DUCK LIVER PAVÉ WITH FIGS

Recipe by Peter Knogl, Cheval Blanc restaurant, Basel, Switzerland (serves 4)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE DUCK LIVER

400g duck liver, raw

400ml white Port wine salt, pepper

METHOD

– Bring the port wine to the boil with salt and pepper and reduce to a third

– Then marinate the duck liver in one piece for three hours.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FIG MIXTURE

200ml red wine

40g dried figs

10g sugar

1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise peel of 1 orange slice peel of 1 lemon slice

METHOD

– Heat the red wine to 80°C (175°F) and add the other

ingredients. Allow to cool.

– Leave to rest in the fridge for three days. Remove the figs and blend with a teaspoon of the liquid in a blender

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FIG JELLY

200ml water

1 Earl Grey tea bag

40g dried figs

4 tsp fruit vinegar

2 tsp cassis liqueur

2 leaves of gelatine salt

METHOD

– Heat the water to 85°C (185°F) and steep the tea bag for three minutes.

– Add the dried figs and leave the mixture in the fridge for a day.

– Strain the liquid through a sieve (discard the figs), add the vinegar, cassis liqueur and the gelatine that has been soaked and dissolved in a little warm water. Season to taste with salt.

GARNISH

brik pastry, pine nuts, chervil leaves

ASSEMBLY AND SERVING

– Place a 5 mm thin slice of duck liver in a mould, cover with a 1 mm thick layer of fig mixture and place another thin slice of duck liver on top.

– Cover with the fig jelly and place in the fridge.

– As soon as the gelatine is firm, remove the pavé from the mould and cut into desired portions.

– Arrange and decorate with fig purée, pine nuts, chervil leaves and brik pastry as desired.

PETER KNOGL

In his three-star restaurant Cheval Blanc in Basel's Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois, Peter Knogl delights guests with fresh interpretations of French cuisine. He consistently follows his own style yet is always open to innovation. The German-born chef learned his trade at the Tristan restaurant in Mallorca under Gerhard Schwaiger, at the Chantecler restaurant in Nice under Dominique Le Stanc and at the Residenz under Heinz Winkler. In his cuisine, Knogl concentrates on the essentials: he uses only the best ingredients and produce and focuses on bringing out their intrinsic taste. "The greatest art in cooking is to combine the ingredients ideally and at the same time to preserve their own flavour," says the star chef.