The star Melbourne chef puts a Middle Eastern twist on the traditional Gilda.
If you’re into bite-sized flavour bombs as pre-dinner snacks, Melbourne chef Tom Sarafian has just the thing. Having dished up contemporary Middle Eastern flavours to Melbourne at a number of top venues over the years, we’re all ears for his take on the traditional Spanish Gilda. We got to try them at his place recently, where he gave us the low-down on how he likes to entertain friends and fam.
“I love serving these at the beginning of a meal to whet the appetite,” Tom says. They also happen to work perfectly with a range of drinks, and Tom has a couple of favourite matches. “Gildas are best served with an ice-cold beer or a gin and tonic.” At Dan’s Daily, we’re big fans of the OTT garnish, so you might even go whole hog and serve this perched atop a Martini.
As simple as these skewered treats are, Tom has a couple of pointers. “Use the best quality ingredients you can find here,” he says. That might mean exploring a good Middle Eastern grocer, especially when it comes to finding the right pickled peppers. “All these ingredients shine together, and it’s one hell of a mouthful!”
Ingredients
1 small piquillo pepper
100g labne 8 top-quality anchovy fillets 8 pitted green olives 16 pickled guindilla peppers 8 small hot pickled green chillis
Method
Cut the piquillo pepper into 8 small pieces
Place the labne into a small piping bag and pipe it into the olives Lay anchovies out flat on a chopping board Place 2 guindillas in the centre of each anchovy, and roll the fillet around them Cut the olives in half lengthwise and place a piece of piquillo on top of 4 halves, leaving the other 4 plain Insert a toothpick into an olive half without the red pepper. Next, add one of the anchovy guindilla rolls Top with a red-peppered olive and crown with a pickled chilli Repeat to make 8 Gilda
