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Guest Chef - Amici
DGJan09
Guest chef
Justin Yearwood
at Amici, A Trattoria
Justin Yearwood is a Jamaican-born chef with an Argentinian wife, a Thai mentor and a love of Spanish food who is currently running an Italian restaurant. With the help of chef de cuisine Franco Caritano, who hails from the Abruzzi region of Italy, he is revamping the Amici, A Trattoria menu at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort on Cable Beach. He wants to offer food that is “more rustic, simple and fresh. I want to get people used to slow food—roasting, braising—because you don’t have that culture here.”
He talks a lot about different cultures and the pleasures of exploring them. And his cosmopolitan palate means that he is not afraid to “bring a little tropical” even into traditional Italian cuisine.
The 33-year-old Yearwood left Jamaica in the 1980s, at such a young age he can barely remember his time there. His father was an accountant with wanderlust, and Yearwood grew up in cities as far-flung as New York, London and Manchester. By the time he graduated as valedictorian from a private school in Barbados, he had narrowed his career choices down to two: chef or graphic artist. “I loved art, because it was all about presenting your ideas,” he says. “But I liked cooking because you could eat it.”
He became fascinated by the science of food, inspired by great culinary experimenters such as Catalan chef Ferran Adrià, and while studying in Miami would happily spend his summers travelling abroad, especially to Barcelona, so he could “stosh,” or volunteer to work without pay in other people’s kitchens.
“One day I’ll stop this,” he says, referring to his executive role as a team-builder and trainer, “and go back to simply cooking and learning more about food.” Even now he would happily stosh for someone like Adrià, or the Californian Thomas Keller: “Think what you could learn from people like that!”
As a gifted academic who holds an MBA in international business, Yearwood takes education seriously and is proud of the local cooks he is bringing along in the Amici kitchen.
“A good mentor is vital for a chef,” he says, and after joining the Sheraton group in 1993 he thinks he got one of the best—if most eccentric.
Sam Boon was born in Thailand and had to scrape a living as a Muay Thai boxer and part-time sculptor before he turned to cooking. He eventually became the Sheraton group’s troubleshooter chef, flown in to sort out problems and open new restaurants.
“With his background, he had no trouble with discipline,” says Yearwood. “Once he was making an ice sculpture, and when it went wrong he smashed it with his bare hands. That’s impressive.”
But Boon is also a fastidious craftsman who, Yearwood says, would demonstrate how to grind ordinary knives into specialist tools if he wanted to achieve some effect. “He taught me you don’t need a lot of fancy stuff—you can do anything from scratch,” says Yearwood. “That’s a good lesson to learn if you’re a cook.”
Pork loin stuffed withshrimp and plantain
Guava glaze
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 cup minced onion
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 can guava marmalade (18 oz)
1 can tomato salsa (8 oz)
2 tbsp dark corn syrup
2 tbsp white vinegar
Combine all the ingredients and simmer in a large saucepan for 1-1/2 hours. Set aside.
Pork loin
1 pork loin (5 lb)
Adobo seasoning
1 ripe plantain
12 whole garlic cloves
1 lb 16/20 peeled and deveined shrimp
Season pork loin with Adobo and stuff with the garlic, shrimp and plantain Sear on both sides and bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 18 minutes per pound. When the meat is nearly fully cooked, lacquer with guava glaze and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes. Place on a serving platter. Serves 8.
Scorch grouper
1 lb grouper (sliced uniformly thin)
Marinade
1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
Bird pepper to taste
Optional extras
1 tbsp micro celery
1 small red or white onion, sliced very thin and rinsed in cold water
3-4 radishes, sliced very thin
1/4 tomato, seeded and cut into strips
Combine the lime juice, salt, garlic and cilantro. Put the fish in a glass or non-reactive container. Add 1 qt boiling water and let sit for 10 mins. Drain water and pat dry. Place fish back into dish. Pour the lime juice mixture over the fish and let chill for up to 1 hour, stirring once or twice during this time to make sure all the surfaces are covered. After 1 hour, the fish should look white and opaque. Drain off the lime juice mix and toss the fish with olive oil to stop the “cooking.” Season to taste. Toss in optional extras or simply serve as is in half a fresh coconut. Serves 8.
Tiramisu
6 eggs, separated
3 tbsp white sugar
1 lb mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups strong Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, room temperature
28 ladyfingers
8 oz finely chopped Swiss bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp Kahlua (per serving)
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with electric mixer until light yellow, 1 min. Beat in mascarpone, brandy and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold egg whites into mascarpone mixture. Quickly dip ladyfingers, one at a time, in cooled coffee and arrange them in a small baking dish. Use 15 cookies to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the tiramisu crust and sprinkle 6 oz of the chocolate on top. Repeat the soaked cookies and cheese layers. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 6 hours or more. For service, scoop eight even amounts into 10 oz glasses. Drizzle 2 tbs Kahlua on top and sprinkle with the remainder of the Swiss bittersweet chocolate. Serves 8.
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