Guilhem Sevin has taken over the reins of the Christian Etienne restaurant, right next to the Palais des Papes. Today as yesterday, the chef orchestrates creative, local (from the South) and seasonal cuisine, which highlights the strengths of the tomato.
Which varieties to favor?
Opt for old varieties, including beefsteak, all-terrain. Provided that they are irregular in shape and come more surely from the Bouches-du-Rhône than from Almería, for example. Brief, run away from the calibrated ones and read the labels!
How to store tomatoes?
You have to understand that it is she who decides when we eat it! The best is to have a small exterior where to store it for a few days at most. Never put it in the refrigeratorespecially if you eat it raw.
Everything is eaten in the tomato?
Apart from the peduncle and the skin, because it is not interesting in taste. It will be used fried for decoration, or dehydrated and reduced to powder. To remove it, immerse the tomatoes in pairs for a few seconds in a small saucepan of boiling water, then in ice water. The idea is to cause a “flash” on the skin, but not to cook it.
The chef’s dessert: an amazing and very simple floating island of tomatoes
For 8 people.
Grate the zest of 1 lime. Remove the stem from 1 kg of tomatoes. Cut them into pieces without peeling them. Mix them in the blender with the lemon juice, 300 g of flower honey, 5 cl of sweet olive oil and 150 g of ground almonds. Strain this coulis to keep the pulp without skins. Whip 8 egg whites until stiff with 1 pinch of salt and 200 g of incorporated sugar in two steps. Boil 1 liter of milk, shape egg white dumplings with 2 spoons and poach them in the milk for 2 minutes. Drain and reserve. Quickly mix 100 g of mint leaves with 100 g of flower honey and the lemon zest. In soup plates, pour the tomato coulis, place the egg whites and add the pesto. Enjoy with honey madeleines.
Corinne and Guilhem Sevin, Sevin restaurant, 1 Michelin star, in Avignon.
Read also :
⋙ 6 unusual facts about the tomato, the star fruit of summer
⋙ 5 recipe ideas with tomatoes
⋙ The mistake we all make with tomatoes