Michelin chef creates winter menu

Beijing foodies have something to look forward to, as two-star Michelin restaurant chef Mauro Colagreco has introduced a new winter menu at French restaurant Azur at the Shangri-La Hotel Beijing.

The chef came to China's capital from Oct 30 to Nov 2 as one of the four visits he makes annually to the restaurant, to instruct the resident chefs in the creation of seasonal menus.

Although Colagreco now calls Argentina home, he was born in Italy and brings that influence into his cooking. Just last week, he paired white truffle from Alba in Italy with slow-cooked egg, and also with turbot and pot chicken, wowing Beijing diners who were lucky enough to eat at the restaurant when the chef was in town.

But the chef's main mission on this visit was to prepare seasonal dishes for the increasingly chilly Chinese capital. Although he is a master of different styles, he has made the winter menu more classically French, instead of the restaurant's usual southern France style, according to the hotel.

Beef, lamb, seafood, butter and cheese and classic French cooking methods, as well as slow cooking, are used to create French dishes that are rich in nutrition to ward of the winter chill.

Some of the highlights of the winter menu are lobster thermidor with wild rice, royal bouillabaisse (scallops, king crab, prawns, clams and Japanese sea bream), coconut, coriander, mushroom veloute and roast lamb rack.

Colagreco likes different textures and ingredients in his dishes, often with contrasting effects. In Beijing, he has found Peking roast duck to be one of the Chinese foods with the contrast he likes best - the skin is crispy, but then there is the accompanying grease and soft flesh.

Meanwhile, some popular dishes from the previous menu, such as a dish called "forest" with quinoa, mushroom and potato, and French Gillardeau oyster with leek, milk and pear, will be preserved on the new menu.

The 35-year-old chef was awarded his second Michelin star in 2012. He established his own restaurant Mirazur in Menton, South France in 2006, which was awarded its first Michelin star just 10 months after opening. The restaurant has risen from No 6 to No 4 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants 2017 ranking.

The recommended winter menu at the restaurant costs 698 yuan ($105) per person.

yejun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/04/2017 page10)