Henrique Sá Pessoa on Portuguese cuisine, seafaring heritage and how it comes to life on the Encontros menu at Chiado

The name of this menu is Encontros (Encounters). What was the inspiration?

It relates a little to the Portuguese sailing heritage, but also represents my reality as a chef who has restaurants in different parts of the world and travels a lot. I decided to present a menu that showcased some of my global experiences, but always rooted it in Portuguese cuisine and ingredients.

This past year, I visited 16 countries. I revisited places that I hadn’t been to in a long time, including Japan, Canada and the US. Every time I return to Macau, I want to introduce something different; since I had an unusually travel-heavy year, I decided to bring some of those experiences to this menu.

The worldwide influence of the menu was evident from the first course, the salt cod chawanmushi (Japanese savoury egg custard). How did you come up with the concept for this dish?

The chawanmushi is something I experienced in my latest trip to Japan, and the inspiration for this dish came from the consistency of the custard. I always find it very interesting, because it’s not a very set texture—almost uncooked—I think that’s the trick of a very good chawanmushi. A creamy consistency that, I think, resembles a typical açorda, a Portuguese bread porridge. Typically, açorda is served with egg, cod and a coriander broth, which is what I replicate here, swapping the rice porridge with egg custard.

How did you figure out Asian spices such as star anise would pair well with the Portuguese flavours of the Wagyu course?

I’ve been coming to Macau regularly, and I eat a lot of Chinese food when I’m here. Yet, I'm always fascinated to find sweet elements in a savoury dish, which is something you don’t see often in Western food, especially in Portugal. It’s a contrast that I think the local palate appreciates, so I try to incorporate this into the menu using more Western preparations. Here, I pair the Wagyu with a piquillo pepper compote, spiced with star anise and cinnamon, and a bone marrow-madeira jus that adds this sweet-savoury contrast.

Can you take us through your formulation of the sea bass course?

I brine all my seafood in a 13 per cent saltwater solution. This firms up the skin, seasons the fish and brings out its natural moisture while keeping the flavour of each piece consistent.

I pair a sea bass fillet prepared this way with a mussel saffron sauce, which—since I was in Nice recently—is made using a French technique. We steam the mussels to release their natural juices and mix them with a fish stock made from sea bass trimmings. Then we add shallots, white wine and saffron threads, finishing by thickening it with butter and olive oil. The acidity of the sauce balances the creamy, herby flavour of the parsley rice, a quality, I think, is very important for a tasting menu—there needs to be a certain level of acidity so it doesn’t tire your palate.

Citrus featured heavily in the dessert selection. What was the intention behind this?

Typical Portuguese desserts are very sweet, which I think doesn’t match well with the local palate. The best way to finish a menu lightly is to introduce a freshness, an acidity with fruits like orange, grapefruit and yuzu.

The green apple sorbet is something to cleanse the palate with after you’ve had the Wagyu course. The idea is to bring a savoury element with the citrus dashi (Japanese stock). I made a regular dashi using fresh apple and celery juices. A typical dashi is served hot, but here it is served cold, so the savoury notes are mellowed to suit a dessert.

Then, finishing off with something sweeter and more substantial, with the olive oil cake, but still keeping the citrus thread with fresh fruits.

How do you choose the wine pairing for each menu?

We’re very blessed to have Arnaud [Echalier, Director of Wine & Beverage, Sands China Ltd] with us, who is a super-experienced sommelier and very knowledgeable about Portuguese wines. We were unsure if the white wine was able to hold two courses: the lobster and the fish. But if you play around with the temperature of the wine, you unlock more potential from it.

We also didn’t want to have too many wines. I think people want something simpler, and they’re also drinking a bit less. So, to impose five wine pairings on a tasting menu can be a little overwhelming. We were trying to work with wines that could be suitable for multiple courses to reduce the number of pairings, and I was really happy with the results.

It’s important to have this dialogue between the kitchen and the dining room. Arnaud tasted every dish, and I tasted every wine. It’s different when you’re experiencing rather than imagining the pairing—I know my dish, so I can see the elements that would work well with the wine, and vice versa for Arnaud.

I prefer serving a madeira with the desserts, which is drier and not as sweet. In typical Portuguese restaurants, they always pour Port at the end, which has a lot of sugar and alcohol and tends to overwhelm everything.

Encontros is based on your travels, while the previous Coast to Coast menu is more centred on seafood. Any idea on what the next one will be?

I might bring a little more of my childhood experience to the table. My first dream was to be a basketball player; I started playing when I was 11 and up until I was 18, that was my life. The next time I return, it will coincide with NBA week, and I would like to do something inspired by the games. I don’t know what exactly, but I’ll probably try to find Portuguese influences and heritage in certain parts of the US and build on that with what the players like to eat in general, and try to refine it for a fine dining experience.

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