bathrobe, sat him down at the kitchen
table and said, “You know, Scott, you’re a handsome kid. But you’re not going to get far with that.
You need to find something, and you need to find it right away, because no one is going to give
you anything and I’m sure as hell not. I don’t have anything to give you. So you’ve got to find
something that you enjoy because you’re going to be doing it for the next 50 years of your life.”
Then she lit up a Benson & HedgesTM and said “get ready for school” and that was the end of it.

3
 His mom had already figured him out. She was busy raising three girls, and didn’t have time for
subtlety. She knew what Scott needed to hear.
High school was spent in various jobs. At the age of 16, Scott worked as a prep cook at Alki Beach
at The Restaurant. Making blueberry cobbler, preparing salads, cleaning the walk-in. Scott already
knew he was going to do this kind of work for the rest of his life. He spent the summer of 10th
grade on a fishing boat in Alaska. His grandfather told him that this was how he would be spend-
ing his summer, and Scott went. He pulled leads and corks on a “purse seiner,” a commonly used
fishing boat, all summer. One of Scott’s responsibilities was cooking for the crew of five on the
boat. Simple stuff. One time Scott tried walrus. Fishy. Very fishy. Scott returned to Seattle with
experience and cash.
Living at home, working and going to high school, made sense at the time. But Scott’s mother
knew it was time for him to move out. Scott wanted his freedom, and his family needed the
space. And, as always, Scott’s mother pulled no punches. She knew he had goals, and that the
sooner he was out on his own the better he would be able to achieve them. Scott’s high school
started a real-world internship program for students. His was at the Four Seasons hotel in Seattle.
He was now making money, living on his own, and finishing up high school all at the same time.
For 40 hours a week, Scott worked at the Four Seasons. He also had classes to take as part of his
apprenticeship. He would spend three months doing dishes, then in-room service, banquets,
etc. He rotated around the hotel, learning every aspect of the operation. Scott polished silver,
did laundry, and of course, he cooked. He still didn’t know exactly what type of food career he
was going to have, but he knew that he needed stimulation. Work at the hotel gave him that. The
kitchen was run by an old-time Swiss chef named Goldinger who had worked with Escoffier’s
disciples in the 30’s or 40’s. From him Scott learned “To keep my mouth shut. Keep my head
5 6
down and work. And if the floor is clean, everything else looks clean.” Scott went straight to
the sauce station, working under a chef named Frank Champley. He made all the classic French
sauces: morel, Bordelaise, vin blanc, beurre blanc, vin rouge, brown sauce, veal glacé, chicken
stock, fish stock. Very well-executed French-style sauces. He was from the old French school of
apprenticeship, so Scott spent two years learning everything end-to-end. At the age of 17, Scott
was taking an immersive class with the experts at a five-star French restaurant.
By now Scott knew exactly what he wanted to be. He knew he would eventually be a great cook
with his own restaurant. He had Michel Gerard and Roger Verge’s cookbooks. He would look
through them and fantasize about cooking that way. Eventually he realized that the best food
wasn’t actually that complicated, but it could be made complicated. And to become as good as
the chefs in the cookbooks, he would have to be around them.
By this point, Scott was eating everything he could. He was tasting everything. Though he didn’t
eat the fancy food they were cooking at the Four Seasons, he wasn’t coming without any context
to the food. After all, his mother had sometimes cooked beyond the basics, cooking with wine
for example. After two years, Scott was flipping through a food magazine called Cuisine and saw
a picture of Yannick Cam. When Champley (Scott’s boss) first came to America he worked with
Yannick Cam in Washington, DC at Cam’s restaurant, Le Pavillon. Scott calledYannick, mentioned
Champley’s name, and asked for a job.
from far left to right:
Four Seasons staff;
Academy of Culinary Arts;
Scott at Le Pavillon
When Cam saw his resume, he offered Scott a job, and Scott pissed off Champley by not going
through him. But Scott was 18 now, and knew he’d learned everything he could at the Four
Seasons. The next day he was on a plane to DC to work at Le Pavillon.
Scott was so excited, and Cam couldn’t believe how young he was. Scott did garde mange, cold
station, fish station, meats, pastry, desserts.The only thing he didn’t do there were sauces. Instead
he went from station to station, cooking Cam’s cuisine, as a second cook and later as first cook.

Above: Scott as an apprentice at the Four Seasons.
Andrea Helriegel
7 8
He was one of twelve people in the kitchen serving
lunch and dinner to a dining room with 85 seats. Cam
worked on the line every night instead of just call-
ing out orders to the kitchen. Just like Scott today.
Scott not only grew as a cook at Le Pavillon, but also
learned how to stand up for himself. Three separate
fights arose in that kitchen, with Scott emerging as
the victor from each. He didn’t have to fight anymore
after that, and earned new respect from Cam. After
two years at Le Pavillon, Scott decided it was again
time to move.
Günter Seeger, a German chef with one Michelin star,
came to Washington, DC and opened a restaurant at
the Regent Hotel. At this time German chefs were
starting to get recognized by Michelin. Scott felt that
every one of the up-and-coming German chefs were
good. Seeger was fired (employment in this industry
is very fluid). He would use Cam’s kitchen to teach
cooking classes to make money on the side. Seeger
told Scott that he was looking for a young guy to help
him open up a restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta.
But Scott already had an interview with the famous
Italian chef Andrea Helriegel at Il Palio in New York.
Everyone knew about Helreigel, and just seeing pic-
tures of the food in a magazine was enough for Scott
to know that’s where he was headed. He knew that
kind of food was his calling.
But Seeger called Helriegel and asked his permission
to take Scott to Atlanta for a year. The deal was done.
Scott traveled to New York for his interview only to
have Helriegel tell him that he was going to work for
Seeger in Atlanta for a year and then would come back
to work for Helriegel. Scott was furious, but essen-
tially had no choice. Now Scott admits that working
for Seeger was one of the best things he ever did. Just
like Scott’s mom, Helriegel knew what Scott needed
better than Scott did. He knew he would benefit in
the long run, when Scott eventually went to work for
him. Scott spent the next few months making that
restaurant great. As sous chef, he helped Seeger create the dishes, cook the food, and did every-
thing else that was needed. According to Scott, the food was “Northern Italian, clean, kind of
German mix, well done, beautiful, very nice.” Scott spent about a year there, until he was asked
to leave after an argument with the pastry chef. Seeger was desperate to keep him, but was
overruled by the management of the hotel. It was about time for Scott to head back to Helriegel
anyway. And when Scott got to New York, Helriegel surprised him again. He needed Scott, but
not in New York. He sent him to work at the Villa Mozart, in Meran in Northern Italy in the Alto-
Adige region near Tyrol. At this point Scott was all of 21 years old and headed to Italy.
The Villa Mozart was a beautifully-designed 10-room hotel and restaurant. By his second season,
Scott was running the kitchen in tandem with another chef, Raymond Foutcher. Helriegel showed
up twice a year to write the menus and check on their work. In the spring, the hotel would fill
up with German guests. As summer came to the region, Americans and Japanese would come
to stay. The food included the Bolzano apple cake featured in this cookbook, beautiful risottos
and handmade pastas, Tyrolean specialties, several liver dishes, and more. This was similar to the
food Scott was making for Seeger in Atlanta. But in Italy, there was even more olive oil. And
Helriegel’s food had even more depth. It was warm, rich, and flavorful. Not austere. It had love.
That was how Scott wanted his own food to taste.
After Villa Mozart, Scott worked outside of Milan, and spent his spare time eating his way around
the best restaurants in Italy. With every meal, he would ask himself whether he could match their
food, whether he could do better. He knew the answer was yes. He also knew that he had to open
up his own restaurant and work for himself. And despite his seven-year absence from Seattle, he
knew that Seattle, his home, was where he wanted to be. After brief stints working at Seattle’s
Settebello and Mezza Luna (where he met his wife, Hyun Joo Paek), that’s exactly what he did.
It’s impossible to know the exact number,
but it’s safe to say that a very small percentage of the people in Seattle understand what
chef Scott Carsberg is all about. And that’s ok with him. Scott and Hyun Joo opened Lam-
preia to the public on April 15, 1992. For twelve years it has sat at the corner of 1st
Avenue and Battery in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Through those twelve years
Scott and Hyun Joo persevered. They invested their entire life savings into a lease. They
charged up their credit cards to keep Lampreia afloat. For five years they never took
a paycheck. Little by little, Lampreia developed a quiet reputation. And little by little, Belltown
became a haven for interesting Seattle restaurants with Lampreia as their beacon.
But Lampreia is still not one of the growing class of “famous” restaurants across the United States.
Some of those restaurants deserve to be well known, creating high-end food experiences for
connoisseurs. Today these restaurants are created almost overnight, not over eleven or twelve
years. But they can cost as much as ten or eleven million dollars to build and get started. They
 have big money behind them: Millions of dollars, big-time investors, and a name chef overseeing
the menu, though likely not the kitchen.
Lampreia has small money behind it. Ok, no money. Scott not only oversees the menu, but the
kitchen, the dining room, and every detail of the Lampreia experience. He often looks up from
the food he’s preparing and sternly scans the restaurant through the large window looking into
the kitchen from the dining room. That window frames Scott’s view of the environment, the
guests, the food in action.
Lampreia’s food is refined. So is the atmosphere. The room is peaceful, and the waiters move
quietly, with purpose. Jazz guitar plays softly on the sound system.The walls are salmon or mauve
or orange. It’s not too dark but the light is such that it’s hard to tell. Familiar but modern fur-
niture dots the restaurant, and simple crisp linens, silverware, and cutlery adorn the tables. The
decorations in the space have some Asian influences. It’s as if you took a comfortable Seattle
corner and decorated it in a slightly minimalist fashion with furniture from the 1920’s. But the
look is modern and simple.
A well-stocked but typically vacant bar occupies one wall in the “L” shaped dining space. The
bar is typically only attended when a waiter goes to pour a guest a drink or later when Scott sits
down for a glass of wine after the evening’s service has wound down. The tables are spaced such
that you can have some privacy. But it’s comfortable. Sometimes too comfortable. One night
we’re eating at Lampreia. Two people come and sit at the bar right near our table of ten. They
don’t want to take a table because they just want a drink. Scott comes by and offers them a table
anyway as the party next to the bar (us) will be noisy. He’s right. We love to eat. And we’re noisy.
Definitely. And it’s ok. We’ve eaten there with our three-month-old. People dress up. People
dress down. It’s Seattle after all.
And then of course there’s the food. Most people who eat at Lampreia think it’s French. Surpris-
ingly, it’s Italian food. Northern Italian food. Not the Northern Italian food you’re expecting, but
from a region at the very north called Trentino Alto-Adige that shares a border with Austria and
Switzerland. It’s mountain territory.The Alps to be specific. And while Scott isn’t slavishly locked
within the region’s borders, these are the ingredients and flavors that speak to him. His culinary
tendrils stretch north into Germany and south into more familiar Italian territory on occasion.
The blending of regions and impossibility of pinpointing the cuisine tends to make people un-
comfortable. Why is that? The tendency of most people to commoditize culinary culture and
reduce it to some iconic representation of what is actually a diverse cuisine is alive and well.
Italian food is spaghetti with meatballs, and veal marsala, and cannoli. But in reality, Italy is a large
country with a broad set of foods, from the rough and rustic to the deeply delicate and refined.
But at least in the United States, people equate refined with French food only.
9 10
And the truth is that it doesn’t matter whether anybody knows that the food at Lampreia is
Italian. All they really need to know is that it’s an experience they won’t soon forget.
The food laid out on the plate before you can be stark in appearance, especially compared to
dishes you find at many restaurants today that are either egregiously oversized or adorned with
all manner of distraction, or both. Scott’s food appears simple and is unbelievably rich in flavor.
Clean lines don’t mean lack of texture and depth. Scott Carsberg’s food has texture and depth,
and most importantly, each dish is a focused and distinct creation. Some dishes we’ve eaten over
the last couple of years from the ever-changing menu:
VANILLA BEAN GNOCCHI WITH DUCK PROSCIUTTO AND RICOT-
TA SALATA; TWO KINDS OF RICOTTA WITH SWEET PEPPER GELA-
TIN AND ZUCCHINI BLOSSOM; CORZETTI PASTA WITH SOFT PEC-
CORINO, BLACK TRUFFLE, FAVA BEANS AND PRESERVED TOMATO;
DEEP SEA PRAWN ALLA TAJINE; SCOTTOCCIERE CHEESE CAN-
NELLONI WITH VEAL GLAZE; TUNA BACON WITH SICILIAN TOMA-
TO SAUCE; TRUFFLE SCENTED TAGLIATELLE WITH PRESERVED UM-
BRIAN TRUFFLES AND FOIE GRAS; FIVE SPICE LACQUERED “HEN”
DUCK BREAST WITH FRUIT MUSTARDS; RASPBERRY CLAFOUTIS;
AND SPONGE CAKE WITH APRICOT WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE,
WHITE CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS, AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE, to name a few.
Scott is doing something different. And yet not many people know it. How you feel about some-
thing is inextricably intertwined with your expectations. Expecting haute cuisine from a street
food stand isn’t a sure path to happiness, and neither is the reverse. It’s not because one food is
better than the other, it’s just because we judge our experiences against our expectations. But
there’s a catch, expectations are based on experiences. How do you learn anything new if you’re
always judging things based on what you’ve already done? And this is the conundrum for Lam-
preia. Scott Carsberg is doing something unique and special. He has taken an under-represented
(or unrepresented) regional cuisine, applied master craftsmanship, seasonal local ingredients,
a reductionist and minimalist approach, and a fanatical attention to detail. A lot of restaurants
make the same claim, but Lampreia delivers. And most diners have never experienced this kind
of food. Until now.
I sometimes wonder if Scott really gets to
enjoy eating food. His entire professional existence is about focusing on creating original and
exquisite culinary creations. In eating his own food he’s so close to it, he’s always judging, evalu-
ating, and refining.When he eats someone else’s food, he can’t help but look at it in terms of what
 he is trying to accomplish himself. And my guess is that he’s often disappointed at not finding
the same commitment, passion, and attention to detail in other people’s food that he finds in his
own. The vast majority of diners have not only never experienced Scott’s kind of food, but their
habits are developed to protect themselves from enjoying it to its fullest. People pre-judge food
not based on who made it, but based on what’s in it. Scott will take an ingredient you’ve never
enjoyed and turn it into something beautiful and amazing. But we’re not trained to properly
account for the chef factor in our dining choices. And so the scariest path that most American
diners can take in a meal is ultimately the purest and most enjoyable way to eat dinner at Lampre-
ia—blind faith. We used to order from the menu. And once in a long while we might try it again.
But over time, we realized that Scott has a vision. A vision for every dish, every moment, every
aspect of our dining experience. Why should we constrain his ability to deliver on that vision
with our random requests and preferences? How could we possibly know which dish on the
menu we prefer if we’ve never tried it? What most diners see as a show-stopping constraint—not
getting to pick what you eat—is in fact freedom. Once we decided to let Scott take care of
everything, including choosing which dishes we ate, we finally got to enjoy Lampreia at its fullest.
Lampreia is nothing less than a personal tour of Northern Italian regional cuisine using Pacific
Northwest and Italian ingredients, led by our deeply passionate, knowledgeable, and committed
tour guide—Chef Scott Carsberg.

There is no doubt that Scott’s vision and skill put him in an elite class of chefs across the planet.
And yet, Lampreia is relatively unknown. Seattle is a small city, yet it tries to be relatively cos-
mopolitan and prides itself on being cutting-edge. But Lampreia is often overlooked as the best
restaurant in Seattle by many locals in favor of flashier restaurants with unimpressive culinary
depth. Scott just doesn’t fit the mold. He doesn’t have millions of dollars worth of design and
construction going into his space. He doesn’t have a staff of ten cooks in the kitchen poring over
every detail of every dish. He doesn’t spend his time doing the PR rounds. All he does is cook. He
doesn’t have time or money for anything else. And in this day of celebrity chefs, finding a chef of
his caliber that is not only still in the kitchen every night, but is also deeply involved with every
dish that goes out of the kitchen, is a situation so rare as to almost be non-existent. But Scott has
no choice. There are only a couple of other people helping him in the kitchen even on the busiest
nights. Scott has to cook every night. Has to oversee each detail of every dish. The dishes have to
be simple, focused, pack all their impact into a few choice ingredients.

And it’s a funny thing, I think Scott is so focused on making a wonderful culinary experience that
his intensity is sometimes hard to relate to. Scott is like a sentry overseeing every moment of
every diner’s experience at Lampreia. His stern scrutiny is only used in advocacy of the diner’s
enjoyment. But when he walks the tables, checking in on guests, and making sure everyone’s
happy, he’s almost shy and always super polite. I think guests at Lampreia don’t always know how
to rationalize the two faces they see on Scott. Little do they know that he is not judging them, but
judging himself and his staff to ensure that every person in the restaurant has the same emotional
connection with their eating experience that Scott does in creating it.

11
 INTRODUCTION

When I created this menu it was between September and

October in the state of Washington. Apple orchards are everywhere, especially in
eastern Washington. There are so many varieties of apples, and they all have different
textures and flavors. I wanted to combine them, not so much in a theme menu, but in
a way that takes advantage of the season. I just wanted to do something that was true to
this area. Apples are one of those products we’ve always exported. They’re a commod-
ity. But there’s more to apples than apple pie. Don’t get me wrong, apple pie is good.
But I wanted to do something that would be interesting with different kinds of apples,
from the Fuji, to the Honey Crisp, to the Granny Smith, which is a classic baking apple.
A lot of these apples can handle cooking, but are also great raw. Some are sweeter. Some
are juicier. It took me some time to figure out which ones would be better for which
dish without overwhelming it.

I think a lot of American chefs have trouble not overdoing an ingredient that is the
star of their dish. The ingredient ends up getting screwed up. The apple has to be with
something. Like the apple with foie gras dish.You need something sweet and a little bit
acidic to cut the fat. But you don’t just put that on the plate. There are pomegranates
that go well with it.You need a little vincotto.You need the fig to soften that apple up.
Otherwise it’s like a marathon and your mouth just gets tired. Your palate is just like
anything, it gets old and it gets tired. So you taste on your tongue different parts of the
dish. Salty. Sweet. It goes to your brain and it tells you “ah, this is great.” Fat is one of
those things. Fat and sweetness are things your brain likes.

I like all the dishes in this book. I like the pork. I like the jus, that nice, rich, brown
sauce. I like the dumplings on the pork because they kind of soak up the sauce. I like
that. The prawn is good. I mean... it’s a prawn. It’s good. The simplest dish of all is the
apple cake. Slice the apples. Mix the batter. Put it in a pan and bake it. That’s one of my
favorite ones. It’s one of the simplest, but it’s one of the best. Some of the other dishes
are a little more complicated to put together. But that’s my style of food. Not compli-
cated, simple in its presentation, but it requires a little work.You have to really want to
do it. It takes work to keep things natural and simple. After people eat dishes from this
menu I want them to feel relaxed, satisfied, comfortable, not overly full—just right.

Chef Scott Carsberg

Lampreia, Seattle, Washington

14
 Dungeness Crab wrapped
in Red Delicious Apples
When you serve a meal with eight courses, first
impressions count. When you’re done eating
the first course, your mind should be racing
with the possibilities of what might show up in
the next seven dishes. Making a strong impres-
sion requires restraint on the part of the chef.
Too large a quantity, or flavors that are too
strong, could narrow your palate and make the
rest of the meal drudgery. Lampreia’s Dunge-
ness Crab wrapped in Red Delicious Apples
strikes the perfect fragile balance. Think crab
cannelloni. The flavor of the crab filling is
soft and detailed and almost sweet. And in
that context the paper-thin apple wrapper is
almost salty. But after a moment the apple
is slightly sour and a different kind of sweet
than the crab. The apple wrapper is super thin
and wrapped tight tight tight. The crab meat
has flaked into small pieces and it ends up as
a creamy center with the homemade mayo. It
would be wrong to call the large pieces of crab
on the side “garnishes”. They’re too generous
for that. The slight amount of extra virgin olive
oil drizzled across the dish gives a warm base
flavor for all the other ingredients. The olive
oil and the apple literally and figuratively wrap
the crab in flavor. Tasting these subtle flavors is
like going to the country and seeing stars you
couldn’t see in the city with all the city street-
lights competing for your eyes’ attention.Your
mouth and your imagination are now attentive
and alert. Your palate is clear and ready for
what’s next.

15
 DUNGENESS CRAB
WRAPPED IN RED DELICIOUS APPLES

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

2½ to 3-pound Live Alaskan Dungeness Crab
Red Delicious Apples
Sea Salt
ChampagneVinegar
Canola Oil
Japanese Ceramic Slicer

Mayonnaise It’s critical to pour the oil slowly as you aggressively beat the yolks and vinegar so the oil emulsifies and won’t separate later.
3 duck egg yolks 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar to taste The consistency should not be too thick. It should look, taste, and feel light.
pinch of sea salt to taste 4 tablespoons canola oil

Crack the three duck eggs into a bowl. Add
the sea salt and the champagne vinegar.
Whisk aggressively until the mixture is
frothy. Continue determined whisking while
slowly adding oil. The oil will emulsify into
the mixture, producing mayonnaise.You can
add a little less or a little more oil as you
see fit, depending on the consistency you
desire. For this dish the mayonnaise is kept
relatively light.
If you’re making this on your own, or don’t
happen to have three hands, you’ll need to
steady the bowl: Your hands will be busy
whisking and pouring oil.
Steady the bowl with a towel placed between
yourself and its foundation, so that the bowl
and its contents don’t go flying.
Sometimes at Lampreia horseradish
mustard is added to the mayonnaise
give it more dimension. But that would
too much for this dish as the crab has
inherently subtle flavor.
This mayonnaise can be made ahead of time. It’s
even better on day 2 and should keep for
up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. This is
a good thing as you will not end up using
all the mayonnaise in this dish. If you are
or making this dish as part of the entire tasting
to menu, then you can use the remainder of the
be mayonnaise in the prawn dish.
an
Farm fresh duck eggs are used for the rich
color of their yolks. The color of the finished
mayonnaise should be a light yellow.
Canola oil is used in the recipe because it
doesn’t have much flavor, thus it doesn’t
compete with the other ingredients.

17 18
 When you live in Seattle, you have access to some of the
best Dungeness crab. Port Townsend, near Seattle, is a great
source. When you get them, they should be alive and clean.
Lampreia gets much of its seafood from a local Seattle Asian
supermarket. It pays to get to know the staff, even when
you’re buying your ingredients at a supermarket.When you
get live crab, it’s important that they sit in a filtered saltwa-
ter tank, and are not resting on top of each other.
Court bouillon
375 ml Pinot Grigio 1 tablespoon peppercorns
3 ribs of celery 1 tablespoon oregano
Leaves of heart of celery 6 bay leaves
2 peeled carrots cut into ½ inch chunks 1 teaspoon sea salt
½ a medium-sized yellow onion
Fill a pot with just enough water to submerge
the crab. Add 375 ml of Pinot Grigio. Add
the vegetables, then the herbs, and then the
salt. Bring the court bouillon to a boil.
Submerge your live crab head first into the
boiling bouillon so it doesn’t suffer. Make
sure the pot is big enough so you can sub-
merge the entire crab. Cover the pot. When
the water returns to a boil keep the crab in
the boiling water for 10 minutes. After the
first few minutes, the crab should be turning
red. This is good. When the 10 minutes are
up you should see some white sticky stuff
bubbled up around the head. That’s blood
from the crab, and a sign that it’s ready.
When the crab is done cooking, remove it
from the court bouillon and immerse it in an
19
Put the crab head first into the boil- The white substance at the head of Submerge the cooked crab in ice water
ing court bouillon. the crab tells you it’s done. with tongs.
Take the shell off the top of the crab. The gooey insides should be revealed. Twist the legs off one at a time and
redeposit them into the ice bath.
ice bath to chill. (If you don’t have another big
Scrape out the meat from each half of Mix together crab meat and “Fry” legs ready for plating.
pot you can fill the sink with water and ice and the body of the crab. mayonnaise.
stopper it).
With the shell removed, also remove the Take the crab meat and place it in the bowl.
This stops the crab from continued cooking,
gills and the roe (The gills look like slices of Add 2 tablespoons of the mayonnaise. Mix
cleans off the blood, and lets you handle it
onions). Twist each of the legs off and deposit thoroughly.
with your hands. The crab should spend
them back in the ice water.
about 5 minutes in the ice bath, enough to
Remove the crab legs one at a time from the
stop it from cooking.
Take the body of the crab and cut it in half. ice water. Use the back of a large knife to
You should be able to pick out the meat from crack open the crab legs. One whack on each
Put the crab in one hand with its bottom
each side now. This meat is called “shake.” It side of the leg should do it. Extract the meat
resting on your palm, and your thumb over
comes apart in little strands. Place the meat as large morsels to be used on the side of
where the white substance was. Use your
in the palm of your hand and then make a fist the dish. You should end up with eight large
other hand to pull off the upper shell—the
to squeeze all the water out over the sink. pieces—two per plate. These are called the
head—from front to back.This should reveal
You don’t want water in the crab meat. That “fry” legs. Set these aside until you’re ready
the inside of the crab. It will look kind of
will dilute the mayonnaise and make it run. to plate the dish.
messy inside. You can do this entire proce-
You should end up with roughly 6 table-
dure while the crab is still in the ice water.
spoons of crab meat (or about a ¼ pound).
20
 Red Delicious Apple Wrappers
3 large Red Delicious apples
This is a bit of a wasteful dish as the entire
apple isn’t used. But you can always eat the
leftovers as you cook.
Rather than go to the farmer’s market at
5 in the morning, or even browse through
the stalls at Pike Place Market, the bulk of
the produce at Lampreia comes from one of
the better local freshness-conscious super-
markets. As much of the produce as possible
served at Lampreia is organic.
When choosing apples, they should be
firm but not too ripe. Washington state
apple season runs from mid-September
through early November, depending on the
weather.
You need to use large apples, as essentially
you are going to need super-thin slices with
as much surface area as possible. You’ll take
these from the widest part of the apple.
Cut the apple in two with a knife, cutting
perpendicular to the core of the apple.
At Lampreia a commercial deli slicer is
used (shown above) to get the thinnest
possible slices of apple for this dish. Most
21
non-professional kitchens are not equipped
with a deli slicer. It’s possible to do it with
a Japanese ceramic blade slicer as well, but
you’ll need a slicer that cuts extra thin and
has a very wide surface to accommodate the
entire circumference of the apple.
If the slices aren’t thin enough, then you may
have to poach them in warm lemon water
(heated water with lemon juice squeezed
into it) for a split-second to prevent oxida-
tion. If you do this just before serving and
slice the apple thin enough, it shouldn’t be
necessary. Scott also prefers to avoid this as
he doesn’t like lemon flavor on fresh crab.
Take one half of the apple and run the cut
flat surface along the ceramic blade. Discard
the first slice as it’s been oxidized, and save
the next two. Do the same for the other half
of the apple.
Lay these perfect paper-thin slices onto
parchment paper, slightly overlapping. Take
another piece of parchment and cover them.
Drying the slices by patting them gently
between the parchment paper is key so that
the crab filling sticks to them. It also makes
it easier to move and roll the slices.
To Complete
Remove the upper layer of parchment paper from the apple
slices. Take a tablespoon-and-a-half of crab filling and lay it
down the center of the apple slices on one of the axes of
the overlap. Form it gently into a little horizontal column of
crab that’s evenly distributed across the apple wrapper.
Slowly but firmly lift up the near edges of the apple slices,
pulling them over the crab filling and tucking them in under
the crab on the far side as you roll the entire creation. Once
you’ve completed the rolling so that the apple and crab look
like a sushi roll, slowly use the parchment to roll it a little
more so everything gets nice and tight and sticks together.
Lay the crab cannelloni on a plate. Put the meat from two
crab legs (one on each side) on the plate, complementing
the roll. Drizzle fresh, light, extra virgin olive oil on top of
the roll and the crab meat, and a little bit on the plate. Don’t
drench, just give enough for visual and flavor impact.
22
 Buckeye Apple filled with Foie Gras
served with Preserve Fig Vincotto as a condiment

How do you balance the luxury of foie gras

with the simplicity of apples?

Take a bite.

Taste the buttery, creamy foie gras and the

sweet crispness of the apple. The vinegar and
pomegranate add contrast. Apples stuffed with
foie gras—luxurious? Actually it comes off as
simple, fresh, and down to earth. It’s beauti-
ful to look at, the clean edges as if the apple
grew on the tree with the foie gras already at
its center. This heart of the dish is beautiful
and generous. The fig vincotto is sticky, sweet,
deep, and rich. It’s the foundation flavor for
the dish.

23
 BUCKEYE APPLE FILLED WITH FOIE GRAS
SERVED WITH PRESERVE FIG VINCOTTO AS A CONDIMENT

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

2 Buckeye Apples
Foie Gras
2 Pints of Fresh Mission Figs
16-ounce bottle of 5-year-old
BalsamicVinegar
Five Spice Powder
1 Fresh Bay Leaf
1 Pomegranate
1 Lemon
Tamis

Preserve Fig Vincotto Foie Gras Pate 1 tablespoon five spice powder
2 pints of fresh figs Set 4 fresh figs aside for later use in the dish 1 lobe foie gras 1 tablespoon sea salt
16-ounce bottle of 5-year old BalsamicVinegar 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 fresh bay leaf

Cut the figs (minus the 4 you’ve set aside) in half. no leavings. Store in the refrigerator until At Lampreia, Sonoma foie gras is used. When foie gras. When all the spice has been rubbed
Crush them with your hands in a bowl. Do needed. The vincotto will last in the fridge foie gras is butchered it is graded based on in, leave the foie gras to sit on a plate on
not use a knife or other utensil to crush them. essentially indefinitely. size, firmness, and lack of veininess. The the counter at room temperature for 20
firmer the better. You will not use the entire minutes.
After they are sufficiently crushed, pour the foie gras in this recipe, and this is an ingredi-
entire bottle of balsamic over them. Let the ent that you won’t want to waste. While it sits, fill a pot with filtered tap water,
entire mixture marinate overnight in the an additional tablespoon of sea salt, and one
refrigerator. Warning: You must poach the foie gras fresh bay leaf. Bring the pot to a boil.
a day in advance of serving this dish.
The next day, put the entire mixture in When the 20 minutes are up and the water is
a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and Remove the foie gras from the package and boiling, submerge the entire foie gras in the
then simmer until the liquid is viscous. rinse it in cold water. Pat it dry with a paper boiling water. Leave the pot on the stove until
This should require about 30 minutes of towel. Mix together a tablespoon of sea salt it is brought back to a simmer. At the simmer
simmering. and a tablespoon of five spice powder in a point, pull it off the heat immediately. Set the
small bowl. Put some of the mixture on your timer for 28 minutes.
When simmering is complete, strain the fingers and rub it into the outside of the
mixture through a fine sieve so there are
25 26
 Foie Gras Pate continued
Note: when you cook the foie gras it bleeds a
bunch (it’s pretty gross).You do want the foie
gras to cook but not to shrink too much.You
also want all the other aspects of the foie gras
to leave it (blood, etc.).
After 28 minutes, gently remove the foie
gras from the hot water. Set it on some paper
towels and let it sweat for roughly 30 minutes.
During this 30 minute period, you should be
constantly and gently changing paper towels
to absorb what the foie secretes.
When the 30 minutes are up, place the foie
gras in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. If
you decide to leave the foie gras in the fridge
overnight, you should take it out and let it
sit a bit before proceeding with the recipe.
Basically you want it to be firm, which means
it needs to be colder than room temperature,
but not as cold as your average fridge.
Buckeye Apple
2 Buckeye apples 1 Lemon
There are a few reasons to use Buckeye apples
Using a stiff piece of plastic, force the slices through the tamis.The foie gras will stick to the underside of the screen. in this recipe. The Buckeye has a bit heartier
flavor than other apples and will stand up well
next to the foie gras. Additionally, because
the foie gras is so rich, using a bigger apple
would result in too much foie gras.
Apples stuffed with foie gras—luxurious?
Actually it comes off as simple, fresh, and down to earth. Boil a pot of water. (You will use this later to
blanch the apple halves.) Use enough water
to cover the apples cut into halves.
Split each of the buckeye apples in two. Using
a round cookie cutter, mark the exposed sur-
face of half of the apple to make the outline
27
When the foie gras has achieved the right
temperature, slice the lobe into half-inch
thick slices. Using a plastic spatula (or in
our case a homemade stiff piece of plastic
cut from a large plastic container), push the
chunks of foie gras through the tamis and into
a stainless steel bowl.
You need to be very temperature-sensitive
during this entire operation so the foie gras
doesn’t get too runny and turn into a paste.
When you’re done pushing the foie gras
through the tamis take the stainless steel
bowl, cover it in plastic, and immediately put
it in the fridge.
This is another point at which you could put
everything in the fridge overnight and con-
tinue the recipe the next day. You can also
stuff everything into the apples, and then put
them in the fridge overnight.
for the cut. Place the circle indentation in the
center of the face of the apple cross-section.
With a parisienne scoop (or melon baller)
remove half a golf ball’s worth of apple
“meat,” following the guideline made by the
cookie cutter. This is where the foie gras will
go. Do your scooping gently. You also don’t
want to take out too much or the apple will
crack. You don’t want to take out to little or
you will not have enough foie gras relative
to the apple. If the apple does crack a little,
don’t worry. The foie gras filling will “glue” it
back together.
28
 Buckeye Apple continued
Cut a lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from one half
all over the exposed surface of the apples. Drop the
apples into the water upside down. then squeeze the
other half of the lemon into the boiling water. Leave
the apples in the boiling water for 2 minutes.
Buckeye apples are chosen for their size & flavor.

Don’t delay between cutting the apples and blanch-

ing them, otherwise they will oxidize.

Remove the apples from the boiling water. Put the

apples face down on paper towels so they drain
and cool.You never want to place the foie gras into
warm apple halves. For this recipe, heat plus foie
gras is not good.
Slice the apple in half.
But also, never put apples in an ice bath to cool
them. This will cause them to lose their flavor.

When done right, the apple halves should have a

warm lemony smell.

Once the apples have cooled, spackle the foie gras

into the empty sockets in each apple half.Wrap each
Score a circle into the center of the apple of the halves with filling individually in tight plastic
with a cylinder. wrap and place them in the refrigerator. They will
be good there for 3 days.

Use a melon baller to remove the apple from

within the score. ...clean edges as if the apple grew on the tree
with the foie gras already at its center.

You’ll need a firm grip and a sure hand so as not 30

to break the apple.
Figs
4 fresh Mission figs

Stem and halve 4 figs.

2 halves will go on each plate.

32
33
Red Cabbage Velouté
with Apple Geleé
It’s a touch cold outside and the aroma of this concoction starts
to fill your body with warmth. Thicker than a soup and smoother
and lighter than a puree, it’s a velouté. A cabbage velouté. This
soup is Autumn. Fireplace, leaves turning red, color. The apple
geleé perched in the middle melted instantly, its unseen pyra-
mid base of flavor softening under the surface of the velouté. The
cabbage is smoky and hearty but smooth smooth smooth. The
geleé that hasn’t yet melted ends up becoming tiny pockets of
sweet and sour in your mouth. The chestnut puree is candy in the
middle. Now my mouth is round. The chestnut puree gets on my
spoon in dabs. I try to ration it so that it lasts evenly throughout
the dish.

36
 RED CABBAGE VELOUTÉ
WITH APPLE GELEÉ

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

2 Purple Cabbages
1 Medium-Sized SweetWallaWalla Onion
3 Granny Smith Apples
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Guanciale
Knudsen™ Sparkling Apple Cider
Evian™Water
Gelatin Sheets
Organic Cooked & Peeled Chestnuts
Sugar
Staub Pot
Juicer

Velouté
1 tablespoon olive oil
7 ounces guanciale
2 purple cabbages
1 medium-sized sweetWallaWalla onion
3 Granny Smith apples
The guanciale is beautifully layered with meat and fat. Cut three thick slices. Chop the slices into rough chunks.
¼ cup Knudsen Apple Cider
sea salt
Evian
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar to taste
4 tablespoons canola oil

You can make this velouté a day in advance.
Reheat before serving. Make sure to check
if it needs additonal seasoning. Often the
velouté can be even better on day 2 or 3 as
the ingredients have had more time to inte-
grate.
Guanciale is taken from the pig’s cheeks
rather than from its belly. The meat of the
cheeks is leaner than other typical cuts of
pork but it has a deeper flavor. The meat
is smoked and seasoned much the same
as bacon. It may take a little extra effort
to use guanciale, but it’s worth it for the
richer flavors that end up in your dish.
Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a well-
seasoned heavy cast iron skillet with a lid.
The Japanese ceramic slicer delivers super-thin slices. The guanciale sautéing in the pan will give off a
Slice pork cheeks into third of an inch delicious aroma.
wide slices lengthwise. Add pork cheek
pieces to the skillet on high heat. Using a
wooden spoon (never use a metal utensil in
cast iron—it could scrape the bottom and
remove metal from the pot that could get
into the food) mix the guanciale for about
2 minutes until it starts to soften and the
The guanciale has started to curl. Steam from the sautéing onions.

37 38
 Velouté continued
cabbage to the pan on the heat. Since it’s been sweating,
fat starts to come out. Don’t cook until the pork turns
you still don’t need to add liquid at this point. All the
crispy. If it gets crispy, you’ve cooked it too much. You
liquid from the cabbage is going to help make the entire
just want it softened. Don’t add salt yet because pork
mixture soft. Super thorough mixing is now required,
cheek has salt already. Slice the medium sweet onion
bringing the ingredients from the bottom up to the top
on the ceramic slicer. (Don’t use other sweet onions
Adding cider to the pot. The first round of breaking up the ingredients is of the mixture. Aggressively mix with a wooden spoon
like Maui.) You need it so thin that it melts together
done with the stick blender. for at least 3 minutes.
with the guanciale. Add the onions to the guanciale in
the pan.
Place the lid on the pan and turn the heat to medium.
Let it cook for about 15 minutes. Take the lid off every
When the onions start to get light brown and golden
5 minutes to check on it, mix, and make sure it doesn’t
(roughly 10 minutes), add 1/3 of a cup of cider. The
stick and gets evenly cooked. Keep up this process until
temperature stays on high the entire time. At this point
everything is very soft and fully cooked.
the cider is starting to work its way into the pork and
the onions.
At this point add just enough cold Evian to barely cover
Rough chop of the quartered apples. The consistency after hand mixing looks like this.
the mixture. The amount of water varies depending on
Take three Granny Smith apples. Core and quarter each
the size of the pot. Replace the lid and bring to a boil.
apple. Slice quarters into rough ¼ inch thick slices.
Remove from heat.
Leave the skin on the apples.
Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Use a stick blender
Once the cider is reduced (roughly two minutes), it
to break up the chunks. The smell coming off of the
will infuse into the onions. Once you reach that point
mix should be rich, cabbage, warm, apple sweetness.
(you can tell because there will be no liquid left in the
Use the stick blender for roughly five minutes.
pan), add the apple slices.
Mix thoroughly. Ladle the soup into the blender. Do it in multiple Once the big chunks are broken up, ladle the mixture
Quarter two purple cabbages with a cleaver. Remove passes if need be. Don’t overfill. into the blender. You’ll need to do this a bit at a time
the core of the cabbage from each quarter with one
so that you don’t overfill the blender. The hot contents
swing of the cleaver.Slice the cabbage into half-inch
could blow the lid off, so be careful. Blend on the
thick slices. If it’s too thin, it won’t have time to cook
highest setting for 2-3 minutes. The consistency will
because there’s a lot of water in the cabbage. Pinch 1½
get much smoother. Don’t worry about over-blending.
tablespoons of salt between your fingers into the cab-
It can’t be over blended. The thickness of the velouté
bage. Mix with your hands to distribute the salt. The
comes from the combination of the ingredients, not
cabbage will start to sweat as the salt will bring out
the amount of blending.Velouté is thinner than a puree,
the moisture. It’s almost like a sauerkraut. This is im-
thicker than a soup.
portant as once you put the cabbage into the pot it will Rough chop of the cabbage quarters. Pour the blended mixture through the sieve.
really stew, as it’s already been sweating. Additionally,
Put the blended mixture into a fine mesh sieve over
the cabbage can now get more integrated with the rest
a bowl. Use a ladle to force the velouté through the
of the ingredients.
mesh. Once through the sieve, all that should be left is
a bit of pulp and guanciale sinew. Throw these remains
At this point (roughly 10 minutes), the apples should
away. What remains below the sieve is your velouté.
be softened. Remember to mix the apple onion guan-
Add water to it if you need to thin it out.
ciale mixture often. Once the apples are soft, add the

39 Add the chopped cabbage. A ladle will help push the mixture through. 40
 Chestnut Puree
200 grams chestnuts 2 tablespoons sugar 3 cups of distilled water
Gently bring to a boil 1½ cups of water. In a separate
pot, add 2 tablespoons of sugar to 200 grams of chest-
nuts. Mix well until the chestnuts are coated. Add the
boiling water to the chestnut-sugar mixture. The size
of the pot should be such that the water barely covers
the chestnuts.
Place the pot on high heat until the chestnuts get ex-
tremely soft and the sugar dissolves. Don’t worry about
overcooking. This should take roughly 45 minutes to an
hour or until completely soft and mushy. You can test
this with a fork.
Use a wooden spoon to break up the chestnuts as they
cook. Continue to cook until most of the water boils
off, turning down to medium and then low heat in the
later stages as the water dissipates. Eventually you want
the broken up chestnuts to get to a candied state where
they are sticky and gooey and no water is left circulating
in the pot.You can speed the process slightly by remov-
ing half a cup of the liquid for later use (see below).
If you don’t have enough water or sugar, the result
may turn mealy and dry as you cook it. Continue to
add water and small amounts of sugar until you get to
the right consistency. Pour the entire mixture in the
blender, along with any saved sugary liquid. Puree at a
medium-to-low speed until soft and smooth.
41
Geleé
3 Red Delicious apples 2 gelatin sheets
Take 3 Red Delicious apples and roughly chop them into
½-inch cubes. You’re going to need a juicer for this. At
Lampreia an ACME juicer is used but most will do. Put
the apple chunks into the juicer. Don’t worry about seeds,
core, peel, or pretty much anything else. Most juicers can
take care of that without a problem. The 3 apples should
generate about 1½ cups of juice.
Put the juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once
boiling, lower the heat to medium. Cover.
For each ½ cup of juice, you’ll need 1 sheet of gelatin.
Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water until they soften. This
should take about 2 minutes. Once softened, put the gela-
tin sheets into the simmering juice in the saucepan. Stir
gently until the gelatin sheets have dissolved.
Pour the gelatin/juice mixture into a flat 9 inch square
pan. The goal is to get a uniform layer of geleé. Put the
pan in the fridge until the mixture hardens. Depending
on your fridge, hardening should take anywhere from 20
minutes to a half hour.
If you want to make a batch for multiple uses you can pour
the gelatin/juice mixture while still liquid into ice cube
trays for hardening. That way you can pop out just as much
as you need as you need it.
42
To Complete

Remove the geleé from the pan with a fork.

It should come off in sheets. Chop the geleé
into large dice.

Don’t handle the geleé too much or it will

melt from the warmth of your hands.

Place a heaping tablespoon of geleé dice

into the middle of the serving bowl. Place
it there as a mound.

Using a pastry bag, pipe a curl of chestnut

puree on to the top of the mound of geleé
in the middle of the bowl.

Pour the hot (not too hot) velouté into a

pitcher. Pour the velouté around the mound
of geleé and chestnut puree at the table.

The edges of the mound should immediate-

ly start to melt and integrate into the rest of
the dish from the heat of the velouté.

44
Cooked & Raw Zumi Apple with Red Prawn
& Virgin Olive Oil Dressing
Perfect essence of prawn. The aroma hits you
as the steaming prawn is placed in front of
you with its apple accompaniments. Scream-
ing prawn flavor. The prawn seems almost un-
dercooked but it’s not. It’s just the flavor that’s
alive. The prawn is so juicy, tender, and struc-
tured. The drizzled olive oil is the base for the
flavor. Super-thin shaved apples sit alongside
the very best apple sauce you have ever tasted.
Constructing a bite of the entire affair can be
complicated when you’re trying to get a touch
of everything onto your fork. But the result is
so simple and sweet. The textures are all com-
pletely individual; crisp apple folded over on
itself, tender stretchy prawn, and simple soft
tiny granular apple puree texture. Why is this
so special? It’s deceptively simple. The colors
are beautiful and soft. The flavors are simple,
bright, and delicious.

46
 COOKED AND RAW ZUMI APPLE WITH RED PRAWN
AND VIRGIN OLIVE OIL DRESSING

‚ 1 hour preparation, 15 minutes cooking time, serves 4 „

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Zumi Apples
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
ChampagneVinegar
Canola Oil
Sablone De Tomates
Red Prawns
Tamis
Japanese Ceramic Slicer

Apple Puree
3 Zumi Apples 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Peel, quarter and core 3 large Zumi apples.
Zumis are a great choice because they have
an interesting taste. Kind of an off-yellow.
The flavor is a combination between a
Golden Delicious and a Granny Smith.
Take 1 pat of butter (¾ tablespoon) and
place it in a cast iron pan. Melt the butter on
medium heat for a bit while you do the next
step. Add the olive oil.
Shave the apples super-thin using the
Japanese ceramic slicer. Put the apple slices
into the pan with the butter. Use a wooden
spoon to mix. Leave the mixture on medium
heat. Do not let them get brown. Stir the
mixture often. Break up the apples while
mixing them over the heat with the wooden
spoon. Once everything gets soft, remove
from the heat.
A pat of butter goes in the pot to Deposit the apple slices (quickly after Cover the pot.
start cooking. slicing so they don’t get brown) into
This should take roughly 10-12 minutes with
the pot.
frequent mixing.You can tell it’s done when
the apples start to release their juice.
Wait until the apple mixture cools. Using
a plastic wedge, push the apples through a
tamis. Put the resulting puree into a pastry
bag with a medium even tip.
Mix with a wooden spoon. Place the mound of softened apple The apple will have been broken
slices onto a tamis once they’ve up pretty fine so that the result is
cooled a touch. Use a stiff piece relatively thin.
of plastic to force the apple slices
through the tamis.

47 48

Beat the duck eggs well.
Add 1 tablespoon of champagne
vinegar to taste.
Aggressively beat the yolks and
vinegar so the oil emulsifies and
won’t separate later.
Add the Sicilian tomato powder and
water to the mayonnaise mixture.
49
Mayonnaise Red Prawn
2 duck egg yolks 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar to taste 4 deep sea red Spanish prawns
pinch of sea salt to taste 4 tablespoons canola oil ¾ tablespoon of butter
Crack the 3 duck eggs into a bowl. Add the sea salt and the Peel the tail of the prawn. Leave the head on.
champagne vinegar. Whisk aggressively until the mixture is
frothy. Continue determined whisking while slowly adding oil. Put ¾ tablespoon of butter into a cast iron saucepan. Peel the tail of the prawn.
The oil will emulsify into the mixture, producing mayonnaise.
You can add a little less or a little more oil as you see fit depend- Sautee the prawn in the butter on high heat. Leave the pan
ing on the desired consistency. For this dish the mayonnaise is uncovered so the shell gets nice and brown. Sprinkle a pinch
kept relatively light. Farm fresh duck eggs are used for the rich of sea salt on top of the prawn as it cooks.
color of their yolks. Canola oil is used in the recipe because it
doesn’t have much flavor so it doesn’t compete with the other Flip the prawn once it gets a little color. Cook each side for
ingredients. The color of the finished mayonnaise should be a 2-3 minutes. The second side will require less cooking.
light yellow.
If you’re making this on your own or don’t happen to have
three hands, you’ll need to steady the bowl:Your hands will be
busy whisking and pouring oil. Steady the bowl with a towel
placed between yourself and its foundation, so that the bowl
and its contents don’t go flying.
Sometimes at Lampreia horseradish or mustard is added to the
mayonnaise to give it more dimension. But that would be too
much for this dish as the crab has an inherently subtle flavor.
This mayonnaise can be made ahead of time. It’s even better on Place the butter in your pot. Lay the prawn on the hot butter.
day 2 and should keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.This
is a good thing as you will not end up using all the mayonnaise Stretched out, the prawn should
be relatively large.
in this dish. If you are making this dish as part of the entire tast-
ing menu, then you can use the remainder of the mayonnaise
in the crab dish.
European Cocktail Sauce
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of dried Sicilian tomato powder (Sablon de Tomates)
Salt the prawn appropriately while Flip the prawn once it’s done cooking It will have a slightly brown color on
Take 1 tablespoon of the tomato powder and mix it with 1 in the pan. on one side. both sides when done.
tablespoon of warm water. Mix this into the mayonnaise.
50
 Apple Slices To Complete
3 Zumi apples

Cut the apples in half, perpendicular to the core. Slice 12 thin slices off of the widest part of the
apple using the deli slicer (or the Japanese ceramic slicer if that’s all you have).
You probably won’t get more than 5 or 6 slices off of each apple that are big enough. That’s why
this is a wasteful dish. Snack on the remainder of the apples.
Shape the apples into cones as seen in the pictures. Place the apple slice cones on the plate.
Pipe the apple puree onto the plate into a line. Squeeze a bit of the “European cocktail sauce”
onto the plate. Place the prawn to complete. Serve.

51 52
 Pork Prepared two ways with Apple Cider
Sauce and Pippin Apple Dumplings
There are so many wonderful things about this dish, it’s hard to know where to start. The smell
of the pork loin found my nose in a hurry. The tenderloin is unbelievably juicy. No surprise
given that it’s been basting in butter. The cured meat adds perfect oil to this dish that drizzles
over the dumplings as they’re served. Speaking of the dumplings, they have a doughy sour flavor
dotted with perfect tiny pieces of copa. When served, they have a gentle coating of sweet and
savory cider sauce. The pancetta has almost a pastrami-like flavor. It’s beautiful to behold, with
the dumplings under the pancetta absorbing the oil and flavor and getting even more flavorful.
They’re like mini apple-concentrated balls of slightly finely crumbled dough. The flavors in this
dish are gentle, but strong and smooth. The smell of the pork engulfs you.

53
 PORK PREPARED TWO WAYS
WITH APPLE CIDER SAUCE AND PIPPIN APPLE DUMPLINGS

‚ 45 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking time, serves 4 „

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Court Bouillon
9 ounces Hand-dippedWhole Milk Ricotta
Cheese
1 Pippin Apple
1 Chicken Egg
Sea Salt
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Copa
Farina Flour
Pomache Olive Oil
2 Pork Tenderloins (16 ounces)
Pancetta
Thyme and a Bay Leaf
Butter
Knudsen™ Sparkling Apple Cider
Guanciale

Dumplings
9 ounces ricotta cheese sea salt
1 Pippin apple copa
1 chicken egg

Start this dish by making the dumplings.
They can be made a couple of days in
advance and stored in the refrigerator. Make
sure to cover them with a cloth so they don’t
dry out.
Place 9 ounces of ricotta cheese into a metal
bowl. Crack 1 chicken egg into the ricotta.
Mix with a spoon until you get a smooth,
creamy consistency.
Add 2 tablespoons of julienned copa and 3
full tablespoons of finely grated parmesan
cheese to the mixture. Continue to mix
until the ingredients are evenly spread
throughout the batter.
Grate a quarter of the Pippin apple onto
your cutting board. You should end up with
a heaping tablespoon of the grated apple.
Place the apple in your hand and squeeze
some–but not all–of the juice out of the
grated apple.You don’t want too much extra
liquid in the batter. Put the grated apple in
the batter. Mix well.
Slowly add 5 to 7 tablespoons of the Farina
pasta flour. The amount depends on the
moisture of the ricotta. You’re looking for a
consistency in which the batter stays on the
spoon if you turn it upside down.You’ll have
to judge this yourself.
Once you’ve got the right consistency, add a pinch
of salt–½ a teaspoon. Mix thoroughly.
Let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes to settle.
Fold it into a pastry bag with a medium even tip.
Pipe onto parchment paper in smallish inch-high
cylinders. Cut around the dumplings, leaving them Crack the egg into the ricotta
on inch-square parchment paper rectangles. mixture.
Place in refrigerator, covered with a cloth towel,
until ready to boil.
Mix until the egg has completely
integrated with the ricotta.

55 56

Add the julienned copa.
Grate the apple onto a cutting board.
Mix with a spoon.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape the
mixture off the sides of the bowl.
Add the parmesan cheese.
The finely grated apple should look
like this.
Scrape the mixture off the sides so it
all gets well mixed.
Place the ricotta mixture into a
pastry bag.
Mix well.This is your dough and the
ingredients must be distributed evenly.
You want to squeeze out most but not
all of the water in the grated apple.
The consistency should be relatively
thick and not fall off a spoon when
raised above the bowl.
Deposit the dough onto the parch-
ment paper in small even mound.
Pork
1 tablespoon Pomache olive oil 1 bay leaf
2 organic pork loin chops (16 ounces) 2 large sprigs of thyme
1 teaspoon Sea Salt 2 tablespoons butter
Put 1 tablespoon of Pomache (a lower-grade olive oil than
we use for finishing) into a pan. Put on high heat.
Salt the tenderloin before cooking.
Spread a ½ teaspoon of sea salt onto each side of each pork
tenderloin.You will be serving half a tenderloin per person.
Place the loin in the pan.
If the pork starts to dry a little as you cook it, add a touch
of the same Pomache oil. In general, don’t use extra virgin
olive oil for cooking–it’s wasteful. It’s quality is for finish-
ing. It’s meant to be put on things that are already cooked Let the loin cook on one side and
brown before flipping it.
or warm or done.
When the meat has gotten mostly cooked on each side (flip
when it’s ready on one side), it’s time to baste. Take 1 bay
leaf and a small amount of thyme and put them in the pan
with 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix with a metal spoon.
Deglaze it with ¼ cup of the apple cider after the basting Add oil as necessary.The juices are
begins. You should be constantly spooning the herbs and crytallizing in the pan.
butter over the top of the loin. Cook the pork until medium
done.
When done, remove the pork loin to a metal grill. The
herbs are not served with pork, they are there for flavor
only. Pour the remaining pork juice through a chinois into
the cider reduction. Reduce further. Add the herbs to the cooking loin.
Add the butter to the loin and herbs.
Baste, baste, baste.
 Apple Cider Sauce
½ cup Knudsen™ sparkling apple cider guanciale
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
In another saucepan, place 4 ¼-inch-thick slices of
guanciale. Slightly warm the slices in the pot over a low
flame, searing the pork cheek. There’s no need for oil,
as the cheek is fatty enough to supply its own.
Pour ½ cup of cider into the saucepan.
Add a ½ cup of the cider to the saucepan. Simmer
slowly over a low flame. Reduce, reduce, reduce.
Start cooking the pork tenderloin at this point in time.
After half the cider is gone and starting to glaze, add
in one teaspoon of unsalted butter. Simmer for a few
minutes longer.
Finish Dumplings
Fill a pot with enough boiling water to cover the
dumplings, then salt the water. Once the water has
come to a simmer, deposit the dumplings into the
water. If you can’t easily remove the dumplings from
the paper squares just dump them into the water with
Boil the water for the dumplings.
the squares. Don’t worry, the paper will come off
easily in the simmering water.
The dumplings should spend 3 to 4 minutes in the
simmer.You can tell that they’re done when they float
to the top. They won’t be just hanging around the top
of the water but will really stay at the top. Remove
them gently with a slotted spoon or spatula onto paper
so they can drain.
Place the dumplings in the simmering water.

By this time the pork loin should be done. After the

Pour the remainder of the jus from the pork
loin into the sauce.
pork loin has been removed from the pan, filter the re-
maining pork juice through a sieve into the cider sauce.
Mix and let simmer for another minute or so.
If the cooking of the pork loin has left lots of cooked fat
stuck to the pan in which it was cooked, you can remove
the herbs and then deglaze the pork loin pan with the
cider sauce. Cook it for another minute, scraping up
the leavings from the pork.
Pancetta
Just before serving, fry 4 slices of pancetta in a pan. The
slices should be super thin, but not fall apart during
frying. Fry for 1-2 minutes until they’ve curled up into
little delicious bacon-like pieces.You will be hard-pressed
to not sample. Best to fry up a couple of extra slices of
The pancetta should be sliced very thin.
pancetta.

Either path results in a delicious sauce.

The pancetta curls when cooked.

Continue reducing.

59
Place the cooked and now slightly crispy
pancetta on top of the loin.
To Complete

Place the dumplings and pork loin on the plate.

Balance the fried pancetta on top of the dump-
lings. Drizzle a decent amount of the cider
sauce on top of the pork and dumplings.

Serve immediately.

62
 Gorgonzola d’Oro with Shaved Apples
and Truffle Honey
This dish will slam your tongue. The meal has been
progressing on a path where subtle and simple fla-
vors build on each other, each dish getting more and
more exciting. Just when you think you’ve reached the
crescendo, you try this dish and are blown away. The
obvious culprit would be the cheese, but it’s really the
combination of ingredients that gets you. The truffle
flavor is so incredibly complementary, rounding out
the sharpness of the gorgonzola.Your tongue gets very
busy processing the cheese, at the same time the truf-
fle fills your mouth and nose with its smell. Don’t for-
get the honey though. The sweetness binds the flavors
and mellows them a touch. The texture of the bread
is crisp, light and essentially perfect. It’s not hard or
brittle. Somehow it’s airy and crispy at the same time.
The apple is subtle, sweet, soft, crispy but somehow
not lost in the dish. The entire combination is like an
exclamation point to the meal.

63
 GORGONZOLA D’ORO
WITH SHAVED APPLES AND TRUFFLE
‚ 1 hour preparation, 10 minutes cooking time, serves 4 „
SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
1 Honey Crisp Apple
¼ Pound Gorgonzola d’Oro
Fireweed Honey
Bemunge White Truffle Oil
Iron Mountain™White Sliced Bread
Japanese Ceramic Slicer
Crispy Bread Rectangle
Iron Mountain white sliced bread
Warning:You will need to store the bread
in the fridge for at least a week before
proceeding with this recipe. The bread will
get stale and lose some of its moisture. This
is a head start for you.You need to use a very
thick white dense bread. You do not want
anything fancy. Use a cheap white sandwich
bread. Not Wonder™, but close. You want
something soft that when toasted will break
up into nice pieces. A rustic higher quality
bread won’t work. No special grains, nuts,
or other ingredients. You want to take 4
slices to get 6 sticks from each slice.
Take a few slices of bread, remove the
crusts and slice some perfect rectangles.
Two inches long, and 1/3 inch thick is about
right. If you cut the “baton” as a cross-
65
HONEY
section you would be slicing off little per-
fectly square slices. The bread needs to be
cold (straight from the fridge) when cut or
it will tear.
Place your rectangles on a baking sheet. Put
the sheet in the oven at 200 degrees for 90
to 120 minutes. When the bread has lost all
its moisture and chewiness, turn the oven
up to 350. Check every 30 seconds to make
sure the rectangles are browning consis-
tently.You just want them to have a nice tan.
It’s very easy to burn them. Watch them like
a hawk.
The resulting toast should be almost
delicate, light, and crunchy.
Gorgonzola
¼ pound Gorgonzola d’Oro
Warning: You will need to refrigerate You will need to slice after coming out of
the cheese overnight for inclusion in the the fridge so the gorgonzola slice retains its
recipe. Remove the rind from the cheese cylindrical shape, but you will want it to
with a knife. Put on plastic (or surgical) gently come to room temperature before
gloves and mush together the cheese with it’s served.
your hands until it’s smooth.
Once smoothed out, place the cheese in the
center of a large piece of plastic wrap. Roll
the plastic wrap over the cheese like nori
on a maki sushi roll to make a sausage-like
shape. As you twist the ends of the plastic
wrap, it will reinforce the cylinder shape
(like a roulade). Refrigerate overnight.
You will need to remove the gorgonzola
and slice a couple of hours before serving.
66
 Truffle Honey
4 tablespoon raw fireweed honey
2 tablespoons Bemunge white truffle olive oil

Briefly place a small saucepan on medium heat. Give it a

minute or less to get warm. Remove the pan from the heat.
Slowly heat the honey in a saucepan.

Pour in 4 tablespoons of raw fireweed honey. While stirring

with a metal spoon, slowly pour in two tablespoons of the
truffle oil.

After you are done pouring, continue mixing as you transfer

to medium heat. Continue to mix for 5 minutes while on
Add the oil slowly while stirring
medium heat.
the mixture.
Mixing is critical here.You want the ingredients to integrate.
You are trying to avoid having the oil and honey separate.
You want to mix vigorously but evenly so as to not aerate
the mixture. It will be done when the mixture starts to turn
a little bit cloudy and the ingredients get completely inte-
grated.

Stir until the ingredients are Remove from heat.

super integrated. You don’t want
them to separate.
Leave the mixture out to cool. When cool, put in a small
bowl and seal with plastic wrap. Store at room temperature.

You can choose to heat it a touch before serving.

The deli slicer will result in the

Honey Crisp Apple Slices
thinnest possible slices of the
1 Honey Crisp apple
Honey Crisp apple.

Shave 16 super-thin slices of Honey Crisp apple. Use a deli

slicer if possible. Or a Japanese ceramic slicer if necessary.
You will need to throw away (or eat) the first few slices as
they will be too small to use.

Create the apple slices at the last possible second so they

don’t turn brown while waiting to be served.

67
To Complete
At least an hour before serving, remove
the gorgonzola from the refrigerator. Slice
into 1/3 - to 1/2- inch-thick coin-shaped
discs. Place in the center of the plates on
which they’ll be served. Allow to sit for at
least an hour and gently come to room tem-
perature.
Gently drizzle no more than 1 tablespoon
of truffle honey onto the gorgonzola, drip-
ping a little bit on the plate near the cheese.
Concentrate the bulk of the honey on the
cheese itself.
Layer the apple slices on top of the honey
that’s covering the cheese. Arrange in a
circular pattern with one apple slice in the
center, and 3 others laid as overlapping
petals. Rest the crouton on top.
Serve immediately.
70
 Apple Soup
with Cinnamon Cream
Apple juice? Apple sauce? How about something
in between? A dollop of slightly cinnamoned
cream in the middle makes it complete. The
soup is velvety smooth and still has a heartiness
about it. The liquid coats and calms your mouth,
especially if you’ve just had the gorgonzola ex-
plosion. The color is a deeper version of the col-
or of the walls at Lampreia—muted rose. You
may have thought that the apples had already
given everything they were capable of for this
meal, but this dish comes along to remind you
that there’s more flavor to be had. And more
unique flavor at that.

72
 APPLE SOUP WITH CINNAMON CREAM

‚ 15 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking time, serves 4 „

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

5 Medium-sized Red Delicious Apples
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 ¼ cups Chateau Haute Bernasse
Sea Salt
Powdered Cinnamon
½ cup Organic Heavy 40%Whipping Cream
2 Tablespoons Organic Sour Cream
1/4 cup Fine Powdered Sugar
Juicer

Apple Soup
5 medium-sized Red Delicious apples pinch of sea salt
3 tablespoons olive oil 1 fingerprint powdered cinnamon

This dish can be served warm or cold. vigorously with a wooden spoon. Do this
Room temperature is great, or hot if the until every piece of apple gets coated evenly
weather is particularly cold. In the context with the oil—about 90 seconds. Chef Carsberg starts with Red Chop and core the apple into Mix so that the apples get coated
Delicious apples. quarters. with the olive oil from the pot.
of this tasting menu the soup is being used
as both a palate cleanser and a punctuation As the apples cook, the color of the peel
to the meal. should start to darken a touch. But the color
of the meat of the apples should stay light.
Quarter and core 5 Red Delicious apples of Add a pinch of sea salt. Continue stirring.
medium size. Do not peel. Cut the quarters You want to cook until the edges of the
into thirds.You need them as chunks as they apple start to soften, but you don’t want
are going to stew for awhile. to go too far and start browning the apples.
Cover when you’re not stirring. Mix with a wooden spoon. Salt the mixture to taste. Pour the wine into the mixture.
Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a deep Check to make sure the apples are
not changing color.
saucepan over medium heat. Wait until
the olive oil heats up, and then deposit the
apple chunks into the pan. Immediately stir

73 74
Apple Soup continued
Add 1 ¼ cups of Chateau Haut Bernasse.
This is a sweet wine made like a Sauterne
but originating from Mombazillac. You can
experiment with substituting other sweet
wines of the same region or style.
Bring the contents of the saucepan to a
gentle simmer on medium heat. When the
mixture is simmering evenly across the sur-
face, put a lid on it. Cover and let steep for
3 to 4 minutes.
Remember the peels should get darker but
not completely turn color.You want to keep
the fruit relatively firm.
At this point the mixture should have an
“earthy” smell. Remove from heat.
Once off the heat, put the entire mixture in
the blender. Blend at the maximum setting
for 4 to 5 minutes until there are no pieces
left.
Pour the mixture into a bowl through a fine
sieve. Use a ladle to push the soup through
the holes in the sieve. Salt to taste. No more
than a fingerprint of cinnamon to taste.
Be careful with the cinnamon. It may seem
gentle when you first put some in the soup,
but over time it can sneak up on you and
dominate the flavor. There will be cinnamon
in the cream, so a tiny bit in the soup is really
more than enough. It’s just an echo.

The apples should still have a pulpy Use a ladle to force the mixture
texture post blending. through the strainer.

Once thoroughly cooked, pour the There will be plenty of pulp and Pour the soup into a pitcher for
apple chunks into the blender. stringy remnants after you’re done serving tableside.
using the strainer.

76
 Cinnamon Cream
½ cup organic heavy 40% whipping cream powdered cinnamon to taste
2 tablespoons organic sour cream ¼ cup fine powdered sugar

Whisk the heavy cream in a metal bowl.

Continue whisking until the cream thickens.

Sprinkle in no more than a light pinch of cinna-

mon. Be careful, as cinnamon gets more power-
ful over time and you don’t want it to overpower
the flavor of the soup or the sweetness of the Mix the whipping cream with a
whisk until it thickens.
cream. Add ¼ cup fine powdered sugar and con-
tinue to whisk.

Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to the bowl.

Continue whisking. The sour cream gets added
for thickness and additional flavor. The texture
should be such that the mixture doesn’t fall off A light pinch of cinnamon. No more.
the whisk.

Add the sour cream to the mixture.

Whisk gently.

The final texture of the cream

should be relatively thick and stick
easily to the whisk.

77
To Complete

Pour the soup into a bowl. Place a quenelle of the cinnamon

cream on top of the soup in the bowl just before serving.

To create the quenelle, place the spoon in boiling water just

before you scrape it across the side of the bowl with the cream.
Dragging the spoon should produce an almost oblong egg-like
smooth shaped dollop of cream that slides off the spoon and
floats gently on top of the soup.

Don’t be surprised if this is harder than it looks. It takes prac-

tice to get it right. Luckily, even if your quenelle isn’t perfectly
smooth, it will still taste great.
 Bolzano Apple Cake
Apple Cake. There are seemingly infinite ways to make an ap-
ple cake. But this isn’t just any apple cake. The cake is made of
apples. I mean the dough (actually more of a batter) is really
only there as connective tissue binding the apples together. This
cake is like a wall of apple. Sweet apple bricks laid tightly one
on top of the other. It comes to the table a sugary rectangle. The
top of the cake has caramelized into a crumbly topping. It’s not
only sweet but adds contrasting matte texture and yummy cake
flavors to the stack of apples that make up the body. The body is
super compressed. The texture of the cake is all spongy, buttery,
fruity goodness. The sweet round flavor lasts and gently finishes
the meal with delicious satisfaction.

81
 BOLZANO APPLE CAKE

‚ 40 minutes preparation, 75 minutes cooking time, serves 8 „

SHOPPING & SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

1 ¼ Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
½ CupWhole Milk
1 FreshVanilla Bean
1 Stick (¼ lb) Butter
5 Granny Smith Apples
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
½ cup Farina Flour
Japanese Ceramic Slicer
Powdered Sugar

Apple Cake
1 ¼ cups sugar 1 stick butter
2 eggs 5 Granny Smith apples
1 fresh vanilla bean 2 teaspoons organic baking powder
½ cup whole milk ½ cup Farina flour

Take a 9-inch square baking pan and wrap
the surface completely in tinfoil. Spread
butter from the end of a stick all over the
surface where the batter will sit. Lightly
sprinkle a little bit of flour all over the but-
tered surface. Put aside for later.
Pour 1¼ cups of sugar into a large empty
bowl. Crack 2 eggs into the bowl. Whisk
vigorously.
Split 1 fresh vanilla bean down the middle
with a sharp knife. Scrape the insides out
with the knife edge, being careful not to
scrape off pieces of the husk.
Drop the contents of the pod (now on the
knife) into the bowl with the sugar and egg
mixture.
Take the empty pod and place it in a shallow
saucepan. Pour a ½ cup of whole milk into
the saucepan over the pod. Warm gently on
low heat.
Continue whisking the sugar/egg/vanilla
mixture until all the sugar is dissolved. This
will take a while. The batter should stretch
like a ribbon when you pull the whisk out
of the bowl. The dry ingredients don’t go
in the mixture until the last minute. Set the
batter aside to rest.
Put 1 stick (¼ pound) of butter into a sauce pan.
Leave it to melt slowly over medium heat.
Peel, quarter, and core 5 Granny Smith
apples. Peel the apples so that the peel comes
off in one long “S”. Put the peel in a bowl of
icy cold water so it doesn’t turn brown. You
will use it later as a condiment.
Immediately slice the apple quarters using
the ceramic slicer.
Return to the batter. Whisk while slowly
adding the melted butter, then whisk
vigorously.
Remove the vanilla bean halves from the
milk mixture. Slowly pour the milk into
the batter while whisking. The batter tex-
ture should be a bit “loosey-goosey” and feel
somewhat thin.
Add 2 teaspoons of organic baking powder to
the batter while whisking. Continue whisk-
ing while adding ½ cup of the Farina flour.
Whisk well. The mixture will get slightly
thicker but still flow very easily.

83 84
Apple Cake continued
Dump the apple slices into the mixture. (Don’t squeeze any
water out of the apples.) Mix together gently so as not to
break up the apples.You need just enough batter to bind the
apples together. About 2 to 1 ratio of apple to batter.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake until cooked through Line the baking pan in tinfoil for Split the vanilla bean carefully Scrape the vanilla from inside the Deposit the contents of the vanilla
and through—roughly 80 to 90 minutes. To test whether easy removal of the cake later. with a sharp knife. bean using the sharp knife.Take pod into the sugar and egg mixture.
the cake is done, put a knife in the middle periodically when care not to scrape out the stringy
you think it’s ready. When the knife comes out clean, the membranes that make up the shell
of the pod.
cake should be ready. Touch the blade carefully to your lip
to check that the inside of the cake is hot.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and lay
the cake still in the pan on a rack so air circulates above and
below the pan to cool the cake. After a couple of minutes
the cake will start to recede a little bit from the sides—sink
and shrink. Go around the edge of the cake with a knife to Crack two eggs into the mixing Place the empty pod husks into a Add milk to the saucepan with the Melt the butter in a separate
help it completely recede from the sides of the pan. bowl with the sugar. small saucepan. empty vanilla pod and warm. small saucepan.

Whisk until the sugar has started Once the butter has melted and Make sure the sugar has dissolved The mixture should briefly form
to dissolve. the milk has warmed, they are in the main mixing bowl due to a ribbon when you pull the whisk
ready for use. aggressive whisking. through it.
Start peeling the apples. When peeling the apples, leave a Core the peeled apple quarters. Pour the melted butter into the main Remove the empty pod from the milk. Pour the vanilla milk into the main
lengthy bit of peel in a curly “S” shape mixture and whisk. mixture and whisk vigorously.
for later use as a garnish.

Apples ready for slicing. Slice the apples using the Japanese The resulting slices should be ex- There should be enough batter to Pour the entire mixture into the Make sure the batter is distributed
ceramic slicer. tremely thin. coat and bind the apple slices well baking pan. evenly in the pan.
but no more.

The cake should get to a rich and
dark brown color before it’s truly
ready.
Once the shrinking has begun, use
a sharp knife to go around the perim-
eter of the cake, separating it from
the tinfoil.
Cut away the tinfoil.
Place a clean stainless steel knife
into the cake to see if it’s done.When
the knife comes out clean, the cake
is done.
89
Once the cake is ready, remove it from
the oven, it should start to shrink
from the sides.
Unwrap the foil from the edges of
the pan.
Use a very sharp knife to cut long thin
slices once the cake has cooled.
To Complete
Gently lift the cake out of the pan by holding onto the tinfoil edges. After
cooling, the cake should have shrunken a bit, making it easier to remove.
Once removed, trim off the excess tinfoil with scissors or a knife. Cut off
centimeter-thick edges of the cake (these make for yummy snacking because
the smell of the cake has probably made you super hungry by now.)
Cut the cake into inch-wide strips that go the length of the cake. Remove the
tinfoil. Lay the slice of cake on its side on the plate. Take the apple peel out of
the water. Curl a long piece of the peel as garnish and place next to the cake
on the plate. Generously sprinkle powdered sugar over the cake and peel on
the plate. Serve.
90
 THE MAKING OF ALL ABOUT APPLES

‚ 12 months preparation, hundreds of hours cooking time, serves everyone „

What right do a bunch of amateurs have creating a cookbook?

Even when a world class chef like Scott Carsberg is provid-
ing the recipes and the inspiration? Well, essentially none.
But that didn’t stop us. The truth is, it was Scott’s idea. After
our umpteenth visit to Lampreia, we happened to show him
some pictures we had taken of his food and he suggested we
do a cookbook together. A cookbook.

91
 Doesn’t that require hundreds of recipes, food stylists, a publisher, printing?
We thought for a while, and of course as with many questions, the answer to this one was: the
Internet. What if we published on the web? What if we focused on one delicious and exciting
tasting menu? And of course, we’d apply our obsessive attention to detail and documentation
to the entire process. The result is this cookbook. Eight dishes. All about apples. All from Scott
Carsberg, Chef of Lampreia in Seattle, Washington. Over several weekends we spent time with
Scott and Dana, one of his up-and-coming cooks, in the quiet kitchen at Lampreia. Sunday
mornings we’d get up early to go watch Scott cook. The focus was on making the dishes, but
we were there to question, document, and photograph every single move. It was tough at first.
So many of Scott’s moves in the kitchen are so natural for him, that many times we would have
to say “slow down”, or “what was that”, or “I have no idea what you just did.” At those moments
we’d have to back up, slow down, and retrace our steps so we could get down every detail. Scott
adapted quickly, knowing when to slow down, when to explain in greater depth, and when to
give context to what he was doing. Dana, who assisted throughout the making of most of the
dishes, was quiet, fast, efficient, anticipating Scott’s requests. Like a second set of hands.
Frankly, it was pretty exciting watching him deconstruct the dishes we’d come to know and
love. And as cliché as this may sound, he made it look so easy. And in some ways it was. Scott
93
doesn’t have a staff of twelve cooks working under him. His dishes have to be relatively simple.
But at the same time, they’re not simple at all. The attention to detail, the focus, and the vision
were all evident. Especially when we tried to make them ourselves.
And of course, we had to try making the food ourselves. We didn’t know much about writing a
cookbook, but we knew enough to try and test the recipes. With Alex taking the lead, and me
as his assistant, we cooked all the recipes we’d watched Scott create. And who better than to
judge whether we’d succeeded than Scott himself? This was scary but exciting. After a week
of shopping and planning, a full day of preparation, countless phone calls to clarify confusing
sections of the recipes, we were rapidly approaching the critical moment. Scott, Hyun Joo, and
Dana came over to Alex’s house and we all ate the dishes we’d prepared from the cookbook.
To really make sure we were testing the recipes properly we needed to simulate a reader’s real
environment, which we suspect would almost always be without the chef who created them
sitting in their kitchen offering assistance.
Cooking a chef’s own food and then serving it to him is actually a more stressful exercise than
you might imagine. It was also pretty fun. The biggest challenge was not poaching the foie gras,
or slicing the apples as thin as possible. It was in fact keeping Scott out of the kitchen.
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Even when we were willing to let Scott explain something to us to clarify the recipe, he was often best able to communicate by just
doing it. Needless to say, we got through it. And more often than not the recipes came out quite well. That said, it’s not chemistry. Exact
measurements won’t help you when things are not quite right. Only an understanding of how the dish is supposed to taste, and lots of
practice, will get you to the finish line. And with this cookbook, we’ve tried to give you every possible advantage of how each dish and
each ingredient should look and behave at every step of the process. We’ve even tried to do our best to describe how the end result will
taste. And so finally, this cookbook is complete.We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.
 WHO DID WHAT

CHEF
Scott Carsberg

WRITING
Hillel Cooperman

PHOTOGRAPHY
Peyman Oreizy

DESIGN
Jenny Lam

EDITING
Debra Weissman

RECIPE TESTING
Alex Hopmann

COOKING
Dana Bickford

VIDEOGRAPHY
Deborah Dubrow

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Hyun Joo Paek, Lauren Antonoff,
Chris Evans, and Leslie Evans.

Additional recipe testing and photography by Hillel Cooperman.

Additional videography by Alex Hopmann. Additional photography by Chris Evans.
Additonal editing by Leslie Evans.

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 a tastingmenu creation

New cookbooks arrive every day. Every hour. This is something different. This is something
special. One brilliant chef. Likely not someone you know. One who cooks meals in his own
restaurant every day. One tasting menu. Eight recipes. One hundred pages of obsessive detail.
291 gorgeous photos of every step, not just of the final dish. Read it. Cook from it. Cherish it.
Keep it in a safe place so nobody steals it.

$29.95 US/$35.95 CAN