YOUNG PIGEON ON A CHESTNUT BRANCH

INGREDIENTS (4 pax):

Aromatised chestnut branch:        

1,400 gr. cassava

500 gr. purple maize

14 gr. volcanic salt

500 gr. chestnut purée

1l. water

Nuts (hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts)

5 gr. chestnut chips

30 gr. sugar

1 gr. white pepper

Chestnut leaf:                                  

Cassava stock

Filo pastry

Sand:

100 gr. butter

100 gr. chestnut

30 gr. stock from cooking the cassava

4 gr. salt

Others:

2 young pigeons

PREPARATION:

Aromatised chestnut branch: Peel the cassava twice, until small cracks are revealed. Cut into sticks about 10 cm long, only using the outside part. Remove the grains from the purple maize, keeping the woody part. Mix the salt with the chestnut purée and water and bring to the boil. Cook the cassava in it for about 45 min. Leave to cool then place, together with the cooking stock, in a container with chestnut chips. Place in the microwave for 25 min. at 75º, setting 7, so that the chestnut aromas impregnate the cassava without altering its texture.

Chestnut leaf: Cut the filo pastry into a leaf shape and brush with the cassava cooking liquid. Dry in the oven at  80ºC (176ºF).

Sand: Mix all the ingredients forming a smooth paste. Wrap in film and form into a cylinder shape. Freeze. When frozen, grate very finely and bake for 15 min. at 130ºC (266ºF).

TO SERVE

Sear the two pigeons on the skin side until a crust forms. Paint the serving dish with a few brushstrokes of stock. Place a little sand in the base of the plate then arrange on top the branch and leaf. Finish with the pigeon and a few wafers of chestnut and some nuts.