The gastronomy and gustatory experiences of each European country are given high profiles at Romantica. Furthermore, Africa, Asia and America are significantly represented in our restaurants by a selection of specialities portraying different cultures. The aromas and tastes from the rest of the world are found at the Romantica. Our refined and careful research into flavours and traditions creates an irresistible synergy of… temptations! An oasis where good cooking speaks every language.
Gazpacho, Estremadura Style
4 servings: 2 cloves of peeled garlic - 1 medium green pepper without seeds and cut into strips - 4 wide slices of white bread without crust - 2 eggs - 6 tbsp olive oil - 4 tbsp white wine vinegar - salt.
Preparation
Put the bread into some cold water for a while and then squeeze it. Pound in a mortar the peeled cloves of garlic with some salt. Add the squeezed bread and the stripes of pepper. Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture in the mortar. Pour little by little the oil and go on pounding. When the mixture is well amalgamated transfer it into a soup-tureen and add four cups of very cold water with the vinegar. Adjust salt and serve.
4 servings: 1 fresh salmon of around 1.500 Kg - 3 carrots - 2 onions - 1 bunch of parsley - ½ leaf of bay leaf - 1 stalk of thyme - 1 l of dry white wine - 1 jar of salmon eggs 50 g - 3 lemons - 50 g butter - olive oil - salt and pepper.
Scrape, wash and cut into round slices the carrots, peel and slice the onions, wash the parsley, the thyme and the bay leaf. Pour the white wine and two litres of water into the fish casserole, add the carrots, the onions and the spices, season with salt and pepper. Cover, put on fire and simmer for fifty minutes. After cooling the stock, dip the cleaned and washed fish. Cook on a very low flame for around twenty minutes and then allow the salmon to cool in the stock. Before serving, drain the fish, peel it delicately, fillet, put the fillets on individual plates, season with some oil and decorate with parsley leaves, salmon eggs and lemon slices. Serve with melted butter aromatised with lemon juice.
Chateaubriand is a high beef fillet steak weighing 300-400 g. Beat it delicately, baste with melted butter and cook on the grill. First cook on a high flame, so that a crust will wrap the steak to prevent meat juice from coming out and then lower the flame little by little. A well-done Chateaubriand must be lightly pink inside. The exact cooking point occurs when the steak is quite “elastic”. While cooking, often butter the Chateaubriand, otherwise heat could burn out the steak outside. Salt only when cooking is over. Chateaubriand is generally served with some butter, Maître d'Hôtel Style, on top. The hot roast meat will melt the butter and produce a tasty sauce. The butter, Maître d'Hôtel Style can be prepared by mixing with a knife the butter with the minced parsley and some lemon juice.
Cauliflower, Dubarry Style
4 servings: 1 cauliflower of around 1 kg, 80 g butter, 1/2 l of hot milk, 50 g white flour, 2 yolks, 50 g grated parmesan, salt and freshly ground pepper, some butter for the mould.
Clean the cauliflower, remove the external leaves and wash it. Cut the stalk into slices, divide the tips into small “bunches” and cook in abundant salted water; drain and mash with a fork. Keep the tips aside. Melt 40 g butter till it gets brown, pour it on the puréed cauliflower, add some pepper and mix well. Melt the resting butter in a casserole, add the flour and pour the hot milk little by little. Cook for 15 minutes while stirring. Put off the fire, pour three tbsp of the sauce on the puréed cauliflower and stir carefully. Add the yolks, the salt and the parmesan to the resting sauce and go on stirring till the mixture is tepid. Butter the mould, spread the breadcrumbs and turn it upside down to remove the exceeding bread. Fill the mould with the puréed cauliflower and let it well settle down. Cook in a bain-marie for eight minutes, allow to cool by turning it upside down on a fire-resistant plate. Put the tips on top on one layer. Pour over the sauce, spread some breadcrumbs and bake till the surface is golden and then serve in the same plate.
