Nothing predestined Alexandre Baumard to cooking. Son of the boss of a construction company, south of Angers, he owes his passion to Sunday markets and dishes concocted with his father who challenged him to find new flavors.
A vocation which has led him today to manage two Michelin-starred establishments, Le Logis de la Cadène in Saint-Émilion, and since January The Gabriel in Bordeaux, where Alexandre Baumard has just obtained a star after an opening last September.
This success owes nothing to chance. Encouraged by two uncles cooks, Alexandre decides at 16 to follow a culinary training in Saumur, then improves himself alongside very great chefs: Benoît Vidal, Laurent Saudeau, but especially Paul Bocuse, who teaches him the essentials of the technique, and Christophe Bacquié, his real training master.
At the Gabriel, Alexandre Baumard is in the starting blocks to open his terrace facing the Garonne as soon as possible, while awaiting authorization for the gastronomic. The young chef is all the more eagerly awaited by gourmets as Gaut-et-Millau also rewarded him in its 2021 edition with the “Grand de Demain” trophy.
Three hats for a kitchen that seeks to twist the most classic dishes. Because Alexandre Baumard is always looking for the touch of originality that will sign his creations, such as the daring marriage between eel and onion that he offers you below. Let us add to Alexandre Baumard’s cuisine the remarkable desserts of Damien Amilien.
Ingredients for four :
4 Cévennes onions, 4 yellow onions, 300 g liquid cream, 50 g marinated and chopped anchovy fillet, 200 g smoked eel, 165 g flour, 250 g beer, 1 egg, coarse salt, oil of frying, olive oil, butter, salt, pepper.
Preparation :
Cook the four Cévennes onions on a 3 cm bed of coarse salt, whole and without removing the skin, in a dry oven at 110 ° C for 6 to 7 hours. After cooking, cut them to obtain a cap and the body of the onion. Empty the insides of bodies and hats, keeping enough layer to allow them to keep their shape.
Mince the insides to make the onion purée. Sear them in a saucepan heated with olive oil, then cook them over low heat until they form a compote, stirring regularly. At the end of cooking, add 100 g of cream and reduce. Mix and pass through a Chinese cheesecloth. Adjust the seasoning and reserve the equivalent of 8 tablespoons of this onion puree.
In the remainder, add the 200 g of cream, bring to the boil, adjust the seasoning. Put this mixture in the whipped cream siphon with two gas cartridges. Shake the siphon well and keep warm.
Mince three yellow onions. Melt a piece of butter in a saucepan and add the onions to it. Cook over low heat until you obtain a soft compote. Season and add the chopped anchovy fillets. Reserve this compote.
Stop, if necessary, your piece of smoked eel. Cut it into large cubes. Reserve.
Make a tempura with the flour, beer, egg and a pinch of salt. Cut the last yellow onion into a ring and keep about fifteen medium-sized rings. Dip each of them in tempura and fry them in a deep frying pan. Drain them on absorbent paper. Season with salt and set aside.
Put two tablespoons of onion puree and a tablespoon of onion compote with anchovies in the bottom of each Cévennes onion. Divide the eel cubes among the onions and heat in a dry oven for 4 minutes at 190 ° C. Take out of the oven, using a torch, lightly burn the outside of each onion. Finish garnishing with the siphon and arrange a few fried rings. Close with the hat to serve.
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