The cuisine of the Region of Murcia has always been based on cured meats, especially fish, and vegetables. Some people call it the vegetable garden of Europe. Two elements that can be combined in a dish, but what about fusing them? Using the ancient technique with seafood to offer the country? This was the question posed six months ago by Juan Guillamón, chef at Almo* (Murcia), who began to think about how to salt vegetables. A journey that involved the collaboration of UCAM and the National Technological Centre for Preserves and Food.

As a culinary "scientist", he explained to Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España that he began to carry out tests because "it is not the same to salt fish with all its fat and protein" as it is to salt vegetables. Guillamón and his team found that local products absorbed the salt better (always from San Pedro), up to the point of salting. They solved the problem by trying shorter curing times (just an hour or an hour and a half), adding sugar (as with marinated salmon), and introducing a protein in the form of tofu.

During this period of trial and error, the vegetables that worked best were butternut squash, celeriac and beetroot, which was "eggy because of the amount of sugar it contains, which helps to balance the flavour". These successes have been translated into dishes, such as a pumpkin cream with foie gras, with slices of pumpkin and a bottarga. Or the Bloody Mary with celeriac, topped with prawns from Águilas, with salt from the celeriac itself and a vinaigrette.

As for the beetroot, Guillamón explains that it is cured directly in salt for five to seven days. "We wash it, dry it and leave it to dry with a bit of flesh so we can grate it. We hang it like ñoras for seven days," explained the Murcian chef, before presenting his vision of a sliced tomato (in his case, tomato and beetroot in sorbet), accompanied by pumpkin and beetroot. The dish is rounded off with a vegetable brine, herb pesto, and beetroot bottarga.