Mythical Guavaberry Chicken Liver Salad

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Chef’s Christian’s Mythical Guavaberry Chicken Liver Salad

Celebrating this year’s “Festival de la Gastronomie” on the French Side, and its highlight ingredient; the Guavaberry or rumberry,  I want to take this opportunity to share one of my dad’s most successful recipes!

Christian Plumel is a creative and passionate French Chef, and during his many years living and working on our island, he played at incorporating local Caribbean ingredients into his traditional French Cuisine. This led to very creative and colorful dishes like the “Arrawak Sandwich” with curried chicken and peppers or its “Carib” version with spicy beef, but one of his most popular creations was the “Guavaberry Chicken Liver Salad”, which he prepared in his restaurant’s kitchen back in the day at the end of a Frontstreet alley at the heart of Philipsburg.

In this recipe, the Guavaberry is perfectly paired with chicken liver to which it adds a delicious bittersweet note, flavor and beautiful color all so typical of our local fruit.

For this recipe you will need: 

  • 150g chicken liver
  • 1 diced shallot (about the amount of a big spoon)
  • 2 large spoonfuls of Sint Maarten Guavaberry Liquor / Rum
  • Some croutons, made from dicing bits of bread and frying them till golden with olive oil in a pan before-hand

In a jar or small cup on the side, prepare a French vinaigrette to season your salad, with olive oil, Dijon mustard, a splash of red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and mix well.

  1. In a pan, cook the chicken livers in a bit of olive oil until they are golden but still pink. Season them with salt and pepper inside the pan and set aside.
  2. In a separate pan, cook the shallots first in some butter. Once they start to slightly color, add in the chicken livers and add the guavaberry, deglazing the pan in the process (just scraping the pan with the guavaberr liquor). Slow simmer until the liquor reduces in the pan, but the livers must not be overcooked.
  3. Dress your salad on a plate, add the vinaigrette, the chicken livers, croutons and decorate with ingredients of your choice (boiled potatoes, fresh tomatoes and cucumber for freshness, green apple for acidity, beetroot, raw carrot etc)

Chef’ Christian’s Guavaberry Chicken Liver Salad is an inventive and delicious way to incorporate St. Martin Guavaberry into your cooking and bring a little bit of the Caribbean back home with you… Enjoy!