We dissect what London’s much-loved dishes are made from.
When Yotam Ottolenghi opened Rovi in 2018, the corn ribs became its signature dish. ‘People kept booking just to eat the ribs and cancelled when they weren’t on the menu,’ says head chef Neil John Campbell. Since then, they’ve appeared in new guises every year in British corn season. Inspired by David Chang’s OG corn ribs at Momofuku Ssam Bar in NYC, Rovi’s cobs are sweet, sticky and smoky. Campbell explains how he makes them.
The corn
‘We remove the husk and cut the cob into quarters. Then we deep fry it and it curls up. The skin becomes sticky and chewy, which increases the sweetness of the corn.’
The glaze
‘To glaze, we use maple syrup and add lime to cut through the sweetness. After frying, the corn is charred on the grill and we put on more butter and glaze for a smoky finish.’
The butter
‘We use a flavoured compound butter made with pumpkin and barley miso. We leave the pumpkin skins on, which adds a roasted note and a sweet, caramel taste.’
The dukkah
‘To create a background flavour, we make a pumpkin-seed dukkah with chipotle chilli and cep mushroom powder. The smell is quite smoky and the texture is biscuity.’
The concept
‘The dish is fun and playful. We like trying to recreate meat with vegetables without any trickery. Vegetables can have just as much flavour as meat, if not more.’
Corn ribs are on Rovi’s menu until at least the end of Oct. £7.50.