Our Chef

Andrea Ragoni's cuisine with its unique flavours and perfumes
Your guide through experimenting the typical Tuscan taste is Andrea Ragoni, our internationally famous Chef, a disciple of Sergio Mei's, Executive Chef at the Four Season, and of Maurizio Bosotti's, a follower of Claudio Sadler's school. These are two of the most important Chefs in the Italian cuisine scenario.
With such masters behind him, and with his longstanding experience in high-quality catering services, Andrea, assisted by our staff, is the ideal counsellor through the discovery of the most characteristic tastes of the Tuscan regional cuisine and of the best known dishes of the Italian food tradition. Andrea Ragoni's passion for spices and flavours which can cuddle and enchant your palate is one of the main features of his cooking style. This also lead him to collaborate as a co-author to the publishing of interesting books such as "Aromi e Sapori" (Flavours and Tastes), "Spezie" (Spices) and "Profumi da assaporare" (Perfumes you can taste), published by Idea Libri, which contain also some of his special recipes.

            

Our Chef's Recipes
Andrea Ragoni's taste and creativity, which have lead our Chef to collaborate to the publishing of some cookbooks, are also crucial in the preparation of the Grande Carte dishes. To make your mouth water, here are some of our Chef's creations, listed in the in-house restaurants of the Grand Hotel Mediterraneo:

Tonno del Chianti with sage-flavoured "zolfini" beans.
Ingredients for four portions: 250 gr. of Tonno del Chianti (suckling pig, in brine), 100 gr. of dry zolfini beans, some rosemary leaves, 12 leaves of sage, 50 gr. of "guanciale" (Italian bacon cut from the pig's cheek).
Boil the dry beans (without soaking them beforehand) in water with rosemary, sage and garlic. Fry gently on a low flame the finely chopped guanciale and the sage, add the boiled beans with their water. Let the mix simmer, remove from the fire and put in the blender, add to this cream salt and paper to taste. Pour a thin layer on a serving plate and put in the centre the Tonno del Chianti. Dress with fried sage leaves.

Pheasant terrine with mix of sage varieties: golden-leafed sage, crispy sage, large-leafed sage, "minutina" sage, salvia pratensis, red sage and variegated sage.
Ingredients for four portions: one pheasant, 200 gr. of guanciale, one tablespoon of lard cream, half a glass of red wine, some cognac, one scalogno (green onion), 90-100 gr. of chicken livers, 40 gr. of pistachios, breadcrumb, orange peel, one egg yolk, 15 slices of lard.
Clean the pheasant, remove the bones and chop the meat. In a saucepan mix some oil with the lard cream and 100 gr. of finely chopped guanciale. Add the different kinds of sage and let brown on a low flame. When the mix is tasty and the guanciale is softened, add the pheasant meat. Let it brown for a few minutes on a higher flame and add some red wine. At this point, sauté the chicken livers with the butter and the finely chopped green onion and sprinkle with some cognac. Finely chop the pheasant meat and add the pistachios nuts to the mix together with the breadcrumb soaked in cream and squeezed, a few sage leaves, thyme, the egg yolk, the browned guanciale and the orange peel, grated. Line a mould with the lard slices, pour the mix, which has to be quite smooth, cover with more lard slices and cook in water bath in the oven at 200°C for about two hours. Serve the next day on a bed of mixed green salad.

Tempura Prawns with Clary sage
Ingredients for four portions: 12 prawns, 100 gr. wheat flour, 1 dl. of sparkling water, 30 gr. of Clary sage leaves, seed oil, salt and pepper to taste
Mix flour with very cold sparkling water. Cut in two and then julienne the prawns and the sage. Mix sage, prawns and flour mix. Drop spoonfuls of the mix in very hot oil and fry. The lumps will turn into fluffy and crunchy "clouds". Dip in the flour mix some entire sage leaves and fry them. Serve prawns and sage on a sheet of yellow paper.