Nectarines, Mozzarella di buffala and Basil

Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad

  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad
  • Pepi de Boissieu’s Stone Fruit Salad

NOTES

Perfect summer salad using the ripe stone fruit in the market right now. This is so simple, you just can’t mess it up. Be sure to use the best farmer’s market peaches.

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel the nectarines and slice lengthwise, place in a salad bowl.

Using your hands, pull the mozzarella apart into pieces and add to bowl.

Drizzle olive and vinegar on top of your fruit and cheese, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chop a handful of basil, sprinkle on top and serve immediately.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

EASY

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SERVES

2

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PREP TIME

5 MINS

Salad

  • 3 
     
    firm nectarines
  • 1 
     
    Mozzarella di buffala

Dressing

  • Handful 
     
    fresh basil
  • 2 
    TBS 
    balsamic vinegar
  • 4 
    TBS 
    olive oil
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    salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel the nectarines and slice lengthwise, place in a salad bowl.

Using your hands, pull the mozzarella apart into pieces and add to bowl.

Drizzle olive and vinegar on top of your fruit and cheese, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chop a handful of basil, sprinkle on top and serve immediately.

As my recent trip to Barcelona I discovered Pepi De Boissieu, visual artist, chef and master of ceremonies in Spain. Like me, she floats between worlds, sometimes placing herself in the gallery and other times in the kitchen, she doesn’t distinguish between media. After we exchanged emails, she immediately sent me a photo she had posted on Instagram weeks before that was the mirror image of a recent shaved cauliflower motif I myself had posted days before; this was a match made in heaven. Pepi and I missed one another in Barcelona, but met up just before she caught a train out of Madrid, where she was meeting with her gallery. Pepi has worked with clients as big as Hermès, she has hosted event with New York based Sunday Suppers, and now she is preparing a sculptural installation made entirely of sugar that explores the formal qualities of the material, while commenting on the complex cultural and historical significance.

After a light snack of the famous Spanish Pan Con Tomate with Sofia Lopéz-Quesada and my travel buddy extraordinaire Kathryn Typaldos, we retired to Sofia’s make a light summer salad.

Pepi De Boisseau in Her Own Words

Julia: How did you end up in Barcelona and when did you start to cook?

Pepi: I was born in New York City to a French father and Argentinian mother. We moved to Buenos Aires when I was young, and I moved to Brazil on my own when I was 19. I spent two years on a beach called Praia do Rosa, later I moved north to Itacaré and I had my own restaurant. I really started to cook in Brazil – the produce and ingredients are amazing; every fruit is an invitation to a new taste.

JS: Do you consider yourself a chef, an artist, something in between?

PB: I don’t think the classification of our work and in life matters.

JS: Tell me about your upcoming exhibition in Madrid, where will it be and what is the concept?

PB: I am working around the idea that sugar is crap. Everything we consume has sugar even if we don’t want it, and we need to correct this. I will be doing a small installation around this subject at a gallery called Alimentación 30.

JS: Is it important to you that your work is ephemeral?

PB: I like my work to be ephemeral because it allows me to change and explore different universes within food.

JS: You do so many events, as do I. I recently began thinking about what makes an event a “success”: number of people in attendance; the quality of documentation; the energy in the room? Is this something you negotiate with yourself?

PB: I think it depends on two things: the event has to have a nourishing concept that can offer a certain ritual for guests and the guests have to engage. This formula is perfect.

JS: Tell me about your project with Sunday Supper in NYC. Did you find unique challenges in doing your work in New York as opposed to in Spain?

PB: Working with Laila [founder of Sunday Supper] was amazing because we really synched. I found it easier to work in NYC in the sense that the people are more open to new experiences. Everything is more traditional in Spain, and it can be a bit difficult sometimes to propose a new idea on how to approach an event. On the other hand, the produce in Spain is amazing.