ART INSPIRES DINNER

On November 19 the Museo Nacional del Prado, Spain’s national art museum, marks its bicentennial. It’s been a year-long series of events and special exhibitions to celebrate the occasion. 

The commemoration of the Prado and some of its masterpieces (Goya, El Greco, Velázquez, Hieronymus Bosch, Sorolla---) inspired at least one chef to create a special dinner menu featuring dishes inspired by the paintings. José Luque, executive chef at the Westin Palace Hotel, Madrid, served the special menu at the Restaurante La Rotonda at the Palace during several months.

According to notes on the menu, the dishes were imagined as creating a dialogue between the art of painting and the culinary arts, translating the emotion and beauty of the selection of masterpieces into flavor, aroma, texture and color on the plates.

Here’s the menu by Chef José Luque and its links to the paintings from the Prado.

Sorolla's "Boys on the Beach." (Museo Nacional del Prado

Mediterranean red shrimp carpaccio, as created by Chef José Luque of the Westin Palace, Madrid.

Aperitif: Sparkling sangría with aromatic flavors from the vineyard. (The Drunkards or The Feast of Bacchus by Velázquez.)

Starter: Mediterranean red shrimp carpaccio, seaweed, coastal citrus with extra virgin olive oil emulsion. (Boys on the Beach by Sorolla.)

Fish course: Sea bass fillet, pil pil sauce, on a bed of potato. (The Naked Maja, by Goya.)

Main course: Gola, moussaka, ouzo (beef moussaka in a pastry crust). (The Nobleman with His Hand on His Chest, by El Greco.)

Pre-dessert: Sugar and cocoa “cotton floss.” (Agnus Dei, by Zurburán.)

Dessert: Chocolate textures, fruit, flowers, crunchy rocks. (The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Bosch.)

The Naked Maja, by Goya. (Museo Nacional del Prado.)

The naked sea bass, dish created by Chef José Luque.

"The inspiration for this recipe arose from the contemplation of the luminosity and sensuality of the body of the naked woman portrayed in Francisco de Goya’s work. Chef José Luque has “undressed” a sea bass of its skin and placed it upon a bed of potato, bringing to mind the settee on which the master painter from Aragon represented his Naked Maja. A light, garlic, infused sauce completes the tribute to a masterpiece which allowed Goya to deal with the traditional image of a reclining Venus in a modern way." (Menu notes special menu commemorating the Prado Museum bicentennial, Westin Palace, Madrid.)

I love it! The naked Maja as fish! I had to give it a try.

The Naked Sea Bass
La Lubina Desnuda

This is my interpretation of the dish created by Chef José Luque. (I did not have his recipe.) I placed the fish on a bed of spinach, which reminded me of the green velvet divan in the original painting. I couldn't figure out what the chef used for the maja's hair. I used strands of seaweed. 

Serves 4.

4 (6-ounce) skinless sea bass fillets
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 medium potatoes
Spinach leaves (optional)
½ cup pil pil sauce, warmed
Seaweed spaghetti, rehydrated by soaking for 15 minutes 

Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper and allow to come to room temperature.

Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender. Peel them, cut in thick slices, brush with olive oil and keep warm.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Place ¼ cup oil in a baking pan large enough to hold the fillets in one layer. Heat the pan in the oven for 3 minutes. Lay the fish fillets in the oil and roast them until the flesh just flakes, about 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and keep the fish warm.

If using spinach, blanch the whole leaves by dipping them in boiling water. Drain well and spread the leaves on plates.

Place slices of potato on the plates. Nap them with pil pil sauce. Arrange sea bass fillets sensuously on the potato “cushions”. Spoon a little sauce over the fish. Garnish with strands of seaweed spaghetti. If desired, scatter some of reserved fried garlic from the pil pil sauce on top of the fish.

My rendition of the sea bass fillet with pil pil sauce.

Pil Pil Garlic Sauce
Salsa Pil Pil

I’ve made cod with pil pil sauce many times. It entails swirling warm oil into the gelatinous juices from the cod skin.  But this time, perhaps because it was such a small quantity, the sauce did not emulsify. Consulting “Chef Google,” I discovered the truco of whisking the sauce with a small strainer. Yes, as in “tea strainer”. It works.

8 ounces salt cod with skin, cut into 4 pieces and desalted
4 cloves garlic, sliced crosswise
Chile
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Remove cod from the water in which it soaked. Rinse the cod and very gently squeeze out excess water.

Heat the oil in a small skillet. Add the sliced garlic and chile and fry until garlic is just golden, 30 seconds. Skim out the garlic and chile and reserve them. Carefully pour the oil in the pan into a heat-proof measuring cup. 

Return ¼ cup of the oil to the skillet. Place the pieces of cod in the oil, skin side down and cook 2 minutes, shaking the pan so the skin doesn't stick. Very carefully turn the pieces of cod, skin side up. Cook 3 minutes more. Remove the pieces of cod from the pan. (If the sauce is to be used with the sea bass, save the cod for another use.)

Place the pan over a very low heat. Use a small strainer to very gradually whisk in the remaining warm oil. Continue whisking with the strainer until the oil emulsifies and the sauce is as thick as mayonnaise. 

Serve the sauce spooned over fish or vegetables. Sprinkle with the fried garlic.

The Westin Palace Hotel, Madrid.

Recipes with seaweed.

The real pil pil recipe: Salt Cod with Garlic Pil Pil Sauce.