Everything starts with the egg

Playing with consistencies and the seasonality of products are the directors of chef Ciccio Sultano and his kitchen staff in the orchestration of new recipes inserted in the winter menu at the restaurant in Ragusa Ibla.

The chef, inspired by his creative side, pushed experimentation in the preceding months, instilling in each new dish a definitive line of continuity: a certain “apparent contradiction”.

Among the dishes that appear in the restaurant’s new menu is “Tutto parte dall’uovo” (Everything starts with an egg), a dish that tells the story of the province of Ragusa through the juxtaposition of flavor between land and sea.

For this selection – explained Sultano – we decided, first and foremost, to feature the egg, a product from Aia Gaia, the free-range hen purveyors that lie in the valley below Ibla. In the center is a poached egg, sitting next to a barbequed artichoke, followed by hollowed and fried shrimp (like potato chips, in texture) stuffed with local wild mushroom paté.

The juxtaposition of consistencies is particularly sublime; the crunchy outer layer and the soft, enveloping interior.

Solidity, on the one hand, and softness on the other – notes Sultano – memories deeply tied to childhood when you ate everything with your hands. The advice I would give to understand the essence of this dish, is to approach first with the sense of ‘touch’, followed by that of ‘taste’. This simple gesture will allow for a tangible experience of density, without imagining, in fact, the soft center that will be found when brought to the palate.

Consistencies – concluded the chef – are able to forge a path and weave a story that begins with the eyes – the gaze – and then continues on to the senses. Impressionable.”

You’ve never tried? Don’t wait! The new selections of the restaurant are ready and waiting for those in search of unusual, refined flavors.