Japanese-Mediterranean Fusion Approaches to Cooking Lamb, Pork

A fusion cuisine takes ingredients and techniques from two culinary traditions and merges them into something new and exciting. At Notios, Almyra’s restaurant fusing Japanese and Mediterranean cuisines, Sous Chef Akos Richweisz has just introduced two new entrées to the menu. The Massaman Lamb Roll spices up that staple of Mediterranean cuisine, lamb. The lamb is first marinated in Massaman curry sauce, a Thai seasoning that is very popular in Japan. Then the lamb is vacuum sealed in a bag for sous vide cooking: the bag is placed in a 45°C water bath for 30 minutes. The cook removes the lamb from the bag and finishes it on the grill. The Massaman Lamb Roll is served on top of an edamame puree and garnished with shallots pickled in vinegar and beet root, sautéed snow peas, edible flowers, microgreens, and curry sauce. To make the Cashew Pork Belly entrée, Richweisz combines pork belly in a pan with soy sauce, sake, mirin, spring onions, garlic, ginger, and sugar and bakes it very slowly in an 80°C oven for 24 hours. The pork belly is then removed from the pan; the remaining liquid is subsequently reduced on the cooker for five to ten minutes. Sweet and sour elements balance the flavouring: Chinese cabbage, fig chutney, taro wasabi, herb-infused olive oil, and microgreens round out the presentation. Stop by Notios to stimulate your palate with these innovative entrées in our seaside pavilion.