Guest Chef: Comestibles’ Duncan Jones gives his tips for a tasting plate inspired by the opera

To accompany West Australian Opera’s production of Dido and Aeneas, Comestibles’ Duncan Jones has curated a decadent operatic-inspired tasting plate that’s worth singing about.

Biancomangiare tart, topped with ‘Renaissance stardust’

Ingredients

100g chicken breast

100ml full cream milk

2 heaped tbsp ground almond

50g melted butter.

4 premade puff pastry tart cases, 41mm

For the Renaissance stardust

½ cinnamon stick

1 tsp rock salt

2 tbsp raw sugar

Method

Step 1 For the dust, break the cinnamon stick into small pieces and toast in a dry pan on medium heat. Then place into a mortar and pestle with the salt and sugar and grind until smooth. Alternatively, you can use cinnamon powder and a coffee grinder.

Step 2 Preheat oven to 170C.

Step 3 Cut the chicken breast into 4 pieces and place in a heatproof pan or dish. Add the milk, cover with aluminium foil, and cook for 15 minutes.

Step 4 In a small frying pan lightly toast the ground almond until golden brown. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter until completely combined.

Step 5 Combine the cooked chicken and milk with the butter and almond mixture in a small food processor or hand blender and blend. At this stage, it will be quite liquid in texture. Pour the mixture into a small frying pan and simmer on low heat, continually stirring until thickened to the constancy of porridge. Leave to cool or until required.

Step 6 Fill each premade tart shell with a spoonful of the chicken almond mix and sprinkle over a pinch of the dust.

Asparagus tips tossed with mustard dressing & cured pork

Ingredients

60g (8 thin slices) of pancetta (ask your butcher for very thin slices)

12 spears (2 bunches) of asparagus

4 cubes of Persian feta

For the dressing

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

30ml olive oil

30ml grapeseed oil

Method

Step 1 Add the vinegar, brown sugar and mustard to a small mixing bowl and whisk together. Combine the oils in a pouring vessel and slowly drizzle into the mix while continually whisking to emulsify. If you are making more than one batch, you can use a stick blender, food processor or mixer to emulsify the dressing. Ideally, store the dressing in a squeezy bottle for ease of use.

Step 2 Cut the tips from 3 pieces of asparagus per person, cutting on the angle. Chargrill the tips quickly on a BBQ or indoor chargrill plate, 30 secs to 1.5 mins depending on the thickness of the asparagus.

Step 3 Put the asparagus on the plate first, then lay the pancetta across the top and drizzle with the dressing.

Serves 4

Tickets to Dido and Aeneas are available via West Australian Opera’s website.