Vinny Clist's Coppa Spuntino recipe

Vinny, an immigrant from the UK, began his career at a tiny seafood restaurant before working in French Alps chalets, an airstream food truck, and a local cooking school. He is currently the head chef at Brisbane's premier Coppa Spuntino Italian restaurant.

While working in the French Alps, I prepared this dinner. It's a really popular dish that reminds me of creating it for visitors when working in chalets there. Simply put, cooking for my husband is romantic and extremely oh-so-French!

4 portions

35 minutes to prepare.

10 minutes for cooking

Tartare's ingredients include:

• 500g of tail fillet for the eye
• Capers for dessert
• Tbsp. of cornichons, chopped
• Tbsp. of finely diced red onion, chopped
• Sp dill for dessert
• Tsp. of Worcestershire
• Dessert tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 yolks of eggs
• Black salt
• Micro chervil

Ingredients: red onions pickled

• Rings cut from half a red onion
• 50g White wine vinegar
• 50g sugar
• 50g water  

Toasting stuff:

• Ideally, the ciabatta from yesterday
• Three tablespoons of olive oil
• A pinch of salt,  
• A teaspoon of dried oregano

Method

Step 1

The day before, make pickled red onions. In a saucepan, combine equal parts sugar, water, and vinegar; heat just until the sugar melts. Before adding the red onion rings and liquid to a container with a lid, let it cool just a little. Refrigerate for the night.

Step 2

Set the oven to 120C for heating. Slice the bread from yesterday, preferably ciabatta, very thinly, and place it on a baking sheet. Olive oil should be drizzled over the oregano and salt. For 10 to 15 minutes, bake.

Step 3

The third step is to cut the eye fillet into cubes. To preserve some texture, avoid mincing the meat too much; it should be slightly less than 12 centimetres broad.

Step 4 

Combine the eye fillet pieces, capers, cornichons, red onion cubes, dill, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and one egg yolk in a large bowl.

Step 5 

The second egg yolk should be placed on top of the tartare mixture on the serving plate. Add black salt and micro chervil as a garnish.

Remember: A lean piece of meat is required for tartare; always purchase the cut from a reputable butcher.