/ by Stephanie Burnette
/ recipes by Chef Javier Uriarte
/ photography by Forrest Clonts
You may not fly to South America this summer, but you can drive over to Columbia for a taste of Peru. Chef Javier Uriarte opened his first restaurant, called Ratio, after cooking in esteemed kitchens from DC to SC.
His memory is grounded by the childhood dinner table, his mother an extremely good cook. He believes summer in South Carolina is an ideal time to be influenced by South American cuisine: light, bright fare grounded by proteins, topped with the freshest produce and herbs. Ceviche, seared shrimp, summer ribs, squash and tomato, gremolata made with sunflower seeds. It’s a bounty to share at the table and he shared his inspiration (and recipes) with us.
Uriarte’s ethos is less: less butter, less cream,
less time, less ingredients. “When you know how
to cook something properly, it doesn’t need a lot,” he says.
For example, an extraordinary shrimp dish is simply shellfish, tomato and mushroom cooked in a little oil. A pineapple salsa over top has its own spare ingredients and the basil sauce is a puree of basil, lemon, garlic and oil. Seasoning consists of salt and pepper. Yet on the plate it sings, in the mouth, for the eye. It smells of summer smoke and citrus and brine of the sea. It feels palate-perfect, exactly what you want to eat right now.
Peruvian menus are simple, acid driven and fresh says the chef. “I’m not a fancy person. It’s important how good the plate is, the food and the drink, but I don’t need to put 30 things into one dish to win a James Beard.”
He invests in making dishes at Ratio his own, including a summer spare rib that’s crave-worthy. It may need 4.5 hours in the oven, but my goodness, these ribs are divine. The sauce is honey, smoked with maple wood, added to pork drippings and seasoned. The ribs, after a long braise, are dipped and double fried, then topped with a sunflower seed gremolata.
“What I cook is never heavy. I want to show that you don’t need to mask the flavor of Southern food, may it be from here or Peru,” says Uriarte. “I want my food to be light, fresh, seasonal and exciting.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Drink pisco with summer foods.
Bar manager Grant McCloskey and chef owner Javier Uriarte say the indigenous spirit of Peru, pisco, is built for humid summer nights. Pisco is distilled grape juice and, like wine, the grape varietal or varietal blends influence the flavors in the glass and on the nose.
At Ratio Restaurant you can try a pisco flight; they have more pisco stocked than any bar in South Carolina; or you could order one of six cocktails. My favorite is the delightful Crema de Lucuma, it’s actually my favorite cocktail of late. A honey lavender punch hits the spot alongside Caravedo pisco, lemon and lucuma-infused yogurt (I kid you not), but the point of pisco is not to make a cocktail at home you should really order from a cocktail menu.
This summer pisco feels right, it’s floral, at times herbaceous and tastes alcoholic without being boozy. There’s an easiness to pisco; it’s as versatile as vodka with botanicals that lean more towards gin, minus the juniper.
Mix pisco with ginger ale and lime, or citrus and simple syrup, or simply with cola. Basil is a natural accompaniment for pisco, as well as pineapple. Dryer pisco can be floral with a bit of minerality. It calls to surf and sun and a summer long-lasting, and if you drink it for no other reason but this, you’ve won.
Summer Shrimp
At the restaurant we change seafood around according to what we can get freshest, including shrimp and fish.
3 pounds shrimp
3 Tbsp avocado oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 cup shitake mushroom
1 cup fresh basil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups fresh pineapple
1 small red bell pepper
2 shallots
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
Juice and zest of one lime
For basil sauce:
Place basil, olive oil, two cloves of peeled garlic, lemon juice and a bit of salt and pepper in a blender and puree. Taste and adjust seasoning.
For pineapple salsa:
Small dice the pineapple, pepper and shallots. Mix in chopped parsley, lime juice and zest.
Quarter the cherry tomatoes and slice the shiitake mushroom. Sauté together until soft.
In a separate frying pan, heat avocado oil until smoking. Add shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Add one clove of chopped garlic and turn the flame to low. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes.
Place in a shallow bowl, top with sauté vegetables. Top off shrimp with some pineapple salsa and drizzle basil sauce next to it for presentation.
Yellow Fin Tuna Ceviche
We make ceviche year-round and it is always fish, which is traditional in Peru.
2 stalks celery
6 medium limes
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 pounds of yellow fin tuna
Garnish: red onion, cilantro leaves and crispy plantain chips
For marinade:
Place celery, lime juice, ginger and peeled garlic into a blender and
blend until smooth. Season with salt
and pepper.
Cut the fish with a very sharp knife into small chunks. Mix fish and marinade together and season again with salt
and pepper.
Allow to sit in the refrigerator for
several hours. Garnish with thinly
sliced red onions, cilantro leaves
and crispy plantain chips.
Braised Ribs with Smoked Honey Sauce
We first put these ribs on the menu as
a seasonal item and now we can’t take them off. They are a favorite.
2 racks of pork ribs
Aji panca
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups honey
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 tsp allspice
1 bunch of Italian parsley
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Sunflower seeds, shelled
Preheat oven to 275F.
Rub two racks of pork ribs with aji panca
(a Peruvian smoked pepper paste) and salt and pepper. Place in a bake-safe pan and cover with aluminum. Bake for 4 hours. Save drippings from ribs after finished.
For honey sauce:
In a bake safe container add drippings from ribs, honey, allspice, two cloves of minced garlic and one shallot, minced.
Pour the sauce over the ribs and place this into a smoker, uncovered, for two to three hours. Cook until sauce has a syrup consistency.
For gremolata:
Chop sunflower seeds and parsley. Add minced shallot and garlic and olive oil. Stir and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Slice and serve ribs with gremolata as garnish.
