Italian chef puts Chinese caviar in the spotlight
Cepe restaurant’s chef Fabio Nompleggio developed his passion for food watching his grandmother cook in the family’s Rome kitchen. Since then, gigs in prestigious restaurants from Milan to Singapore have shaped his embrace of fine dining — which this month shines in a savory caviar menu.
Caviar, the “soft gold” with a history of more than 2,000 years, is gaining acceptance in China, where immense farms like the Hangzhou Qiandaohu Xunlong Sci-tech Company facility on Qiandao Lake now rank among the world’s top producers. In that vast manmade lake developed for hydro power near Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, the company says it produces 60 tons of fish roe annually — about 30 percent of the global caviar business. Caviar from China? The idea might seem surprising, but tons of sturgeon eggs from the Middle Kingdom are served on top airlines and exported to caviarloving nations like Iran and Russia every year. Kaluga Queen was served at last year’s G20 summit in Hangzhou — and you don’t get invited to present your caviar to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is the world’s biggest consumer of the delicacy, unless you are at the top of your game.
This month, Nompleggio is pairing four different caviar varieties (Siberian, Amer, hybrid and Ossetra) from Kaluga Queen, starting with a delicate appetizer of redprawn carpaccio with oyster dressing and hybrid caviar. But the star of the sturgeonegged lineup may be the beetroot spaghetti, a rosy pasta nest that the chef finesses with potato foam, Hokkaido sea urchin and Siberian caviar for a silky balance of acidity, creaminess and freshness.
Every dish carries an element of surprise. A plate of Ossetra caviar, whipped cream, lime and waffle may look like breakfast to many, but Nompleggio’s playful twist on the Russian blini reflects his belief that the waffle is the ideal bread to pair with caviar.
The chef also incorporates caviar into dessert: Yogurt, olive-oil sorbet and strawberry with caviar employs premium olive oil imported from Sicily to make the tasty sorbet.
A four-course set menu is 798 yuan ($115); six courses run 1,288 yuan; optional wine pairing extra.