Second episode of Mandra Chef Online: featuring Timperosse

The second episode of Mandra Chef Online, aired on Wednesday May 13th, 2020, featured Timperosse, our 100% Petit Verdot, an innovative and unconventional variety for Sicilian wines and even more if vinified as a single variety. A wine with a young and lively character, an intense-red colour with purple reflections, with soft and subtle tannins that pairs perfectly with cheeses, seared tuna and oven-roasted chicken.

            Fresh from winning the first episode, Andrea Lo Cicero makes his debut presenting a recipe featuring Sicilian red tuna as the main ingredient, seared and prepared with a side of radish, fava beans, extra virgin olive oil and chopped pistachios. A bed of thin slices of radish and fresh fava beans was the base for this highly choreographic dish with bold flavours. Timperosse, with its intense aromas, notes of red fruits and herbs, including rosemary and sage, was perfect for Andrea’s dish because with its aromatic tones, paired with the tuna breaded with chopped pistachios, it was able to enhance its flavour.      

            Valeria Raciti, on the other hand, challenged Andrea’s dish by preparing a daring risotto with quails, fresh fava beans and lemon balm. She pan-seared the quail breasts to prepare a ragu simmered with Timperosse, ideal, with its notes of red fruits such as mulberries and prunes, giving elegance to the dish. Using the same pan, still containing the drippings of the quail ragu, Valeria toasted the Carnaroli rice adding cooking broth and Timperosse to simmer. Meanwhile, she blanched the fava beans, breaded and fried the quail legs, dipped them in egg batter and shaped into bon-bons. Finally, she added the fava beans, quails, cold butter and parmesan cheese to the risotto, topping the dish with the quail legs.  

Who won? Certainly, Timperosse! Because in both dishes, our innovative Petit Verdot, with its aromatic liveliness, proved to be the ideal match for complex dishes with an intense flavour.

But…when the votes were in, the audience chose Valeria’s dish as the perfect pairing with Timperosse.