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Hispi Cabbage with Allium Glaze
Pressure-Cooked Hispi Cabbage with Allium Glaze, Fermented Onion Veloute, and Pickled Walnut Ketchup
A vegan starter celebrating the humble hispi cabbage. The cabbage is cooked whole in a pressure cooker with seaweed stock for umami, then formed into a ballotine, charred on the barbecue, and glazed with a reduced onion stock (allium glaze). Served on salsa verde with bruised rye grains, an aerated fermented onion sauce (veloute), dots of pickled walnut ketchup (made with salted walnuts, port, nutmeg, horseradish), and fresh garden garnishes. The dish was served in Paul's mum's handmade cabbage dish.
Lisa Goodwin-Allen scored this an 8. Lisa said: "Your storytelling was clear. To pick such a humble ingredient and make it the star was a bold move. The cabbage was perfectly cooked. It had a nice crunch to it. However, it could have just done with a bit more onion glaze. The fermented onion sauce gave great acidity, but I would not aerate it. Your pickled walnut ketchup, when I tasted it in the kitchen, it was very powerful and I was a little bit worried, but you balanced it very well. Overall, it was a joy to eat, but it was a little bit small."
FINALS JUDGING -- Changes: Cabbage charred on barbecue for more caramelisation -- "a lot more sticky, a lot more caramelized." Onion sauce given more body but not aerated (Lisa's feedback). Ballotines chilled rapidly in ice bath then frozen for tighter, denser texture. Served in hand-knitted cabbage leaves (made by Paul's mum).
Phil: "I absolutely love that. I thought it was delicious. I love hispi cabbage. Done beautifully. Lovely char. The fermented onion sauce and the little pickly base just brought a little acidity that cut through the whole thing."
Debbie: "It was crispy and it was definitely tasty. I enjoyed that."
Lorna: "I do find the actual hispi cabbage and all the bits in there just a bit too sweet."
Tom: "100% agree [with Lorna]. I love how it's presented. I think it's really good fun, but I think it lacks a savoriness, a crispiness. There's a bit of texture that's missing in it."
Debbie (dissenting): "I didn't really get that sweetness."
Phil (dissenting): "I wasn't bothered by the sweetness."
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