The tastes of summer

Young Chang

It’s hard to understand just why the wing of the Eastern spotted skate

being grilled by chef Jason Niederkorn is a summer selection.

On the silver stove, it appears to be just a fillet of fish without

seasonal ties.

But once Niederkorn lays the fish at a tilt on a little hill of lime,

red and orange garnish that comes from the farmers market just an hour

away, he completes a summer scene using Mother Nature’s vegetable colors

as his paint and a large white plate as his canvas.

The yellow French beans, which are actually a faded green, and the

part orange, part red heirloom cherry tomatoes ripen best in the summer,

the chef said.

Combined with the skate wing, which is lighter and leaner compared

with other fish, the entree becomes a cool choice for hotter months.

“In the summer time, we have more options as far as produce,” said

Niederkorn, who is the sous chef operating under Aubergine’s executive

chef. “And the more produce and vegetables we use, the lighter the food

will be. A lot of the dishes that we make from June and July are

impossible to make in the winter.”

Area chefs agree that the summer heat calls for a lighter touch, which

is why some restaurants offer either summer menus or limited-time summer

selections.

“And I know, obviously, everyone’s trying to feel better about

themselves in the summer,” said sous chef James Coffey, from Roy’s of

Newport Beach.

One of Coffey’s recommended summer selections is the dynamite crusted

Australian lobster tail in a cold soba-noodle salad.

“It’s in probably like a benito sake broth,” said Coffey, also a sous

chef. “And it’s got dynamite crusted lobster tail on top of that. It’s

nice and cold and light.”

Cold and light are words that Chef Alan Greeley, the principal chef

and owner of the Golden Truffle restaurant in Costa Mesa, also tries to

incorporate when it comes to his summer menu. Greeley will even freeze a

salad only to have it melt in olive oil later. He also serves soups that

resemble ice cream.

One recent choice is the Danish-inspired Chilled Cherry with Vanilla

Passion Fruit Sorbet. It’s a soup, Greeley said, not a dessert.

Another soup is the Cold Sorrel and Yogurt, served with garlic toast,

a Sicilian dish.

“And we have for years done a tomato salad with what we call a

cucumber ice vinaigrette,” Greeley said. “It’s kind of a cool

presentation.”

He purees cucumbers and vinegar, freezes the mixture, ladles a scoop

of it on a salad and then pours olive oil on it, which melts the

concoction right on the plate and leaves little ice chunks.

Other chilled items at the Golden Truffle includes Greeley’s La

Coupoule, a chilled seafood platter.

When it comes to warmer seafood dishes that are grilled, broiled or

fried, the chef said the summery-ness happens mostly in the sauce, which

includes a lot of olive oils and sea salts. Coffey agreed.

“I know during certain regions where it’s too hot out, you don’t have

too many heavy calorie sauces. It keeps you refreshed,” he said.