With a large part of the global hospitality industry suffering due to the closures and restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, many of the world’s greatest culinary personalities have been forced to practice their art at home. From here, many are sharing their expertise and homemade recipes with the world via social media.
While we get ready to bring you the 50 Best chefs’ favourite recipes in an e-cookbook that will also help the industry in its recovery, here are 11 meals you can make at home following the likes of René Redzepi, Gaggan Anand and Leonor Espinosa – click on the Instagram posts to discover the full method
The 50 Best team is working hard to bring you Home Comforts: simple lockdown recipes from the world’s best chefs and bartenders, an e-cookbook compiling unique recipes that chefs from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and beyond are making at home. The cookbook will be made available to download in June in return for a small donation to the 50 Best Recovery Fund, one of our initiatives to support the hospitality industry during the pandemic. See the full 50 Best for Recovery programme here.
1. Roast potatoes with olive and lemon mayonnaise
Rasmus Kofoed, Geranium, Denmark
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This recipe by the Danish chef behind the restaurant ranked No.5 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 has the triple advantage of being simple, inexpensive and delicious. The roast potatoes are oven roasted with garlic and easily interchangeable aromatic herbs, and accompanied by a mayonnaise flavoured with mustard, lemon, chopped olives and parsley. Perfect for a lazy weekend brunch and best enjoyed on your balcony, patio or garden while staying safely at home.
2. Roast chicken
Mitsuharu Tsumura, Maido, Peru
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This roast bird is picture-perfect next to Kofoed’s roast potatoes for a bit of Peruvian-Scandinavian fusion. The secret is in the marinade, which Peruvian chef Mitsuharu Tsumura of Lima-based Maido makes with beer, mustard, cumin, oregano, rosemary, vinegar, garlic and Chinese cinnamon. The chef highlights that ingredients can be easily swapped, so don’t leave the house if you’re missing anything – instead, be creative with whatever you have to hand. Marinate in the fridge for at least six hours (overnight works perfectly), then roast the whole chicken in the oven or on a charcoal grill.
3. Pasta with vegetarian “Bolognese” sauce
Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin, US
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This plant-based version of the traditional pasta sauce from Bologna, Italy, is sure to retain the toothsome consistency of the original recipe thanks to the coarsely chopped and pan-fried mushrooms. It can be made in just half an hour with ingredients from your pantry and will taste great with any pasta – though fresh egg-based pasta (such as tagliatelle) will yield the best result. Enjoy with hard Italian cheese, such as Grana Padano, on top.
4. Beef and potatoes
Jefferson and Janaina Rueda, A Casa do Porco, Brazil
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Brazilian chef Jefferson Rueda has been sharing how to make many of the homemade meals he’s cooking with his family, including wife and fellow chef Janaina Rueda and their two children. This simple recipe for braised beef with potatoes is best made in a pressure cooker and results in a stew with plenty of delicious sauce to flavour white rice or to scoop up with fresh bread.
5. Chicken tikka masala
Gaggan Anand, Restaurant Gaggan Anand, Thailand
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While his flagship restaurant in Bangkok is closed, Indian chef Gaggan Anand has been delivering delicious dishes from his newest opening, a Mexican-Indian fusion spot called Ms Maria & Mr Singh. But he has also been sharing his favourite recipes from the casual restaurant on Instagram, allowing foodies outside of the delivery radius to recreate his flavoursome meals.
While Anand’s chicken tikka masala recipe commands a fairly long ingredient list, the preparation is simple enough, and nearly all components are easy to find in most supermarkets. The chef recommends enjoying it with tortilla, Indian bread or rice.
6. Clams and mushrooms
José Avillez, Belcanto, Portugal
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This quick and easy recipe by Portuguese chef José Avillez – whose Lisbon restaurant Belcanto ranks at No.42 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 – needs only six ingredients: olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, clams, white wine and lemon, plus fresh herbs to finish. Perfect for any seafood lover, it packs the fresh tastes of the Mediterranean diet into a dish that can be ready in less than half an hour.
7. Strawberry tart
Romain Meder, Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenée, France
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From his home in France, Romain Meder – culinary legend Alain Ducasse’s right hand – has been sharing simple recipes to make in your own kitchen, such as this strawberry tart prepared using stale bread and chickpea (or lentil) flour. Ready in about an hour, it’s an early taste of summer and would look great on anyone’s Instagram feed.
8. Arroz sepultado
Leonor Espinosa, Leo, Colombia
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Colombian chef Leonor Espinosa has been sharing plenty of recipes from lockdown in Bogotá, all equally delicious, but this hearty arroz sepultado (buried rice) has to take the prize for simplicity. White rice is covered in a tasty red pepper, onion, garlic and tomato sauce, then topped with a generous serving of hard Italian cheese, such as Grana Padano (or any other cheese you have at hand), and baked in the oven until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
9. Senegalese-style chicken rice
Yannick Alléno’s acolyte Alioune, L'Abysse, France
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Rather than sharing his own meals, celebrated French chef Yannick Alléno has been giving a voice to his team through his Instagram by sharing their recipes inspired by different corners of the world. There are plenty to choose from on his page, but this Senegalese-style chicken rice grabbed our attention thanks to its straightforward process and easy-to-find list of ingredients. You can count on this recipe for a filling, satisfying midweek meal.
10. Asian-style beef tartare
Luke Dale-Roberts, The Test Kitchen, South Africa
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Spicy mayo, hoisin dressing and coriander pesto pack this recipe full of cross-continental flavour – though this preparation will entail a few more steps than most of the others in this article. It was the first dish that Dale-Roberts added to the menu at La Colombe, Franschhoek, South Africa after starting there, and it will allow you to recreate restaurant flavours at home (though a visit to an Asian supermarket may be needed if you want to follow the recipe to the dot). All you’ll need is a food processor, a whisk and a frying pan. Follow the chef’s tips on presentation for a perfectly Instagrammable dish.
11. Pasta with chicken wing garum
René Redzepi, Noma, Denmark
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To make a pasta dish as creamy, comforting and umami-laden as that in René Redzepi’s post, you need one essential ingredient that we all have in abundance right now: time. An investment will be rewarded with a dish that will warm you up from the inside out.
In his and David Zilber’s latest book, The Noma Guide to Fermentation, the Danish chef reveals his easy-to-follow recipe for garum, a fermentation technique dating back to the Roman Empire. The only ingredients required are chicken wings, chicken bones, salt and koji (which can be bought on Amazon). The garum can be made at home in a crockpot (slow-cooker) or electric rice cooker (see recipe here) and takes a minimum of four weeks to ferment into the rich and potent paste.
Once you have your garum, all you’ll need is pasta, eggs, hard Italian cheese and ground pepper, plus optional bacon and chives, to eat just like the Redzepis at home.
Visit the Restaurant Recovery Hub and the Bar Recovery Hub to explore useful resources and read the stories of chefs and bartenders around the world. Follow 50 Best on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to discover positive initiatives by the worldwide hospitality industry.
