Starting as a joke in the family to becoming a brilliant fine dining recipe – Massimo inaugurates the immense class of his art to lovers of haute cuisine through his famous recipe Chicken Chicken Chicken, Where are you? Massimo Bottura, known as the award winning greatest Italian chef in the world and the author of ‘’Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef” – is a rewarded chef of Osteria Francescana which is nestled down a cobbled street in Modena, Italy. Osteris Francescana received three Michelin stars and ranked highest as the best restaurant of Italy coming at number 3 in ‘World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list of the year 2018. His food is a symphony of fine technique and tradition inspired by his great love of contemporary art and ‘’chicken chicken chicken where are you’’ is to no exception. This extraordinary and unique recipe creates a surprising chicken appetizer that is not obvious at first sight – Bottura hides the taste of chicken among the colorful shades of the vegetables.
The story of how the recipe came about goes back to one significant day when Bottura’s daughter was spending her afternoon playing with her plastic kitchen set, she offered to prepare something for her father and later returned from her kitchen with a yellow plate full of colorful plastic vegetables. When Bottura asked what incredible dish she has created, she responded with ‘’Chicken Chicken Chicken, Where are you?’’ and this fond memory is what inspired the famous recipe by Massimo Battura that we know of today. The incentive of the dish was to serve a chicken flavored vegetable salad without a visible trace of the protein itself, the 9 julienned vegetables are bathed in chicken vapor and rested nicely on top of a thick chicken vinaigrette. Bottura believes that games always have rules that you must follow but “art is like cheating – it involves inverting the rules or taking the game apart and changing it“ – he was always daring with his food and willing to take a risk, there was a time when his restaurant got almost shut down because people criticized him for his creative touch but now his food has become an experience for those who are fortunate to get a taste, and for that he is renowned and loved by the world.
For the broth
Chicken bones of 8 chickens
Scallion – 1 bunch
Ginger root – 1
Leek – 3 each
Garlic Head – 1 cut in half
Celery – 1 whole
Shitake mushrooms – 200g dried
Kombu algae – 1 lead
Salt – to taste
For the vegetables
Daikon – 1
Carrot – 1
Celery – 1 stalk
Cucumber – 1
Scallion – 1
Koppert Cress – 4 leaves
Lemon peel – 1 blanched
Violet flower – petals of 1
Fennel – 1
Ginger root – 1
Balsamic vinegar – to taste
Preparation:
Begin by placing the bones in a pot of cold water and slowly boil them for approximately 6 hours.
Then combine with all the other ingredients and start boiling on a high heat till it reduces by 1/3.
Strain the ingredients and let them reduce to the consistency of your preference.
Then, nicely julienne cut all the vegetables.
After spreading a thin veil of tepid sauce on a serving plate, in separate knots place the vegetables on top, creating a 3×3 grid like tic tac toe.
Dress the knots with 3 drops of traditional balsamic vinegar and you’re ready to serve!
Check out the video of Massimo Bottura preparing the recipe!
