His master Marchesi divided it into cubes about twenty years ago, the D'O chef decided to go further: this is his vision, of great technique and class. Naturally very good
"I've never been a fidget cook, but when the order came for a rib I would panic. And when I least expected it, he would come up behind to check … For Mr. Marchesi it was a huge dish: he personally selected the veal loin before I brushed kidney fat on the meat, dissolved in water, for perfect maturation. It was a ritual, exciting when I think about it. And he expected it to be served perfect .
Davide Oldani makes it clear how much the preparation of the Milanese represented (and still represents) a very serious commitment and a point of pride for a cook, especially in the area like him. In his case there is one more reason: as a great pupil of the Master, he does not forget that for him it was a magnificent obsession. "It is the only dish I learned from my father: I love ribs very much, but I would have liked to invent it myself", he said to his boys.
Milan on your plate
He didn't invent it, but he certainly re-invented it with the Costoletta 2000, created in 1991. A Marquesan jewel: technically shiny – cooking on each side of the cube, as high as the bone, avoids the detachment of the rind and uses the entire piece of meat – and aesthetically pleasing. And no one before him had thought of this dish enjoyable without a knife. Oldani, in 2018, took up the concept of cubes in the Milan on your plate. The union of three classics of the Ambrosian tradition: yellow risotto, ossobuco and cutlet. Which for the record is also the order of personal preferences of the chef from Cornaredo. The third element of the preparation was represented by the veal fillet that was cut into cubes, cooked at a low temperature for 22-24 minutes at 75 °, then roasted. "But he breaded cubes, I didn't," she remembers. "The breadcrumbs only enter at the end, is sautéed separately, then added on top of each individual piece to give the crunchy note that accompanies the great softness of the fillet, obtained by vacuum cooking"
Brilliant intuition
The lockdown led to the final thought of the current version, which had been in the Oldanian mind for a couple of years. Is called Cutlet and Milanese in cubes, is part of the Essenza tasting and leaves you surprised: the veal cubes are flanked by an identical number of empty dice with the breading while the bone has become a mousse printed cutlet. The sauce poured on the table draws the outline of a whole cutlet and surrounds the various elements. Before giving you the recipe for four people (original and very good), we like to recall the comment of Fiammetta Fadda on the plate, in one of the services of the August issue of La Cucina Italiana, exceptionally directed by Davide Oldani. «A good cook is one who (also) knows how to calculate. The talented cook knows how to transform economic considerations into brilliant intuitions. The point was: the rib obtained from the loin weighs half a kilo, too much for one person. But divided in two, the part without the bone cannot be considered a cutlet. Marchesi had solved the impasse by making it into breaded and fried cubes. Oldani thought about it and went further . From above, surely, Gualtiero first shook his head, smiling, and then commented "Bravo, boy".
Cutlet and Milanese in cubes
For the fillet
Combine 300 grams of veal fillet with 100 grams of clarified butter flavored with lemon, rosemary and salt. Cook for 50 minutes, vacuum packed at 52 degrees. Cut it into cubes as regular as possible and roast.
For the breading
Mix 200 grams of flour with two whole eggs, roll out the dough thinly and roll it on a parallepiped-shaped mold. Dry and cut it into pieces of about 1.5 cm in height. Coat with flour, eggs, breadcrumbs and fry in clarified butter.
For the bone
Combine 200 grams of veal loin with 100 grams of marrow and salt. Cook at 65 degrees. Allow to cool, blend, sift and spread in the bone-shaped mold.
Plating
Place the cubes and breading, in the same number, inside the plate with the cutlet on the edge. Finish by pouring some lemon and rosemary scented veal stock. Garnish with a few sheets of sprouts.
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