Name: Calamari, cucumber, tomatillo
Yield: Serves 8 starter portions
Ingredients: salt and pepper to taste; 1 green jalapeno; salt and pepper; 16 g chives – rinsed, drained, dried and sliced into small rounds; 56 garlic flower petals; 2 celery bunches – washed, with outer layer removed; 24 chive flower buds; 1–2 lemons – for squeezing; salt; ice bath; 12 fresh tomatillos – halved horizontally; 10 g fresh coriander; ½ medium-sized red onion – sliced; 1 clove garlic; 7 g fresh oregano; 63 g cherry tomatoes; 2 cucumbers – the skins; 3 g ground cumin; 7 g coarse salt; 240 g (or 32 small) calamari tubes – cleaned; cucumber flesh left over from making the dried skins; 3 g sugar; 125 g tomatillos; olive oil; 30 ml chicken stock; 2 limes – the juice

Preparation info

Serves 8
starter portions

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Mile 8

By David Higgs

Published 2018

About

The salted dried cucumber gets this intense seaweedy flavour, which then softens on the palate and adds a fullness to the dish. These little calamari tubes are a great idea to put on the fire while it’s too hot to cook meat. Lovely little starter. You could just eat them straight off the coals.

Ingredients

Dried cucumber skins

2 cucumbers – the skins
7 g coarse salt

Method

Peel the cucumbers in ribbons (you need 24 for this recipe) and place the skins in a vacuum bag with the salt – reserve the flesh. Vacuum pack the skins and hang the bag at room temperature for 12 days. After 12 days, remove the skins from the bag and brush away any remaining large pieces of salt. Place the skins on a dehydrator rack and dehydrate at 54°C for 48 hours or until the skins are dar