After delving into the culinary delights of “50 dishes from great chefs to try once in a lifetime” and “50 pastries from great pastry chefs to try once in a lifetime,” culinary author and chef’s agent since 2012, Hélène Luzin, presents her third book. Titled “50 Chefs of the Gastronomic Vanguard You Must Meet at Least Once in Your Life” (Editions de La Martinière), the book takes us behind the scenes of the French culinary avant-garde. It spotlights the rising stars of the cooking world and it includes Mory Sacko’s beef with mafé sauce!
Luzin’s new book features 50 stories and portraits of emerging chefs who are shaping today’s culinary scene and likely tomorrow’s as well, alongside 50 recipes of their most emblematic dishes. Amongst these culinary artists are well-known names like Fanny Rey, Amaury Bouhours, Georgiana Viou, Mallory Gasbi, and, of course, Mory Sacko. Sacko, who rose to fame on Top Chef and was awarded a Michelin star in 2021 as well as the Young Chef of the Year award, shares his signature dish in the book—his delectable beef with mafé sauce and tamarind, Sacko serves this traditional West African dish, which he has masterfully reinterpreted, at his 14th arrondissement restaurant, MoSuke.
Experience Mory Sacko’s Beef With Mafé Sauce and Tamarind Recipe
Ingredients (serves 8):
For the butter-aged beef:
– 1 Aubrac beef tenderloin
– 1 kg of butter
– 200 g of shea butter
– Fleur de sel
For the mafé sauce:
– 1 white onion
– 2 carrots
– 100 g of tomato paste
– 500 g of peanut paste
– 100 g of salty white miso
– Salt and Penja white pepper
– Soumbara
– Smoked sweet pepper
For the fonio / roasted peanuts:
– 200 g of unsalted, unroasted peanuts
– 200 g of fonio
– 20 g of shichimi togarashi
– Olive oil
– Salt
For tamarind gel:
– 1.5 kg of tamarind juice
– 60 g of agar-agar
– Tamarind water
Preparation for the Beef:
Butter-aged beef:
Clean the beef tenderloin. Create an ointment butter for the beef by mixing the two butters. Spread a layer of ointment butter on stretched cling film and place the beef tenderloin on top. Wrap it up tightly, making sure the beef is completely covered in butter. Let it mature from 5 days to 2 weeks. Cut slices about 4 cm thick and cook on the barbecue. Season with fleur de sel.
Preparation for the Mafé sauce:
Start by slicing and cooking the onions and carrots until tender. Then add the tomato paste, Penja pepper, soumbara, smoked sweet pepper, and peanut paste. Mix well.
Dilute with three volumes of water for every one volume of peanut paste until you achieve a coating texture that isn’t too liquid, and then season with salt.
Cook for about 45 minutes until the sauce separates (it’s normal for the sauce to stick to the bottom of the pan, but it shouldn’t burn).
Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down well. Add the white miso and adjust the seasoning as needed. Set aside.
Fonio / roasted peanuts:
Roast the peanuts in the oven at 180 °C. Check them for doneness.
Crush after cooking but do not blend.
For the fonio: in a container, rub it with salt and olive oil, then pour hot water over it slightly above the level of the fonio (similar to couscous). Cover the container with cling film and let it swell in a steam oven for 15 minutes.
Mix the roasted peanuts with the cooked fonio and the shichimi togarashi.
Tamarind gel:
Mix the agar-agar with the tamarind juice and bring to a boil. Allow to cool and set in the fridge. Once set, blend while gradually adding tamarind water until you achieve a smooth gel texture. Strain through a fine sieve.
Plating:
On the plate, create an outline with the tamarind gel.
Pour the mafé sauce inside. Place a slice of beef on top of the mafé sauce, and then garnish with the fonio combined with roasted peanuts.
