DISH #6 CEVICHE

I hated fish when I was a kid-- hid it under the mashed potatoes hated it. Now, I can't get enough, and more often than not I eat it raw (yeah, take the DeLorean back in time to good old 1985 and try to make me believe that when I was a kid!). But beyond the sushi that I could eat every day, beyond sauteing, searing, and baking there's another method of preparing fish that fascinates me, preparing it with citrus-- ceviche. The acid in the citrus denatures the fish proteins, altering their consistency, "cooking" it.

Ceviche is Peruvian in orgin, but it has migrated and become a part of many Latin American cuisines at this point. I'll fess up to not having visited Peru quite yet but I do know that ceviche can be found at roadside stands in Mexico, Puerto Rico and California and it's these roadside stands that I want to pay homage to with this dish. I've done five different ceviches on one dish, served in fried plantain scoops that in fast-food style, eliminate the need for forks, and accompanied them with a roasted corn and avocado salad, a nod to elements often found with Latin American dishes but with a splash of sweetness, pineapple.

I also included "leche de tigre," a mixture of the different "curing" ceviche juices altogether with some vodka (very tasty though in the future, I'd opt for Pisco, a brandy made from Muscat grapes). This "Tiger's Milk," is said to be a great hangover cure, hair of the dog that bit you if you will-- and while I can't attest to that, it tastes quite good and not fishy at all; a nice way to end the dish.

Toro's Stoplight Ceviche
Fried Plantain Scoops
2-3 Plantains
Vegetable Oil
Salt

Procedure:
Peel and clean plantains of all excess threads and peel well. Slice plantains on a bias about an inch and ½ long and a ½ inch thick. Use a melon-ball scooper to hollow out a scoop in each plantain slice. Fry until crisp, pat dry and season. Use as scoops for ceviche.

Cod With Lime Juice and Cucumbers
½ Lb Cod
100 ML Lime Juice
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
¼ Onion, Macedoine
¼ Cucumber, Seeded, Macedoine
¼ Poblano Chili Pepper, Brunoise

Procedure:
Clean the cod of any unwanted skin. Cut cod in macedoine-sized pieces. Squeeze limes, mix in salt, garlic, macedoine onion, and macedoine cucumber. Marinate macedoine cod in lime juice about an hour. When ready to serve drain of juice, sprinkle brunoise poblano chili pepper and minced cilantro on top, and place in fried plantain scoop.

Shrimp In Lemon Juice With Green Peppers
½ Lb Shrimp, Peeled, Deveined & Macedoine
100 ML Lime Juice
100 ML Lemon Juice
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
¼ Onion, Macedoine
¼ Green Pepper, Seeded, Macedoine
¼ Jalapeño Chili Pepper, Brunoise
¼ Teaspoon Cilantro, Minced

Procedure:
Peel, devein and macedoine shrimp. Squeeze limes and lemons, mix in salt, garlic, macedoine onion, and macedoine green pepper. Marinate macedoine shrimp in citrus juice about two hours. When ready to serve drain of juice, sprinkle brunoise jalapeño chili pepper and minced cilantro over the ceviche and place in fried plantain scoop.

Scallops in Grapefruit Juice With Yellow Peppers
½ Lb Scallops
100 ML Lime Juice
100 ML Grapefruit Juice
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
¼ Yellow Pepper, Seeded, Macedoine
¼ Onion, Macedoine
¼ Yellow Habanero Chili Pepper, Brunoise
¼ Teaspoon Cilantro, Minced

Procedure:
Rinse scallops and remove adductor muscle on side of each, then cut in macedoine. Squeeze limes and grapefruit, mix in salt, garlic, macedoine onion, and macedoine yellow pepper. Marinate macedoine scallop in citrus juice about three hours. When ready to serve drain of juice, sprinkle brunoise habanero chili pepper and minced cilantro over the ceviche and place in fried plantain scoop.

Tuna In Orange Juice With Orange Peppers
½ Lb Sushi-Grade Tuna
100 ML Lime Juice
100 ML Orange Juice
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
¼ Orange Pepper, Seeded, Macedoine
¼ Onion, Macedoine
½ Orange Habanero Chili Pepper, Brunoise
¼ Teaspoon Cilantro, Minced

Procedure:
Macedoine tuna. Squeeze limes and oranges, mix in salt, garlic, macedoine onion, and macedoine orange pepper. Marinate macedoine tuna in citrus juice about a half an hour. When ready to serve drain of juice, sprinkle brunoise habanero chili pepper and minced cilantro over the ceviche and place in fried plantain scoop.

Cod, Shrimp, Scallops & Tuna in Pineapple Juice With Red Bell Peppers
A mixture of each of the seafoods from the ceviches above
100 ML Pineapple Juice
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
¼ Red Bell Pepper, Seeded, Macedoine
¼ Onion, Macedoine
¼ Serrano Chili Pepper, Brunoise
¼ Teaspoon Cilantro, Minced

Procedure:
Take a 1/4 Teaspoon of each ceviche above and mix together in pineapple juice per plate with macedoine onion, macedoine red bell pepper, mix in salt and garlic. Strain juice, sprinkle minced cilantro and serrano chili pepper.

Roast Corn, Tomato, Avocado and Pineapple Salad
2 Ears Fresh Corn, Grilled
1 Avocado, Cut in small cubes
1 Cup Fresh Pineapple, Cut in small cubes
Lime Juice
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Procedure:
Grill the corn until it's somewhat blackened on the outside and fully cooked then scrape it off the cob. Add corn to cubed avocado and pineapple and toss gently with lime juice, salt and freshly ground pepper.

Shot of "Tiger's Milk"
Strained ceviche juices from ceviches above
½ Shotglass Vodka

Procedure:
Mix ceviche juices with vodka and serve in a shotglass.

To Order: Place the ceviche scoops in increasing order of heat, least heat first in a circle around the roasted corn salad, cod, shrimp, scallop, tuna, mixture of all four and end the journey with the shotglass of "Tiger's Milk."

I'm pleased by the the different levels of sweetness and fire from the varying citrus and increasing heat from the peppers (scoville units) as you progress from left to right in a circle around the plate starting with the cod and ending with all the ceviches in the pineapple juice before the final shot of "Tiger's Milk." The one caution is not to plate the dish until it's absolutely ready for service otherwise the plantain scoops won't retain their crispiness.