A celebration of Corsican food with chef Jean Costantini

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco and today we are in Paris to speak with chef Jean Costantini from A Casa Luna, a wonderful restaurant serving authentic Corsican food. He tells me all about his family connection with Corsetta and his latest book.

0:37What a pleasure to meet Chef Jean Costantini here in Paris. I was at your restaurant yesterday at Casa Luna. Fantastique, Jean. Jean, my first thing, tell us about where you grew up, because I think that tells a lot about the food you make, right? I grew up in Paris and my parents live in Corsica. So you have that connection then with Corsica because of your parents. Yeah, exactly. But your food is very much influenced about Corsica. Tell us a bit more because I have to be honest, you know, besides trying a restaurant, I did not know much about the food there. What makes it unique in a way?

1:15Jean Costantini:We have a specialty at the restaurant. I want to make something different, you know, because when I teach kitchen in Paris, I work in the Stars Michelin restaurant and I want to make something different. I take the product, the product in Corsica, but really simple, like the figatelus, sausages of pork, like the sea bass at the calvaise, it's traditional men. and I want to do it very simple but very technical. With all the technique I learned in my career and with my mentor, with Alain Ducasse, with Cédric Gauley and I make something like yesterday you eat the pastry chestnuts bread. Love it. And it's so light.

2:01Jean Costantini:It's incredibly light. Because normally in Corsica we eat chestnuts bread. You know, it's a tradition because we have so much chestnuts tree. You know, it's very good. but it's a little bit heavy. It's normal, you know. And I want to make this bread like a croissant. And it's for that you have the tower inside and it's very crispy, very lighter. And you have the bread, only the Chastis bread, but the technical, you can arrive when something like that. It's the same one for the frozen olive oil. That's something I was going to ask. That was something unique. I never tried something before because Corsica is more of an olive country than butter because in Corsica we don't work the butter just olive oil you know I want to realize the first part all the restaurants in France you have bread and butter like you know that you bring bread and butter and you eat like that with a little bit of salt and I want I have my interpretation with our product from Corsica and I take the olive oil and with a technical with a pastry technical I arrive to realize just olive oil but like a butter, the texture of the butter and you can take it with your knife and put it on the chestnut bread.

3:18Jean Costantini:And it's incredible because it's always like that. You know, in my book, I explain that I take the product, use the technical and I have a creation. Because you tell me you never see that. It's normal because it's my creation. It's your creation. and okay before we talk about your restaurant which is wonderful you also released a book very recently and the name is Corsica and there's a beautiful four words by two of your mentors and come on your mentors are some of the most highly celebrated chefs in the world right yeah yeah I'm so proud of that you know because uh he writes about me about my personality about my work about my identity at the end they like what I do because for what I use a technique but I never do the same thing of my mentor it's really different very personal and I think it's for that he prefaced the book and you should mention who are your mentors Alain Ducasse, Cédric Roulet C 'est parfait, c 'est parfait and in the book of course just some lovely stories of people and makers there in Corsica but there there's a lovely recipes there's also maybe somebody can try it at home as well sure of course always I say one thing it's not difficult to do at house but it's very long time to prepare it's just that you need some time you know maybe for maker recipes you have normally uh four or five texture and you need uh all the weekend for that me it's my job i just there's something to do with love and kind of time which is something that we need in this world yeah it's very important to take the time for do things correctly i always explain that when i make a brainstorming with my team i say okay take your time it's not important if you don't have time for make 30 you make 20 i prefer you do short but good it's important and it's possible to do the recipes at house but just take your time or go to a casa but even the cover of the book is very beautiful because it is the map of corsica but a little bit elevated so it's quite a handsome book if i may say as well you love the map of corsica because so even some of your food there is the map there it's really creative you know for what i have an explanation for that because uh when my mom come in paris all the chair at the restaurant and the table it's a chestnut wood and you can see on the floor it's a cross-scan stone and we work like that you know it's the same it's like the kitchen and when mom come in Paris and she sit on the chair and she touch the chestnut wood after she touch the stone and for that cover it's an elevator because you touch like you do it now it honestly you touch a square and it's for safe to my mom you know it's In Corsica, we are like that.

6:20Jean Costantini:We don't like, we like the texture. Interesting. Mom is like that. Dad is like that too. And your mom is involved in the restaurant because towards the end, your brother actually gave me some digestive. Wait, wait, wait. Made by your mother. Wait, wait, wait. I think it's better than limoncello. Sorry to say. What was that? Clementine is a small orange. Okay, and it's an infusion of the skin of the clementine. And after it's cut with clementine juice centrifuge with a skin. And it's for that the juice, it's more like a syrup. And when you mix with the alcohol, you can eat that. It's 100 % of clementine, you know, it's incredible.

7:08I love it so much. And give us a little taste. Of course, we don't have time to talk about all the food, but maybe something in the book and in your restaurant as well, like a dish that could represent Corsica or represent you.

7:21Jean Costantini:We have a representation of the ceviche. The name in Corsica, we say crudo. Crudo, it's a ceviche of sea brim with basil and cedra. Cedra, it's a kind of lemon, but it's not lemon, you know. It's more complex. And normally, you know, on the ceviche, you have the fish, salt, a little bit of olive oil and herbs, the basil, and a little bit of lemon juice. And I want for this dish, I centrifuge the lemon with the skin and with the basil to make a frozen sauce, very green, you know, and without oil, a little bit, just a little bit of olive oil. And you have something very fresh. And with the lemon, on the side, we put on the glass like that and we make a salty lemon.

8:11Okay?

8:11Jean Costantini:and we put the salty lemon on the crudo. And I love this starter because it's very fresh. It's not too much oil, not too much salt. It's very... And the cedra, the name in French is the cedra, this lemon. It's very incredible because you have a little bit of clementine, a little bit of yuzu, a little bit... It's very complex. You eat it? We did. I remember the very vivid green, you know. It's very nice. Normally it's traditional, it's very simple to eat ceviche, but now you can see it's simple, but it's not simple because you can realize the technique when you eat it. But it's simple, it's just different from the main...

8:54Jean Costantini:what do you eat in the main? The main I had the fish with the seabring with the butarga. Oh, incredible. It's delicious. It's one of my best. Butarga, it's like in Italy, it's an egg of fish, salty egg of fish. And normally in Corsica, you know, it's a tradition when you go on the beach, You have a big fish like that, you pay 10 euros for 100 grams. And you have the guy with the boutague and I don't know how you say that in English. He was, oh gosh, shaving. Shaving the boutague on the fish and on the corner, you eat that with a celery or zucchini. and I want to do like my interpretation I take a filet of fish I take out the skin I make a preparation with olive oil a little bit of butter butarga and chastan's bread we mix and we put like a new skin for the fish we put on the fish and we grilled for have a torrefaction on the top and you know it's simple but when you eat you can see the cooking is very good you have so much flavor you know i love this dish see your food it's almost like a fake simple it is it looks simple but it is the techniques are there exactly exactly it's always like that what about dessert ah for the dessert my best but it's a dessert for five person five i eat for five person.

10:26Jean Costantini:And the name is omelette napoleonienne. Do you know omelette Norwegian? No. Omelette Norwegian is a famous pastry dessert. Normally it's whipped egg, the white of the egg, for making a meringue. And you put normally ice cream, you put the meringue on the top, and after you burn with alcohol. Name normally it's omelette Norwegian. And for this dish, the name is omelette napoleonienne for what? because napoleon is from Corsica you know that I make the form of Corsica and I put sorbet of the three citrus emblematic from Corsica lemon cedra clementine and grapefruit and I make a biscuit from Corsica with this skin of these three citrus on the top the first sorbet the second sorbet the third sorbet and after with the meringue I make the mountain, the shape, you know, the shape of the mountain with the meringue.

11:25Jean Costantini:And after, I burn with the alcohol. The name of the alcohol is Mandarin Napoleon. And for that, I learned the dessert omelette napoleonienne. It's simple because it's three sorbet, one biscuit and meringue. You can do that at house tonight, no problem. It's easy. But just have the idea to make the mountain with... And the technical for making the mountain is hard. Thank you, Cédric. We're not going to try the one at home. This one is hard, but it's not a problem because if you are at home, you don't arrive to make the mountain. It's not, it's not grave. You make just like that, and after it's good too.

12:04Jean Costantini:It's fantastic. Well, you're making me hungry again, Jean. We are open tonight, Fernando. You're open tonight. I'll be heading there. Be careful what you're asking. Listen, Jean, what a pleasure. Merci beaucoup. Merci. That was Jean Costantini from A Casa Luna. For bookings, go to acasaluna.com. His book, Corsica, is out now. I am Fernando Augusto Pacheco, and the show was edited by Jack Dewars. Thank you for listening.