Venice exerts a peculiar kind of charm over its visitors, bewitching and teasing them, but revealing strangely little of its true self to those content to accept it at face value and stray little from the well-worn tourist routes.
Many return home, enchanted yes, but none the wiser as to the true nature of Venice, the Venetians, and of course, authentic Venetian cuisine. A visit to Da Fiore, however, is all it takes to leave behind the formulaic cuisine of the tourist town and become familiar with the true spirit and flavours of Venice.
For 28 years now, Mara Martin along with husband Maurizio has been delighting customers at Da Fiore with her cooking. Menus at Da Fiore are strictly seasonal, with each time of year opening its doors to a new array of dishes.
John Dory has a rich nutlike flavour that is best cooked simply. Pan-fried in butter, it develops an even richer taste that Mara brightens with the sweet acidity of pink grapefruit.
Ingredients
(serves four people)
4 spring onions; 4 pink grapefruit;
4 x 150 g John Dory fillets; salt;
125 g plain flour; 100 g unsalted butter;
pinch ground nutmeg; freshly ground black pepper;
150 g halved seedless red grapes; 2 tbsp snipped chives.
Preparation
Trim off dark green part of spring onions, leaving only the light green portions and the bulb. Cook in a large pot of boiling water until a sharp knife easily pierces the bulb, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool. Cut off the root end and peel.
Set aside.
Using a sharp paring knife, peel strips of the skin from two of the grapefruit, avoiding the bitter white pith. Cut these strips into julienne. Transfer to a small saucepan and cover with a couple inches of water. Bring to a boil and cook from 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and reserve.
Squeeze the juice from all of the grapefruit and set aside. Season the John Dory fillets and dredge in the flour, shaking off excess. Melt butter in a large skillet over a medium heat. When butter foams, add the fillets. Cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, then pour off any excess fat from the pan. Add the grapefruit juice and blanched zest, spring onions and nutmeg, and season with pepper.
Cook at a moderate boil until the pan juices reduce slightly. Add the grapes and chives and cook for another 30 seconds. Place a John Dory fillet and spring onion on each serving plate and spoon the pan sauce on top. Serve immediately.
