Chef - Manuel Dupont

I decided to choose this recipe because it is pretty easy to do at home without all the professional equipment, it doesn’t require much skills, the ingredients are easy to find and most of all, because it is truly delicious (so says my wife).

At the restaurant it is our best selling starter; it is fresh, with bold flavor and is a little postcard from riviera even though there is no tomato nor basil.

For 4 person:

6 baby artichokes
1 lemon
4 free range eggs
50ml of white wine vinegar
100g of young leaves ( such as rocket, mizuna, red chard ...)
100g block of good parmesan
a little good truffle oil and fleur de sel

Fill up a small container to 3/4 with water and add the juice of the lemon to it.
Now peel the hard leaves from the artichokes with a small sharp knife. Put the artichokes into the container and keep them in it. This will prevent them from turning black.

Break the eggs in 4 different little ramekin

In a sauce pan big enough to contain the eggs, fill it up to 3/4 with water and bring it to the boil. Add the vinegar, and make a swirl in the pan with a whisk, now quickly put the eggs in 1 by 1, and leave the eggs to simmer for 3 minutes, so the white part will be cooked but the yolks warm and runny. Take the eggs out with a slotted spoon and put them on kitchen paper to dry, season them with salt and pepper.

Cut the artichokes in 4 lengthway, discard the hairy heart and slice them thinly.

Put them on the plate, season them with truffle oil and fleur de sel.

Top it up with the leaves dressed with a light dressing, shave the parmesan on the salad, then add the warm egg on top.

Bon appetit, enjoy this with fresh bread, some white wine and of course good company.

Manuel Dupont
Head-chef at Terroir Divin

Terroir Divin
11 rue Delille 06000 Nice.
Tél : +33 (0)9 54 19 66 51
www.terroirdivin.com