MARC LESTER / Anchorage Daily News
Orso's executive chef Patrick Hoogerhyde takes diners on a tour of
northern Italy with Gorgonzola, truffles, earthy wines and more
ingredients. The fare is part of a winter tour of the Mediterranean
which changes locales monthly. Seasonal selections sweep you
away to the Mediterranean.
By Mike Peters
mpeters@adn.com
Published: December 5, 2007
Last Modified: December 6, 2007 at 05:18 AM
As I listen to Patrick Hoogerhyde in an effusive burst about the
mushrooms and the risotto of Piedmont, I can't help thinking of
Mark Twain.
"Nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that
nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people,"
Twain wrote in an 1867 letter to a San Francisco newspaper.
That pleasure of discovery radiates from the executive chef's thinking
this winter as he launches a Mediterranean tour at Orso.
"When you're founded as Ristorante Orso, that connotes fine dining with a very Italian sensibility," he says. "We're proud that's our reputation, but I wanted to loosen it up a bit."
So the fresh-fare menu -- a short list of seasonal features -- has a broader Mediterranean outlook; it's a savory cruise around a region that boasts some of the world's greatest cooking traditions. Diners "can play around with one or two items," he said, or enjoy the whole program as a coursed dinner "making a culture journey in a meal."
He adds: "Each month we'll do four items -- maybe not perfectly authentic, but adjusted to make the price and the preparation time reasonable."
Hoogerhyde's culinary getaway to Spain, which began the series in November, immediately required one of those adjustments. He couldn't resist offering a paella, even though the time limits of a restaurant meal wouldn't allow preparing each saffron-clouded feast to order.
But the chef found ways to keep it real, including carmelizing the finished dish of rice, chicken and seafood in the pan, "so the rice is almost burnt -- not in taste but in texture," he says. That created the tastiest morsels in the pan, which "traditionally were reserved for the head of the household."
In November at Orso, the goodies were dispersed more democratically.
Hoogerhyde jumps into the Piedmont region of northern Italy this month, choosing standards that will give Anchorage diners a tasty representation of the food culture: Gorgonzola, deep-flavored chocolate, truffles and other mushrooms, and wines that are rich and earthy.
"It's a very decadent area," he says. "They like to show off the quality of their foods."
The resulting four courses begin with a robust risotto, Arborio rice simmered in red wine-porcini stock, finished with roasted Cremini mushrooms, cracked black pepper and grated parmesan cheese ($7.50). Hoogerhyde loves the rosy cast that the wine gives the risotto, but he says the wine is more important for flavor than presentation.
Next: A grilled insalata, with romaine hearts, radicchio, peppers, scallions and hazelnuts tossed with truffle vinaigrette ($6.50).
The entree is grilled tenderloin of beef, with a lightly crusted cap of creamy gorgonzola. Underneath: walnut-apricot polenta, with arugula tossed in mustard vinaigrette, all set in a pool of wine-veal reduction ($31).
The wine chosen for this course by Orso's Chad Cully deserves a note: The Barbaresco combines the harvest of about 10 Piedmont wineries. Cully says Barbaresco is "the sister wine to Barolo, light in color but big in taste with strawberry fruit and pronounced aromas of truffles and earth."
I've long been frightened by the aura of strawberry in wine, but this was a near- religious experience. I could hardly keep my face out of the glass during dinner, which I sampled one night after chatting with the chef on the phone.
If you stick with this menu all evening, you'll finish with whipped cream folded into ruby port-infused zabaione layered with fresh strawberries ($6.50).
These seasonal dishes are offered in addition to Orso's standing menu. "The traveling menu is designed to intrigue our customers, not to alienate them," said Hoogerhyde with a chuckle.
And because teasing tastes from around the Mediterranean is the game plan, each month will also feature one or two items from a different port of call. Diners this week, for example, can sample a Tunisian-style mahi mahi, kissed with saffron and served with rice, white raisins and almonds. Call it a sneak preview: Hoogerhyde has planned a North Africa menu for next month.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play dining reviewer Mike Peters can be reached at mpeters@adn.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Journeys on the menu
This month: Italy's Piedmont region
January: North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria)
February: Egypt, Syria, Turkey
March: Greece
April: France's Provence region
Try it at home: Patrick Hoogerhyde shares the recipe for his grilled Romaine salad, Insalata ai Ferri, at play.adn.com/dining.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredients (per person):
2 Romaine hearts, sliced in half lengthwise
1 Radicchio head, wedged, oil rubbed, KSP and lightly grilled
1⁄4 red bell pepper
3 scallions
1⁄2 oz. Hazelnuts, lightly toasted
Truffle vinaigrette
Garnish: pepper tableside
PROCEDURE:
Slice Romaine hearts in half lengthwise. Cut radicchio in half, then cut each half into thirds to make wedges. Lightly grill Romaine and radicchio.
Julienne the red peppers by cutting into 1⁄4-inch thick strips. Rub pepper strips and whole, trimmed scallions in oil, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and white pepper, and grill lightly.
On each plate, drizzle Romaine and radicchio with vinagrette, and add scallions, peppers and hazelnuts.
TRUFFLE VINAIGRETTE:
3 oz. (wt.) fine diced shallot
2 cups champagne vinegar
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
3 oz. Canola oil
2 oz. Truffle oil
1⁄4 cup chives, sliced
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste