Salt, the condiment par excellence, takes pride of place on the menu, with every dish matched to a different type, ensuring a perfect combination of flavours. The diners can also purchase their favourite salts.
Autumn is here and the restaurant at the hotel Vincci Soma, headed by chef Miguel Ángel Rodriguez, has a new menu, and one that’s rather different: a personal tribute to the most famous condiment of all time: salt. Each dish on this fresh menu is matched to a different type of salt, with each being the perfect choice to ensure a combination of flavours that will surprise and enthuse the guests.
Over the course of history, the importance of salt has been such that the development of its production, and control over its supply, has at times had huge economic, political and culinary repercussions, in many different civilisations. It’s still highly appreciated in contemporary cooking, and the exquisite varieties available bring something different to every dish, as this latest proposition from SoMa goes to show.
The perfect salt for every dish
A total of 13 different types of salt have been used to create the different dishes on the menu, all prepared after careful testing of the different flavour combinations. To get your appetite going there are starters and dishes for sharing, such as the Yaki-udon noodles with prawns, squid and wok fried shii-take mushrooms, soya shoots and spring onion, paired with saffron fleur de sel (flower of salt); the cone of rice with secreto ibérico (a low shoulder cut from native Iberian pigs), parmesan cheese and a Lodosa pepper sauce, with black fleur de sel; or free-range scrambled eggs, with potatoes and St George’s mushrooms, with truffle fleur de sel.
The meat and fish dishes on offer also have their flavours brought out through other varieties of salt, with options such as the cube of tuna confit with almond pesto rosso, with fleur de sel mamma adding Mediterranean flavours; or duck magret with three textures of apple, and desert fleur de sel for a touch of the Sahara. The menu also has vegetarian options such as the salad of avocado and red onion, with a soy and lime vinaigrette rounded off with the charm of the Middle East coming from the summac fleur de sel.
For the creation of these flavoursome combinations the restaurant has been helped by the company Soso Sales (literally, and tongue firmly in cheek, Tasteless Salts), who focus on the traditional production of salt and other gourmet products. All the salts used in the dishes on the menu can also be acquired in the restaurant, so guests can repeat the experience at home. They can also take away a special menu with recommendations for the best flavour combinations.