Open House Food Service October Issue

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10 13 Australia’s leading news magazine for the hospitality industry

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OPEN HOUSE NEWS

Tourism Australia launches ‘Restaurant Australia’ after culinary giant France and ahead of Italy (third).

We are ranked as the number one destination for food and wine for people who have visited from China, USA, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia the UK and South Korea.

“Clearly, we need to narrow the perception gap between those who have visited Australia and those who have not.

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ourism Australia’s is set to ramp up the promotion of Australia’s food and wine experiences in its international marketing, with a new “Restaurant Australia” tourism marketing strategy unveiled at last month’s Savour Australia 2013.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the development of the new campaign was based on consumer research.

“There is a growing appetite (literally) globally for food and wine as part of the travel experience and Australia has all the right ingredients to capitalise on this opportunity – with the finest array of produce served in the most stunning locations in the world,” he said.

“Research across 15 of Australia’s key tourism markets shows that great food, wine and local cuisine is now a major factor in holiday decision making (at 38 per cent), ranking third ahead of world class beauty and natural environments (37 per cent).

CONTENTS

“However, our challenge is that for people who have never visited Australia, only 26 per cent associate the destination with a good food and wine offering. For those who have visited though, Australia is ranked second for its food and wine experiences (60 per cent)

“To do this we are evolving our global campaign with the idea that Australia could be the world’s greatest restaurant – Restaurant Australia – serving up the most unique food and wine experiences in remarkable locations every day.

“Whether it’s devouring fresh shucked oysters in Tassie, quaffing wine at a cellar door in SA, exploring Melbourne’s multicultural cuisines or sipping coffee in a laneway, feasting on sun-kissed fruit and seafood on a Queensland island, tasting marron for the first time at a vineyard in WA, sampling bush tucker in outback NT, fine dining in Sydney or following one of the many food trails or festivals in Australia – we want international visitors to know they will be spoilt for choice in Australia.”

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ith

Unilever Food Solutions calling on chefs to reduce their food waste by 20 per cent as part of next month’s Good Fork Week (page 4), now’s an ideal time to take stock of your practices. Ask yourself what is it that’s being thrown away? Are portion sizes too large? Is food being allowed to go bad in cool room? Once you identify problem areas chances it will be a simple matter of fixing them.

Or take a tip from 2013 Banksia Sustainability Awards finalist Cecconi’s Restaurant in Melbourne (page 8) and look into composting options for food waste. As restaurateur Maria Bortolotto explains, a ready source of scraps is a vital step in “closing the loop” of “plate to farm to plate”.

Reducing waste isn’t just good for the environment; it can also help your bottom line by reducing costs associated with disposing of it.

Restaurant & Catering Australia chief executive John Hart has welcomed the campaign.

“This will help narrow the perception gap between those who have visited Australia and those who have not, and give the outstanding quality of Australia’s restaurants the recognition that they deserve,” he said.

“Restaurants and cafes are where visitors eat – this research acknowledges that we have built a reputation for the best restaurants in the world and now that reputation is bearing fruit.”

Industry news......................................... 04

Breakfast................................................ 14

Cover story – Sara Lee Classic Tray Desserts....................................... 06

Christmas............................................... 22

Q&A – Maria Bortolotto........................ 08

Knives.................................................... 30

Consultant chef ..................................... 09

Editor’s word

Ylla Wright Managing Editor @ohfoodservice

22

Summer menus....................................... 28 Australian-made..................................... 32

Origins of artichokes.............................. 10

Cooking the books................................. 34

Profile – Martin Boetz .......................... 12

Products................................................. 36

Sustainability......................................... 13

Culinary clippings.................................. 38

Christmas.

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 3

NEWS

Chefs urged to ‘wise up on waste’ cent could save more than four tonnes of food waste (or the equivalent of 16 standard wheelie bins) annually.

“Although disposing of food waste has traditionally been seen by the industry as a problem, we see it as an opportunity to save money, care for the environment and meet customer expectations,” Daruwalla said.

To assist establishments and operators, Unilever Food Solutions have developed a free “Wise up on Waste” app and toolkit, available online.

The free tools show chefs and operators how to effectively and practically improve their waste management practices.

as seafood retailers and restaurants across eight categories.

“The seafood industry in NSW generates more than half a billion dollars of economic activity each year, employing more than 4000 people,” said guest of honour, Minister for Primary Industries and Minister for Small Business, Katrina Hodgkinson (pictured below).

“This event acknowledges all sectors of the seafood industry, highlighting the best of the best and bringing together all faces of our vibrant seafood trade from across NSW.”

Second phase of MLA campaign launched

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ith Australians throwing out $8 billion worth of edible food every year, the equivalent of 450,000 garbage trucks, Unilever Food Solutions is calling on chefs to reduce their waste by 20 per cent as part of Good Fork Week, to be held from October 14-20, 2013.

This is the second year that Unilever Food Solutions will hold Good Fork Week, an initiative developed to engage chefs around key sustainability issues within the Australian foodservice industry. This year’s event will be focused on helping foodservice operators reduce waste and run a more profitable business by reducing the hidden costs of waste.

“From 1997 to 2012 the population rose by 22 per cent, and waste generation increased by 145 per cent,” said Yezdi Daruwalla, managing director of Unilever Food Solutions. “Our population is growing at a rapid rate, increasing the pressure put on our environment and resources.

“Good Fork Week encourages all chefs and food operators to commit to making small changes to their operational practices by implementing effective waste management practices. This movement enables the food industry to work together to reduce the impact of unnecessary food waste on the environment; an important initiative for both chefs and consumers.”

According to a 2010 survey by the UK’s Sustainable Restaurant Association, reducing food waste in an average restaurant by just 20 per

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has launched the second stage in its campaign championing lesser known cuts and their potential to improve a restaurant’s bottom line, Lamb Masterpieces #2.

The new campaign focuses on lamb leg.

“The lamb leg is often seen as the less fashionable cousin on the carcase, but really, it is as versatile as any other cut if you know what to do with it,” said Claire Tindale, national marketing manager.

“Grilled, thin sliced for steam boats, braised, or roasted – the choices are all there… The Lamb Shank also gets pigeonholed as a winter cut, but after slow cooking, think about peeling the juicy meat from the bone, wrapping it in filo or stuffing it into a steamed bun… it instantly becomes hand held party food that transcends seasons.

“Masterpieces is designed to remind chefs that cuts they think are only suited to winter can be used in summer if they are ‘packaged’ differently.

It makes good business sense to consider these cuts as they are often more cost effective than the loin cuts but still deliver the beautiful taste diners are looking for.”

To register your interest in attending a Masterpieces masterclass, visit www.raremedium.com.au/ lambmasterpieces.

Sydney’s best fish restaurant named Fish Café by Balgowlah Seafood in Sydney has been named NSW’s Best Seafood Restaurant at the 2013 Sydney Fish Market Seafood Excellence Awards, held last month at the Sydney Seafood School.

The biennial awards recognise suppliers as well

Katrina Hodgkinson (on the left).

Mal Gill wins Great Australian Sandwichship Former My Kitchen Rules contestant and owner of Lady Marmalade Café in Brisbane, Mal Gill, has taken out the title of best sandwich maker in the country.

Gill clinched The Great Australian Sandwichship title with the “creative flair and creativity of his menu", which included a berbere-spiced, shredded beef brisket wrap and a San Fran Chicken triple-decker toasted sandwich, winning “Best wrap” and “Best toasted sandwich” (pictured) respectively.

The Great Australian Sandwichship saw each of the six contestants compete against the clock to produce a toasted sandwich, wrap, lunch roll and creative entry. Contestants were judged on presentation, innovation, commercial viability, taste and the explanation of their entries to the judging panel.

Beck Saul from Lady Marmalade Café took out “Best lunch roll” with her Portuguese chicken, chorizo, smashed peas, feta, mint, almonds and Harissa mayo roll, while Adam Pruckner from Code Black won “Best creative sandwich” with sautéed peas, pulled pork and fresh mint on multigrain toast with smokey aioli, a potato rosti

Want more industry news?

For even more industry news, in-depth reports and new product information, or to sign up for Open House weekly email newsletter, visit www.openhousemagazine.net. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@ohfoodservice). Or download the free Open House iPad app, packed with additional, exclusive content and updated monthly, from the iTunes app store.

4 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

chipped in buying their coffees at participating venues and into collection boxes or online. A total of 276 cafes and 17 coffee roasters were involved.

This year’s top fundraiser was Top Paddock in Melbourne.

Sepia Sydney’s ‘Restaurant of the Year’ and poached egg.

“The high level of talent and creativity from the contestants is some of the best we have seen yet”, said Graeme McCormack, executive director of the Australasian Sandwich Association.

City of Sydney a winner for food safety The City of Sydney has been recognised for its high food safety standards at the NSW Food Authority’s Food Surveillance Awards. Handed out every two years by local government and authorities, the awards acknowledge best practice in food hygiene in cafes, restaurants and take-away stores.

The City of Sydney won its category by ensuring food is prepared hygienically to keep diners safe and healthy. Working with the NSW Food Authority, the city is responsible for safeguarding hygiene standards in more than 4000 retail food premises and conducts more than 2400 inspections each year, more than any other council in the state.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the city’s staff are on the frontline of maintaining Sydney’s reputation as a great food city.

“We work closely with the industry to maintain high standards and the vast majority of businesses do the right thing,” she said.

The City of Sydney’s practices recognised by the award include a risk rating system that allows resources to be directed at poorly performing businesses, a new system to regulate the city’s fleet of food trucks, as well as enlisting more than 460 businesses into the Scores on Doors program, which awards restaurants a star rating based on their hygiene standards.

“The city’s risk rating system directs resources where they are most needed – it’s helping wellrun businesses get on with the job of serving their customers,” said Moore.

CafeSmart 2013 raises $83,950 StreetSmart’s most recent fundraising initiative CafeSmart, which took place across Australia on June 7, has raised $83,950 for grassroots organisations helping the homeless.

Cafes donated $1 for every coffee sold, while roasters supplied the beans and the public

Martin Benn’s restaurant Sepia has been named Sydney’s Restaurant of the Year at The Sydney Morning Herald 2014 Good Food Guide awards, announced last month.

Other big winners on the night were Justin Hemmes’ Mr Wong, named Best New Restaurant, and chef Ross Lusted, who won Chef of the Year for his work at the Bridge Room.

In a bitter-sweet moment fine dining restaurant Guillaume at Bennelong, located in the iconic Sydney Opera House, was elevated to three hat status, with chef Guillaume Brahimi also named a “Legend”. The restaurant will close its doors at the end of the year, after the Sydney Opera House put the venue out to tender earlier in the year, specifically calling for a bistro-style restaurant, café and bar. Brahimi plans to re-open elsewhere.

New government gets nod from TAA Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) has welcomed the Coalition’s win at the Federal Election, saying tourism will be high on the new Government’s agenda with Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop representing the sector.

TAA managing director Rodger Powell said that the Government’s pledge to repeal the carbon tax would help businesses reduce costs, while planned changes to visa applications and the freeze on the passenger movement fee would actively stimulate travel to Australia.

“These measures will benefit the industry in the longer-run, but currently the biggest impediments to performance and job creation are the rigid work restrictions,” said Powell.

“We are not about seeking to reduce wages, we want to see an increase in flexibility of working conditions so that both employers and employees can benefit.

“Hotels don’t work on a nine-to-five, Monday-toFriday basis, and nor do a lot of workers, so there is plenty of scope for reviewing conditions so that it is easier to employ staff on conditions that suit both parties.

“Most hotels these days have closed their restaurants during the day because it is simply too costly to keep them open due to labour conditions, but if there was more flexibility that could be changed. Penalty rates also make it very hard for many businesses to employ staff on weekends and over holiday periods, but this is when part-timers most want to work and when customers need to be serviced. It simply is not satisfactory, and Australia’s competitiveness and professionalism in the hospitality industry is suffering as a result.”

Chefs embracing ‘Natures Grade’ produce Cafes, restaurants and catering companies in Melbourne and Geelong are saving up to 40 per cent on their produce bill by embracing fresh ingredients irrespective of size and shape.

New social wholesale food business Spade & Barrow is committed to celebrating the fact that fresh produce doesn’t have to be perfectly shaped and helping farmers sell all of their crop.

The company has called their service “Natures Grade” – food as nature intended.

“At Spade & Barrow we view food as nature intended – it may be aesthetically imperfect – but after all not every carrot can be a supermodel,” said Spade & Barrow creator Katy Barfield.

Purchasing more than 80 per cent of their fruit and vegetables directly from farms, Barfield says the company is committed to a fair and equitable food system.

“Our farmers are getting a fair price for their whole crop so we are helping them to stay on their land and reduce unnecessary waste,” she said.

Customers are sent weekly price lists with farm specials and can choose the produce they would like, with the opportunity for considerable savings by buying mixed bags and boxes of top quality fresh produce.

“Chefs are always after the best quality produce,” said Andy Gale, head chef of St Ali and owner of Duchess of Spotswood. “When prices go up we struggle because we can’t just increase our prices. It is far better to get produce directly from the farm and understand where it comes from and chefs really want that information.”

Proud Mary head chef Chris Hamburger is another convert.

“Having an edge as far as sustainability is concerned, as well as a great connection to the farmer through Spade & Barrow, gives us a sense of what is really happening in the farming community,” he said.

“The range is always seasonal and that is exactly how it should be and how we should be cooking, when produce it at its best, most available and cheapest. We have to learn to value what fresh produce should really be like and that means it comes in all shapes and sizes,” he said. OH

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 5

cover story

Spoilt for choice Sara Lee has made planning a dessert menu even simpler with three new desserts added to its versatile range of Classic Tray Desserts.

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ariety is the key to satisfying your customer’s needs, and the addition of three new desserts to Sara Lee’s range of Classic Tray Desserts is set to keep customers coming back for more.

The current range of Cheesecakes, Danishes, Bavarians, Crumbles, Puddings and Pies now also includes Tiramisu – the Italian classic made with delicate soft sponge, chocolate sauce, real coffee and fresh cream filling, finished with a sprinkle of chocolate flakes. Lemon Cream Pie – a zesty lemon favourite of baked-from-scratch shortcrust pastry with a generous layer of tangy lemon curd, made with real lemon juice, and fresh cream. Chocolate Pudding – a delicious chocolate pudding, made using real chocolate, which self sauces when heated. The ultimate chocolate indulgence.

As always, the three new desserts have the same great taste for which Sara Lee is renowned. Baked fresh every day to traditional recipes using only

6 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

the finest and freshest ingredients wherever possible, including eggs and cream, Sara Lee’s Tray Desserts are snap frozen to seal in the maximum level of freshness, nutritional value and that “just baked” moment.

All the desserts in the Classic Tray Desserts range can be cut frozen, thawed and then served when required. They also allow perfect portion control, giving foodservice operators the flexibility needed to size to their needs. All the Tray Desserts come in 30x20cm trays and can easily be portioned to meet every need, with thirty five 4x4cm serves from one tray for morning tea or sixteen 7.5x5cm serves for dessert. And for convenience they can be served as is or decorated to add that unique touch.

With an increased range on offer in the Classic Tray Desserts range Sara Lee’s three new desserts are sure to provide the variety you are looking for. OH

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Q&A

In the loop Cecconi’s Restaurant in Melbourne has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Agriculture and Food Category of the 2013 Banksia Sustainability Awards. Restaurant owner Maria Bortolotto explains to Open House the environmental innovations the business has implemented over the years.

Q: You’re a second generation restaurateur. What have been the major changes you have seen in environmental sustainability in the restaurant industry over the years?

A: The main changes have been the focus on locally grown produce, farmers markets, the direct relationship with growers and or producers, and a much more open dialogue between the chefs and suppliers. Farmed fish and linecaught species are part of a much more sophisticated network to our national fisheries, while Cecconi’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil is sourced from the grower in South Eastern Victoria and North Eastern Victoria.

Q: Restaurants see high levels of waste daily. Have you always been environmentally conscious?

A: In terms of the restaurant, as well as personally, we have always cultivated a productive garden based on organic principles.

However, over the last five years we have made this a priority and have attempted to apply such thinking to all areas of our operation, gradually overcoming real and imagined obstacles.

Q: What is the idea behind the Closed Loop Organics Compost Unit you have installed and how

has it developed?

A: The “closing the loop” notion is the idea of food being in the cycle of “plate to farm to plate”, which aims to end food wastage. The Closed Loop Organics composting unit has a capacity of 100kg of food waste per day which is converted to valuable and nutrient rich compost within 24 hours. We use the compost by taking it home each weekend to use on our large vegetable patch, orchard and herb garden, and bring the fresh produce back to Cecconi’s for the chefs to use as ingredients.

As the systematic application of the Closed Loop digester soil conditioner into our little farm’s composting system evolves, the vegetable, fruit and berry production also increases with more produce coming back to the restaurant. This achieves the closed loop idea; the waste from the plate goes to the farm and back to the plate.

Q: What other innovations have you introduced to reduce your environmental footprint?

A: Implementing low energy lighting and working with suppliers to create a return and collect system for the hard plastic containers and waxed cardboard that arrive on our doorstep daily.

8 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

Q: Do you promote your environmental practices to your patrons and to the industry?

Q: Have you faced any challenges implementing your environmental practices?

A: We do take every opportunity to talk about these issues and the benefits of a proactive approach.

We recently hosted a group of like-minded restaurateurs and food handlers at the restaurant to demonstrate the Closed Loop Organics composting machine in action. A “garden to plate” day at Bentleigh West Primary school involved “no dig” gardening, planting by the moon, trellis making, green manuring, cooking from the garden to the plate, pasta making and general garden health and maintenance.

A: We have found that old habits are hard to break, like recycling waste that actually belongs in the general waste bin. Established infrastructure, plumbing and ventilation can prove too costly to correct. However, one does what one can.

Q: Do you find your ecofriendliness attracts customers?

A: Although it is hard to tell, many of the younger generation aged around 20 to 30 years old seem to view it as a responsible approach and they do respect it.

Q: Has this resulted in a “greener” menu?

A: As with many restaurants we have established much closer relationships with all types of suppliers emphasising organic and sustainable practice in the production of food.

Q: What has this nomination as a finalist meant to you?

A: The nomination has raised our profile, provoking quite a lot of dialogue with hitherto unknown individuals in and out of the restaurant scene. It has established connections with a diverse range of people who all seem to have some role in attempting to improve waste management and increase sustainability practises generally.

Q: Do you have any future plans to increase your environmental sustainability?

A: As our little farm composting system is evolving and increasing produce, I have connected with the Soil Sciences department at Melbourne University to further study and understand the benefits of using the resulting soil conditioner in horticulture. OH

Australian rules At the chance of being labled a racist, redneck or any number of other titles, I am seriously fed up to the back teeth with Australians being brow beaten into denying their own hospitality history.

I have just finished visiting the Fine Foods expo in Sydney, attending a number of high level meetings with various groups on how we should showcase Australia cuisine internationally. During these meetings I would no sooner get involved in a discussion on an option when some part of the group would question if we were potentially going to alienate some minority group by taking that particular path. It got to the point that if we mentioned, “All Australian”, “Naturally Australian” or “Historically Australian” we were on the verge of upsetting someone new to the country.

Well bugger me and correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty well

Consultant chef

convinced that our tourism numbers are based on a number of key issues: our weather, beaches and rainforests, being a safe country to visit and stay, the friendliness of our people and the fantastic produce and cuisines we have to work with as culinarians.

We are also seen as one of the most accepting groups of people on the planet, and being this accepting Australian hospitality and cuisine has reached, and in a lot of cases exceeded, the rest of the globe. So how about we forget about trying to convince the up and coming hospitality participants that things are done better elsewhere, and return to what you were born to be?

A true Aussie.

For those of you that may not be aware of what this is I will quickly give you the “Australian 101” lesson. In my view a true Aussie is a cheerful person that has good all-round family and community morals; if a male they’ll give up

Glenn Austin

www.glennaustinconsulting.com their seats up to ladies and the elderly, they open doors for women, carry bags, have a genuine healthy appreciation of humour and are prone to sip the odd beer or two.

If you find a great Aussie of either sex in the kitchen they will proudly work with great Australian produce such as our beef, lamb and seafood. They turn this already fantastic produce into something outstanding to consume whilst not messing around too much with

the integrity of the product. They take butter, sugar and eggs to make mouth-watering desserts. And select the best brews from our fantastic outstanding beer and wine makers to serve with it. Hopefully they'll end the afternoon with either a football game, a hit of cricket or some soothing Aussie rock music.

If you are sitting in any one of our eating establishments you will hopefully have a well-informed wait person that can have a joke, understands the region they are in, can match food and wine as well as speak to any amount of topics on the area you may want to know about. They are not pretentious, just courteous and hopefully have a healthy amount of larrikin in them, another great Aussie trait.

We are one of the most sought after destinations on the planet. We are not Asian, Middle Eastern or European. We are Aussies, so stand up for who you are, own it, wear it and be proud of it. Produce food representative of our nation to the best of your ability and serve it to the wonderful people known as tourists who come to experience who and what we are.

Get it while it’s hot!

Open House is now available as an iPad app, offering even more ways to enjoy industry news, views and feature stories on the key issues and trends affecting the hospitality industry.

This exciting free app is packed with bonus extras including recipes, behindthe-scenes videos and interactive features.

Updated monthly, the Open House iPad app is available to download free at the iTunes app store or www.openhousemagazine.net.

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 9

Pa ck

FR EE

Sa nd hu rs tA rt ic ho ke

Make Artichokes the Heart of your menu.

Call or email us for your free Sandhurst Artichoke Pack.

To view the entire range of Sandhurst antipasto, olives, continental goods, garnishes, spreads and pastes, oils and vinegars and pantry staples visit: www.sandhurstfinefoods.com.au Telephone: 1800 500 362 Email: info@sandhurstfinefoods.com.au

F I N E

F O O D S

One pack per customer. Open to residents of Australia aged 18+ who own or are the Purchasing Manager of a restaurant or cafe in Australia. Offer starts 12:01am 01/10/13 (AEDT) and ends 11:59 31/12/13 (AEDT) or whilst stocks last. To participate; email or phone the promoter in the manner required. A valid sign-up will entitle the participant to redeem one Sandhurst artichoke pack valued at RRP: $4.99 (AUD). One claim per restaurant or cafe. Provision of gifts subject to availability & based on reasonably anticipated demand. Gifts will only be awarded following any validation & verification that Promoter requires in its sole discretion. Gifts not transferrable or exchangeable & cannot be taken as cash. Promoter accepts no responsibility for any variation in gift value. If offer cannot run as planned &/or gifts become unavailable for reasons beyond the Promoter’s control, Promoter reserves right in its sole discretion to modify offer &/or if necessary award comparable gift/s of equal or greater value in lieu. Promoter, its associated agencies & companies exclude all liability (incl negligence) except for liability that cannot be excluded by law, for any direct or indirect injury, loss &/or damage arising in any way out of offer.

Origins of...

Artichokes The versatile artichoke has earned itself a prominent position in history and modern cooking.

History Occurring in countless varieties all over the world and known for their gastronomic and medicinal attributes, artichokes were first introduced as a crop on the Iberian Peninsula by the occupying Arabs. A type of flower, artichoke “heads” are the buds of the artichoke plant, a distant relative of the common thistle, from which it has evolved over centuries of cultivation.

Its introduction into the Iberian Peninsula is not well documented, however one school of thought believes the artichoke to have been introduced as a crop into northern Europe by the Visigoths, though it is more generally accepted that the Arabs were responsible for planting it systematically.

Artichokes were very popular during the Renaissance; they were eaten at aristocratic tables throughout Europe especially in the French Court, mostly due to the fact the Queen of France, Catherine de Medici believed that they were an aphrodisiac.

Hundreds of artichoke varieties have emerged throughout the centuries, almost always linked to a particular region and with very diverse characteristics in appearance, texture and flavour.

After Italy Spain is the second biggest producer of artichokes in the world and the world’s leading artichoke exporter. Spain’s most widely-grown variety is Blanca de Tudela; its distinctive qualities give it enormous gastronomic potential, which has yet to be fully explored.

Health and medicinal benefits The Greeks and Romans regarded the artichoke highly because of the diuretic and medicinal properties attributed to it. Roman doctors prescribed drinking the cooking juices from artichokes as a treatment for gout and other ailments.

Artichokes are high in potassium to reduce blood pressure and they contain 10.3g of fibre to reduce the risk of heart disease. One medium artichoke offers 4g of healthy protein and they are fat-free and cholesterol free. Artichokes act as a natural liver medicine, helping in the digestion of food and preventing digestive problems and also help protect against hepatic diseases such as liver failure.

A culinary delight Over the centuries, artichokes have earned themselves a prominent position in the

Mediterranean diet with their healthy attributes and balanced approach to eating.

Due to their delicate flavour and texture, artichokes have been the inspiration for many recipes from traditional dishes to modern inventions. The versatile vegetable can be eaten raw as a fresh, crunch and slightly bitter addition to salads, or alternatively they can be dipped in batter and fried.

In Navarre, Northern Spain, artichokes are an essential ingredient in menestra de verduras, a regional classic of poached local vegetables, and in Levante, Córdoba in Spain, the simplest and most traditional way of eating artichokes is a dish called torrd, where the artichoke is squashed flat, seasoned with oil and salt and cooked on a grill over the fire.

When grown slowly in the cold of winter, the heads gradually take up nutrients from the soil which not only makes them particularly juicy and flavoursome, but the leaves of Blanca de Tudela artichokes spring from the heart itself rather than from the flower stalk. As a result, the heart is bigger and more compact so that it has much greater culinary potential.

Artichoke hearts provide Inaki Rodaballo, of Cafe Niza in Pamplona, with the basis for his tapasstyle recipe “Alcachofa gold”. The dish consists of a fried artichoke, a bit of foie gras and little else.

Artichokes in Australia Sandhurst Fine Foods is Australia’s largest importer of artichokes representing 70 per cent of all artichokes brought to Australia for the past 20 years.

For foodservice professionals, Sandhurst imports Spanish and Peruvian artichokes with stems that have been marinated in herbs, garlic, spices and oils for rich flavour and texture. Sandhurst markets “Whole Artichokes in Brine”, 2.5kg cans of 30-40 artichoke hearts in brine as well as a 2kg glass jar of “Quartered and Marinated Hearts” flavoured with brine and oil for a light, low-fat option.

Sandhurst also provides products such as smokyflavoured grilled artichokes under the Prima Scelta brand. OH

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“By frying a cut-in-half artichoke at 180°C, you get different degrees of crunch within the same mouthful,” Rodaballo said.

“As far as I’m concerned the artichoke is delicious on its own and doesn’t need anything to set it off, the flavour is so intense and the texture so juicy – you can do so much with an artichoke.”

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www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 11

LOGO GUIDELINES

Profile

Change of pace Top chef turned sustainable farmer Martin Boetz, formerly of Longrain Sydney and Melbourne, talks to Ylla Wright about his Cook’s Co-Op concept.

A

After hearing about the Cook’s Co-Op, The Keystone Group, which runs a number of Sydney venues including The Winery, Gazebo Wine Garden, Sugarmill and The Newtown Hotel, aproached Boetz recently with a view to him coming on board as executive chef of a new venue.

fter 13 years as co-owner and executive chef of the Longrain restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, it was a surprise to many when Martin Boetz left the city behind to establish the Cooks Co-Op, a sustainable distribution business and farm that aims to make more people aware of, and involved with, Australian produce and farming.

The restaurant, Rushcutters, which is set to open this month in Sydney’s Rushcutters Bay, will source the majority of its produce from the Co-Op.

Located at Sackville, an hour from Sydney’s CBD, the Cooks Co-op focuses on sustainable farming, education and promotion of quality, chef-grade produce from the Hawkesbury River region.

According to John Duncan, managing director of the Keystone Group, the company is “excited to join forces with Martin to support local farmers”.

“The idea for the Cooks Co-Op came about after I bought a piece of land on the Hawkesbury River for the sole purpose of being somewhere I would live eventually,” Boetz explains. “But as I got to know the area more and realised how much food was growing around me, and got to know my neighbours, I thought to myself, this could be the next stage of my life.

“They have been doing it tough of late and this project is the perfect way to support them while offering our guests the best produce possible on the plate in Sydney,” he says.

Rushcutters will offer a range of diverse dining experiences throughout the day, with a Northern European-style menu which places emphasis on seasonality and freshness.

“I wouldn’t say that I was stale at Longrain, but I realised after I bought the property that this was what I wanted to do. It just happened organically and everything fell into place. It has taken a while to get off the ground but I really enjoy what I’m doing.”

Passionate about locally grown, seasonal produce, Boetz came up with the dual ideas of showcasing local producers in a food growing region that’s on Sydney’s doorstep to chefs and starting his own market garden.

always harvested within 24 hours of you receiving it.”

“A lot of producers of fruit and vegetables in this area sell straight into Flemington markets and it gets mixed in with everything else that is coming from other parts of New South Wales and other states.

The Co-Op is currently supplying fresh produce such as cavalo nero, curly kale, rocket, parsley, corinder, rainbow chard, swiss chard and baby kifplers, as well as a number of other items to restaurants including Matt Moran’s Chiswick, Kitchen by Mike and Movida.

“What I would like to be is a conduit between the Hawkesbury region and the chefs of Sydney, so I can supply the best possible ingredients into the restuarants.

Cook’s Co-Op produce is almost

“I’m supplying Karen Borg from Willowbrae’s goats curd and goats milk, and we’ve got ironbark honey from an apiairst from Penrith, which is very dark and delicious,” Boetz says. “Hopefully I’m going to

12 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

be buying some of his hives to put onto the farm. And I’ve just sealed a deal with an olive oil producer in Mudgee; I’ll have my own olive oil with him.”

A shed on Boetz’s property has recently been converted into a coolroom space and distribution area, and “phase two” of his plan will see a second shed turned into a commercial kitchen.

“It will be an event space, and also available to other chefs who want access to a garden, and to be able to process food, cook new menu items, or do photo shoots,” Boetz says.

“We’ve employed a chef, Casper Christianson, who’s just finished 4½ years at Quay restaurant,” says Boetz. “He is Danish and obviously I am playing on my German heritage as well, so we’ll be showcasing Northern European/ Scandinavian food with a twist.

We’re using traditional recipes from those countries and giving them an Australian twang.

“The food that has traditionally been grown in the Hawkesbury region is very European, whether it’s beetroot or cabbage or cavalo nero, or the herbs that I grow on my property, so it works well. It’s all the things that I love to eat, and its all here right on our doorstep.”

While happy to admit that the Co-Op is a work-in-progess, Boetz has no regrets.

“Every day when I am here I think how lucky I am to have found this space,” he says. OH

Photos by Other Such Things Photo.

Sustainability

A fair contest

Fairtrade: the facts • Consumers bought more than 42 million Fairtrade products in 2012 comprising primarily of chocolate (62 per cent), coffee (31 per cent) and tea (6 per cent).

• Fairtrade is the world’s most widelyrecognised ethical label, according to research conducted by GlobeScan for Fairtrade International.

• 50 per cent of Australians recognise the Fairtrade Mark.

Ensuring third world farmers get a fair go has paid off for the owners of Adelaide café Fair Espresso, writes Ylla Wright.

F

air Espresso in Adelaide has been named Fairtrade Café of the Year in the inaugural 2013 Fairtrade Awards.

• The total market for sustainable products and services has almost doubled in the last four years, with more Australians embracing “eco” options

The Awards shine a light on Australian companies and retailers who have taken steps to help support farmers, their families and local communities in developing countries.

• On average there are more than 15 new businesses entering the Fairtrade system in Australia each year.

An independent panel consisting of representatives from the Forest Stewardship Council, Oaktree Foundation and Australia Post awarded Fair Espresso the title of Fairtrade Café of the Year due to their outstanding commitment to empowering farmers and workers in developing countries.

• Companies which offer Fairtrade Certified products include Alter Eco, Chocolatier, Toby’s Estate, Belaroma, Cadbury, Starbucks, Nerada and Grinders.

• Research shows that scepticism about green “claims” made by manufacturers remains a constraint to further purchasing for more than 60 per cent of Australians.

Fair Espresso have been heavily involved in promoting Fairtrade practices locally in Adelaide, in addition to using Fairtrade cotton uniforms and exclusively stocking Fairtrade coffee, tea, drinking chocolate and sugar.

Rose Lazarus, co-owner of Fair Espresso with husband Matt, says that it was always part of their business plan to operate the café along Fairtrade lines.

“We knew when we started the business a few years ago that there were a few issues around the sourcing of coffee, particularly exploitation of farmers,” she says. “A lot of coffee comes from third world countries. Fairtrade is being aware of where products are sourced from and ensuring that farmers are getting a fair price.”

The cafe uses Coffex’s Global Café Direct Fairtrade

organic coffee, blended from Central and South American beans.

“Coffex has always been very transparent about exactly which co-operative they sourced their beans from,” says Lazarus. “That’s really important with Fairtrade.”

While Lazarus admits it’s nice to be acknowledged for their efforts, she says the award is “also a really good platform to further educate customers about Fairtrade and the Fairtrade logo”.

According to Fairtrade Australia New Zealand, Australian consumers spent more than $191 million on Fairtrade Certified products in 2012, with more than 80 per cent of shoppers believing that companies can help reduce poverty through the way they do their business, according to GlobeScan data from 2011.

“Aussie shoppers are rewarding companies for giving farmers a fair go,” said Fairtrade ANZ operations manager, Craig Chester.

“Demand for Fairtrade Certified products is steadily increasing with more and more companies switching to Fairtrade, whether it be a chocolate manufacturer sourcing Fairtrade Certified cocoa, a café or retailer providing Fairtrade products, or businesses buying Fairtrade through their procurement channels.

“We congratulate the 2013 Fairtrade Award winners, who prove that it is possible to put social and sustainable values into the market and succeed.” OH

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 13

breakfast

Aussie Aussie Aussie

oink oink oink Bacon is still top of the list for any breakfast menu, and with more awareness about where that bacon comes from there has never been a better time to support the local pork industry, writes Sheridan Randall.

Y

ou’d be hard pressed to find a breakfast menu in Australia that doesn’t have bacon on it. Why leaving it off would be unAustralian. Put it in a roll, pair it with an egg, roll it in a wrap, or simply serve it as a side dish – it doesn’t matter, as long as it is there in all its crispy, fatty, salty, smoky glory.

So good is it we even have a week dedicated to celebrating the stuff every May – Australian Bacon Week.

This year saw chef Colin Fassnidge, from Sydney’s 4Fourteen, unveil a decadent version of the classic egg and bacon roll using award-winning Australian bacon and a duck egg cooked in truffle butter, served on a brioche bun. Coming in at $120 it wasn’t being snapped up by early morning

labourers, but it did garner some international attention.

Other than showing how much we cherish our egg and bacon in the morning, it also highlighted the importance of using home grown pork. Two thirds of the bacon sold in Australia is made from imported, subsidised pork, mainly from Denmark, USA and Canada, which by law has to come in frozen. That equates to over 2.9 million kilograms of foreign pig meat – $9.9 million worth – arriving in Australia every week destined for processing into

14 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

smallgoods such as bacon.

Australian Pork Limited is trying to stem the tide, launching its PorkMark label back in 2010 to help people easily identify pork that is 100 per cent Australian grown.

For many the subtleties of labelling laws don’t make the choice as clear as it should, with bacon and other processed pork goods legally

allowed to be called Australian made even if it is using imported pork as long as it is manufactured in Australia. Simply, the only way to enjoy bacon that has been made using fresh pork is by ensuring it is made from Australian pork.

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Slice of perfection Freezing pork changes the flavour and also dramatically changes the shelf stability of the product as well, according to Steve Chapman, of Slade Point Meat Specialists, in Queensland’s Mackay. Chapman’s entry in the National Bacon Awards scooped the coveted Full Rasher Bacon category, with one judge describing it as “simply awesome”.

“Generally when you freeze a product then thaw it it’s not as good,” Chapman says. “All our fresh pork comes in as a whole carcass and then we bone it out on premises.”

Chapman entered the competition in 2012 for the first time at the behest of his customers who kept telling him how unique his bacon is.

This year his bacon achieved a near perfect score from the judges who were looking at colour, aroma, flavour and lean to fat ratio. But what does it take to get that kind of pork perfection?

“I’ve be doing this a very long time and my grandfather was a smallgoods maker and from the age

The rare breed free range pigs at Greenvale Farm.

of seven-years-old I would stand beside him and watch everything he did,” he says. “I suppose it was in my blood to be a small goods maker. We haven’t always stuck to the same process, and the biggest thing we find is good fresh pork, and ageing, as it makes quite a big difference with the final outcome of the product.”

Chapman favours either the White or Landrace breed of pig, which

are the most common pig breed for commercial farming in Australia.

“You do look for the biggest eye muscle you can find but you also need a percentage of fat to make the product more stable and add more flavour and stop it going dry in the cooking,” he says. “Fat is flavour and also moisture in the cooking process.”

The meat is cured with a salt and sugar base before being soaked in a holding tank in the cold room, where it stays for around three to five days.

“Then I hang it up on the hooks in the smokehouse and dry it for around an hour to get the moisture off the surface so that the smoke takes a lot better when it goes through the oven,” he says.

The meat gets smoked for around four to five hours, using regular food safe sawdust.

“I’ve always been of the opinion that smoke is smoke,” he says. “I’ve had this talk with many people, but I’ve used a range of different types of wood over the years but nobody here has picked the difference. We have found that it doesn’t seem to make a great deal of difference [what type of wood you use].

“With bacon we find that a drier product [is better]. If you buy bacon from a supermarket and it’s in a packet, when you open it [the bacon] is quiet watery,” he says.

“With our product it doesn’t go like that as it is aged and dried for a large period of time. Generally I try to age the product for a week, and that firms it right up.”

David Lucas, from award-winning Sydney butcher Lucas Meats, says “people understand that you get what you pay for”.

Judging at this year's National Bacon Awards.

16 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

“If you want quality you basically have to pay for it,” he says. “If it is mass produced it’s going to taste mass produced. We favour stall free

Australian produced pork. I sell it as a premium because it is Australian pork, and all my competitors are selling a cheaper product because it is imported.

But I don’t match their price.”

Lucas uses an eight to 10 kilo boneless middle with 12mm or less of fat, which is about standard.

“We take the skin off which takes some of the fat off, but we need some of the fat on as it holds it together,” he says. “[Without fat] it would be dry and horrible and you wouldn’t be able to slice it.”

The pork has the rind removed, before being cured and soaked in brine for at least 24-48 hours. It is then cooked and smoked using German beech wood.

“About six years ago we dropped the salt as peoples taste for salt was changing,” he says. “People were saying our ham and bacon was too salty even though it had been the same recipe for around 10 years. We are selling more now than we ever have. It also means you can taste the flavour of the pork more. There’s a fine balance.”

Rare breed Greenvale Farm in western Victoria breed “genuine” free range heritage pigs – Berkshire, Wessex Saddleback and Tamworth – on their 445 hectares property.

Run by husband and wife team Anthony and Amanda Kumnick, the three breeds were chosen as much for their hardiness and suitability to outdoor living as the taste of their meat.

“Our pigs have a deeper flavour than the usual Landrace pig, which reaches kill weight at around four months, whereas ours takes around six to seven months,” says Amanda Kumnick.

“It means the meat is a lot darker, and the muscle tone is a lot denser

as they have moved a lot. The intramuscular fat is also greater as they are slower growing and you need that fat through the meat for the flavour. The Berkshire is known as the wagyu of the pork world because of that intramuscular fat ratio. We find that the Wessex is also good for that and a lot of chefs like it for the flavour. The Tamworth grows quicker and has a really long loin which is very appealing.”

Greenvale Farm has been producing its own bacon for around four years.

“We do two types of standard bacon.

Loin bacon and belly bacon, which is double smoked,” she says. “Then we make jowl bacon off the cheek, which has a very sweet soft fat and a scotch or neck bacon and that has a different texture. We also do green bacon off the leg, which is cured but unsmoked.”

The different bacon cuts bring different attributes to the plate.

“The standard loin bacon that we all know and love is good for a bacon sandwich or to have with your breakfast,” she says. “Belly bacon is good for dicing, as it has got layers of meat and fat. Jowl bacon brings that smoky bacon flavour into something

– it’s quite high in fat, but a thin slice like pancetta is good for flavouring things. The scotch bacon suits the bacon steak idea, like a really thick cut piece of bacon that you slice yourself. It’s just divine, with the softness of the shoulder but with that smoky saltiness of the bacon.”

The number of foodservice operators using free range pork for their bacon is comparitively small, but the overall demand for free range pork is still outstripping supply, according to Lee McCosker, chief operating officer for free range farming advocate Humane Choice.

“The market for free range is definitely increasing,” she says.

“But one of the biggest issues we have in the free range market is that we don’t have enough farmers. Free range is generally in the realm of the small producers because you can’t do genuine free range on a massive scale.

“We have gotten so used to pigs being raised intensively and we are stuck with this idea that they need to be farmed in small managed environments. There are management reasons why people

would want to do that as well. Pigs are very hard on infrastructure and farms as well, and there are management issues when the sows give birth and during mating and that sort of thing. So it sort of prevents that type of [small farm] system being large scale.

“However what stops a lot of small farmers is the controversy around the term free range. The farmers that farm extensively in genuine free range conditions require a higher price for their products because the pigs take longer to grow and are more labour intensive. When they have to compete with pork labelled free range that comes from a lesser production system that is able to undercut them it makes people wary

of jumping into the market. I think we will see a lot more free range farms when we eventually get a legal definition of what free range means.”

With the number of Australian consumers indicating that buying Australian produce was important growing over the 12 months from August, according to research commissioned by the Australian Made Campaign, it is time foodservice operators got on board.

“I think ordinary consumers like to support Australian grown, where with the foodservice it is sort of hidden behind the scenes and is generally about the cheapest product,” she says.

“There is a market screaming out for a product – it just has to be filled.”

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18 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

10/09/12 8:33 AM

Even easier eggs Super food, breakfast staple and crowd favourite, the humble egg is fast becoming the go-to pre-prepared product for foodservice operators, writes Anna-Louise McDougall. aged-care facilities and caterers they are a convenient and economical option. Along with little wastage and minimal preparation time, there are a number of other advantages to serving pre-made products.

E

ggs are a favourite choice for the breakfast loving Australian, and an ideal way for restaurants, cafes, hotels and earlybird function caterers to satisfy the reported 65 per cent of Australians eating breakfast on the go.

everyone from young children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Packed with 11 essential vitamins and minerals and a rich source of omega-3, eggs have the highest nutritional quality protein of all food sources, and are suitable for

Pre-prepared egg products such as omelettes, scrambled or poached eggs may not be the obvious choice over fresh eggs, but for many businesses such as hotels, motels,

The “heat and eat” dishes offer consistent flavour and customer satisfaction; fit the standards of a wide variety of consumers, not only for their flavour and health properties but also with gluten-free, vegetarian and Halal approved ranges; eliminate the particular storage requirements of shell eggs; and can be stored for longer periods of time.

“With a trend towards longer working days and people being

increasingly time-poor there is anticipation of a period of strong sustained growth in breakfast consumption,” said John O’Hara, managing director of leading egg supplier Sunny Queen Farms.

“As healthy eating, convenience and comfort food are all emerging trends in the foodservice sector, pre-prepared egg products are perfectly positioned to capture greater market share.

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www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 19

sleeve has been designed in such a way that when the backing is peeled away the poached egg can be hygienically inverted onto a plate without needing to be touched by hand. The packs come with two different shaped eggs to escape uniform products.

“Australia’s embrace of preprepared egg products in comparison with the UK and US is still in its infancy. However, this market is growing rapidly.

“Australians are becoming increasingly aware of the nutritional benefits eggs can provide and trying to find a way to include them on their breakfast table more often. But as we are becoming even more timepoor, everyone is looking for shortcuts. Customers in foodservice outlets have less time to wait so outlets need to find ways to deliver fresh, delicious meals to eat on the go even more quickly.”

For home-made taste without the egg shells, Sunny Queen Farms offers a range of tasty and nutritious options for foodservice menus, saving time and labour during the breakfast rush.

Sunny Queen Farms have recently launched a cost effective and versatile Omelette Patty range, developed especially for foodservice outlets. Made from real, fresh Sunny Queen eggs and high quality, fresh ingredients without artificial colours or flavours, the

Omelette Patties are ready to eat in less than 60 seconds. This gives foodservice outlets the option to be creative with breakfast sandwich combinations or to allow customers to build their own style of breakfast sandwich. The portion controlled patties come in three varieties: Plain, Fetta and Spinach, and Cheese and Bacon.

Sunny Queen are also constantly releasing new omelette flavours to their award winning Omelette range, with Cheese & Tomato being the latest edition. Sunny Queen also offer scrambled egg mixes in

20 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

1kg or 2kg pouches and poached eggs which are gluten-free and Halal certified.

Quality and consistency in preprepared egg products is the key to attracting customers, and as well as variety.

Farm Pride also has a range of preprepared egg products available for foodservice. The company’s Poached Eggs are poached in a formed heat sealed plastic pack to provide consistent, well-cooked poached eggs that just need to be warmed and served. The plastic

Other products in the range include pasteurised frozen scrambled egg mix, available in an 8kg box with four resealable 2kg packs; Fried Eggs, which are ready to serve for breakfast or as an ingredient in a burger or filled roll; Cooked Peeled Eggs, which are ideal for sandwiches, egg salads, stuffed eggs, scotch eggs, hors d’oeuvres and platters; and French Crepes, which are made whole eggs and are ready to be filled for sweet or savoury use.

While there will always be a time and a place for eggs cooked to order, pre-prepared egg products can go a long way to eliminating issues of customer dissatisfaction associated with undercooked eggs, inconsistent dishes and long waits for food. Pre-prepared egg products ensure there’s something for everyone. OH

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christmas menu

A right spectacle Christmas of old was turkey and spuds, but things have lightened up now, with all sorts on offer over the festive period and generally lots of it, discovers Sheridan Randall.

T

he festive season kicks off proper in December, with many in the corporate world looking to reward their employees and celebrate another year by booking Christmas functions in the lead up to the big day. Christmas Day itself is a chance for some venues to pull out the stops and showcase the fresh produce and easy living that summer in the southern hemisphere is all about.

Having just come off the back Christmas in July, Lauren Murdoch, head chef at Sydney’s 3 Weeds Hotel, says it is time to dig out the Christmas puddings again. And with bookings for functions already rolling in for December, she wants “to do something I would like to have on Christmas Day”.

“I don’t want to take away from their Christmas Day lunch,” she says. “I still will do something like a roast lamb and lighten it up with salads, but present it on shared platters so you still have that Christmas shared meal kind of thing. If I do

roast potatoes or roast pumpkin I’ll lighten them up in a salad sort of way, I’ll go with the flavours but not quite so heavy.”

The left over Christmas puddings from July will get recycled.

“I might do an ice Christmas pudding, make it up into an ice cream and then do an Anglaise [sauce], so [you have] all the flavours of Christmas pudding but in an ice cream,” she says. “In the desserts I like to use the colours of Christmas, so I'll use a lot of red berries to make it look festive.”

The kitchen team at Ormeggio at The Spit in Sydney “likes to surprise our guests”, says owner Anna Pavoni.

Specialising in contemporary Italian cuisine, the restaurant will be making the most of its Mosman location and water views.

“A European-style Christmas lunch would be really inappropriate for our location,” she says. “Seafood is a focus for Australian Christmas of course!”

Festive feast Biota Dining in Bowral, New South Wales, is looking to make a spectacle of itself this Christmas, according to executive chef and co-owner James Viles.

“Last year we did a sit down degustation menu, but this year we are going to do a large family day where there is sort of a mixture between a three-course menu and a produce table,” he says.

“I want to do a big indoor outdoor produce table that is really free form.

Mountains of seafood and glazed ham – Christmas all out.”

With a young family, Viles says he wants to do something that is very family orientated and “open the doors to anybody, especially children”.

“I remember as a young boy my parents would always book somewhere in a nice hotel where they would do a decadent Christmas lunch and there would be families

everywhere,” he says. “I just want to spin off from that kind of thing where there are a lot of families everywhere and everyone enjoying their day. Putting a whole medieval thing to it with big silver platters of whole roast duck and whole pig and mountains of prawns and oysters overflowing on big beds of seaweed.

“Just have some fun with it and really use the best hams and some really top notch produce and mountains of it – really decadent.”

With the restaurant’s chefs already “shaking their heads” about the work involved on the day, Viles says they will get a few days off afterwards to compensate. And with the theme being as interactive as possible he wants them to get on the floor and have some fun with the 150 guests anticipated.

“I’ll probably do a lot of suckling pigs and some slow cooked whole lambs from a local farm,” he says.

“In terms of seafood there will be whole crabs and sides of trout cured

The Windsor Christmas pudding has 130 years of tradition behind it.

See the recipe in the Open House iPad app.

22 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

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in beetroots from the garden or something.

“I’ll do some really soft cooked duck tongues in their own juices as well. Really make as spectacle of it.

We want it to be something quite special. They’ll pay for it but it will be glorious!”

Traditional twist The Hotel Windsor in Melbourne is 130 years old so it comes as no surprise that the hotel’s Christmas Day lunch menu will be keeping it as traditional as possible.

Bookings for this year’s Christmas lunch started to roll in at the beginning of the year, with plenty of repeat customers who don’t want old favourites left off the menu.

Traditional dishes such as turkey breast with stuffing, chestnut purée, gratin potatoes and glazed carrots, summer green salad, cranberry jus and Christmas plum pudding brandy sauce, vanilla ice cream sit alongside steamed zucchini flowers, tomato fondue, fig vincotto dressing and crème frâiche pithivier, wild mushroom, fresh truffle porcini cream.

“We try to include the most expected dishes such as turkey and root vegetables,” says Nigel Maxey, the hotel’s director of food and beverage.

“Also seafood is very popular during Christmas time in Australia and therefore is featured on our menus as well. Christmas Pudding is also a must, which is a very traditional Christmas dish and is a definite highlight on the menu. The Windsor Christmas pudding has been prepared according to a traditional recipe and has been served at every Christmas luncheon for almost 130 years. The fruits are marinated in cognac and rum for more than a year and the pudding has been gently steamed for at least four hours.”

Over the years components of the dishes have evolved, with “new ways of presenting old favourites on the plate and by adding modern ingredients”.

“We offer a full vegetarian menu as demand has definitely increased over the years, which we hope is a good indication of its popularity,” he says.

With the lunch usually fully booked by November, it’s proof in

the pudding that “the traditional Christmas lunch is still as popular as ever”, Maxey says.

Another institution that is fond of a bit of tradition is the military.

Serco Sodexo Defence Services (SSDS) caters to around 50,000 Defence personnel over the year, including Christmas. Although many in the Forces leave their bases for some family time, there are typically anywhere between 50 and 100 people per base at Christmas lunch, according to Bill Wilson, SSDS’s national hospitality and catering manager.

“Menus vary based on customer preference and numbers, but generally the old favourites still appear on the menus, along with newer additions,” Wilson says.

“There are no rules to the products, [with] mess staff given a fair degree of latitude in what they may order for the Christmas fare. This includes turkey, ham, roasts and seafood. Executive chefs will tailor menus at their sites to best suit customer needs, which are then approved by Defence.”

Defence has some fairly strict

dietary guidelines to stick to, which generally includes a choice of four main meals, with a minimum of two vegetables, potato and rice dishes, salads, desserts and beverages. And everything has to be formally approved by a dietician. “[This is] to ensure the variety of food includes both red and white proteins, vegetarian choices and any particular cultural or religious diets we may have to cater for,” he says.

As for sticking with a traditional British version of Christmas lunch, Maxey says that Defence keeps up with the culinary tastes in the outside world, with SSDS adopting Australian fusion cooking “in line with the changing multicultural composition of Australians”.

Essentially, those on base get the sort of food they would probably get at home.

Roast turkey with cranberry sauce, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, baked leg ham with mustard sauce, platters of oysters and king prawns are all on the menu.

“Australian Christmas menus are a blend of cold and hot choices and include a seafood selection,

Feeding the troops over Christmas.

24 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

Turkey Buffé

Now’s the time to start talking Turkey!

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The Ingham turkey range includes items ideal for all seasonal celebrations from Christmas cocktails to full-on festive feasts.

From raw whole birds, turkey tenderloins and boned and de-boned raw Turkey Buffés to ready-to-serve Oven Roasted Turkey Half Breasts, Turkey Breast Roll and Turkey Ham Supreme, you’ll find the right product to suit your needs.

To see the full selection, call your Ingham rep for a copy of the new turkey brochure or visit www.inghamfoodservice.com.au When it comes to talking turkey at Christmas... Ingham has the answer.

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For more information or to place an order, contact your local branch.

which we provide along with more continental or traditional dishes such as turkey, ham and Christmas plum pudding,” he says.

Go your own way Sydney’s Campbelltown Catholic Club has a number of venues under its umbrella, and sees Christmas functions start six weeks out from Christmas Day. This allows the venues “to target customers for the whole period producing the most

profitable period of the calendar year”, according to Campbelltown Catholic Club’s executive chef Paul Rifkin.

Despite the Christmas period being the biggest boost to the bottom line all year, the Club has seen the number of corporate Christmas parties decline “significantly” since the GFC, with those who continue to reward staff with a grand lunch or dinner function instead adding items like prawn plates and platters of oysters to the existing menu options.

James Viles from Biota is going medieval over Christmas.

“Customers with tighter budgets are reverting to cocktail parties and are then choosing higher quality items to maintain the party and reward atmosphere of previous years,” he says.

“A large number of customers who once had functions for 50 to 70 have scaled back to 20 to 30 and prefer to choose either directly off the a la carte menu in our Samba Grill Café or use a reduced menu, where they can enjoy premium products such as wagyu steaks and lobster.”

Seeing a decline in Christmas bookings prompted the Club to take some action. First they started going after school formal functions which coincided with the Christmas period. Secondly they introduced a mixed function for smaller companies to celebrate their Christmas party by marketing a “Dirty Dick’s” show and dinner.

“This was an instant sell out with over 600 people made up of many small groups buying full tables of 16 or part thereof,” he says. “We have continued this each year in December and it is always sold out in advance. People still want to celebrate Christmas and reward their staff, so we have adapted and changed to suit.”

The Club attracts a wide demographic across its venues, with traditional Christmas fare, though in decline, still requested by many of the older customers “It is definitely not dead,” he says.

“Usually it is more often closer to or on Christmas Day functions that we see the demand. Our Rydges Campbelltown Hotel on Christmas Day serves traditional fare coupled with seafood and is always sold out well ahead of time, confirming that the demand is still there.

“More normal now are requests for seafood items with the more expensive lobster, oysters and prawns, while more upmarket meat cuts are also seen as a reward item with customers wanting higher marble score steaks, items they might not partake of often.”

Though not dead, the traditional Anglo-Saxon Christmas offering is being replaced by something more appropriate. The Australian meal has evolved into lighter items – chilled soups such as gazpacho or seafood plates with prawns and oysters, stuffed turkey breast or baked fish, and for dessert berry pudding, panna cotta, mango dishes and the ever popular pavlova or vacherin, according to Rifkin.

“We are not abandoning traditional Christmas food,” he says. “We are now second and third generation of Anglo Europeans, Continental Europeans and now Asian and Middle Eastern. Hence the Christmas food tradition is evolving to embrace the traditional fare of many diverse cultures and thus changes… many Australians [are] challenging what is the norm of the past and what can they do to be different and more contemporary.” OH

26 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

I A’ S F AV O

FOODSERVICE Dairy for Today’s Professionals

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Seasonal menu planning

Summer lovin’ Get set for summer trading with fresh seasonal dishes that reveal a light touch and a whole lot of flavour, writes Ylla Wright.

W

ith consumer interest in local sourcing and seasonality at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to change menus seasonally.

While some specific items will come in and go out of season after just a brief time, much of the fresh produce that is coming into season now will be available throughout summer to form the core of summer menus.

increase for lighter, simpler meal options, with more emphasis on seafood, chicken and non-meat dishes.

As the weather warms up, demand also tends to

Key trends for summer

Spotlight on: Asparagus

With demand for shareable dishes and dude food still high, tasting plates, tapas-style dishes and small bites such as tacos and sliders, remain a safe bet, while summery dishes such as seafood platters and main course salads never go out of fashion.

With Australian asparagus in season from now until March, it makes the perfect addition to spring and summer menus. Mostly grown in the Koo Wee Rup area of Victoria, known for its fertile peat soils, new season asparagus has a beautiful fresh, nutty flavour which lends itself to anything from fritattas and tarts to pasta dishes, stir fries and salads.

Asparagus doesn’t just taste great; it’s also an excellent source of essential nutrients such as the essential B group vitamins folate, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and biotin, vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants such as rutin and beta-carotene.

To get the best from asparagus look for firm, bright, smooth spears of uniform size with closed, compact tips. When you snap freshly harvested asparagus, it should be crisp, moist and juicy. Asparagus is best served as fresh as possible.

Visit www.asparagus.com.au for recipe ideas.

See recipes in the Open House iPad app.

Fortunately, with so much wonderful fresh produce to look forward to, giving your customers what they want has never been easier. And, with local, seasonal produce generally less expensive than imported items, it’ll be easier on your bottom line too.

Adam Humphrey, head chef and co-owner of one-hatted modern European restaurant Arras in Sydney, is experimenting with using newly trendy ancient grains such as amaranth and quinoa.

“We’re currently working on creamed Khorosan (the forerunner to spelt and great for those with gluten intolerances) as part of the ‘kitchen menu’ dessert, served with rhubarb, ginger and olive,” he says.

“The key is not to overload dishes; grains can be hard eating and have one flavour profile so we like to show restraint. We currently love the texture of toasted quinoa served with our cod dish at Arras – it’s like a savoury, fishy breakfast but in a good way!”

Another trend to watch out for, according to Humphrey, is more meat-free dishes.

“There are no longer cheap cuts of meat, just expensive and more expensive cuts, and with the advent of much more dedicated vegatable providores and suppliers there will naturally be a shift,” he says.

“I’m not saying we will all become vegetarians overnight, but there has to be more of a balance. I could easily turn Arras into a vegetarian restaurant tomorrow, apart from the bacon butty!”

28 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

Michael Hartnell, executive chef at Eureka 89 in Melbourne, believes that South American influences will be a key trend for summer, with Argentinean particularly coming to the fore.

“It’s immensely popular at the moment and so versatile,” he says.

“I’ve incorporated chorizo and peppers in an upcoming degustation dish served with Glacier 51 toothfish to touch on that South American feel.

“We’re also serving spherified mozzarella, using alginate, in our first course of tomato consume which really adds a summery feel to the menu.”

Simply does it Simplicity is the key for Francesco Armillis, head chef of Italian eatery Franco Franco in Sydney.

Along with a seasonal menu he will offer daily specials using the seasonal ingredients and herbs from the restaurant’s herb garden.

“People generally prefer fresh, light, unpretentious and easy to eat food during the warmer months,” he says.

“We’ll definitely add more salads, vegetables dishes and varieties of seafood such as whole snapper, poached with baby truss tomato and fresh fennel drizzled with lemon extra virgin olive oil.”

Armillis suggests sticking with cooking techniques such as sous vide, grilling and pan frying which “respect seafood and meat”.

“It’s about taking only the natural elements of the ingredients, keeping it simple and not over cooking to bring out the full flavour,” he says.

For Mark Williamson, head chef of The Botanist Kirribilli in Sydney, “good quality food served in small plate, sharing style” will be the order of the day, with light, fresh flavours predominating.

From left: Salt and pepper squid, The Botanist Kirribilli; Tagliatelle con calamarie molecche, Franco Franco; Classic beef sliders, The Botanist Kirribilli; Flinders Island lamb, Eureka 89.

Amongst the dishes to make it on to the restaurant’s menu this season will be a kale Caesar salad, a modern take on the classic salad using an ingredient that is enjoying a comeback at the moment, and confit pork belly with fennel and orange salad. It’s important not to underestimate the popularity of perennial favourites such as salt and pepper squid, however.

“In Sydney salt and pepper squid, oysters and almost anything with prawns is always going to be a popular seller over summer,” Williamson says. OH

What’s in season?

Take advantage of nature’s bounty with these seasonal goodies, at their best in terms of flavour, quality and value for money during the summer months.

Apricot

Cherry

Mangosteen

Snow peas

Asparagus

Cucumber

Mulberry

Strawberry

Avocado

Currants

Nectarine

Squash

Banana

Eggplant

Passionfruit

Sugar snap peas

Beans

Gooseberry

Peas

Sweet corn

Blackberry

Guava

Pineapple

Tamarillo

Blueberry

Honeydew

Rambutan

Tomato

Borlotti beans

Kiwifruit

Radish

Valencia orange

Boysenberry

Leek

Raspberry

Watermelon

Capsicum

Lychee

Rhubarb

Zucchini

Celery

Mango

Rockmelon

Zucchini flowers

Ready to eat no fridge required!

NEW

Now you can offer your customers the much loved taste of Aeroplane Jelly in handy, ready to eat jelly cups.

Ideal for health and aged care, school canteens, pubs and clubs, Aeroplane Jelly cups don’t require refrigeration, freeing up your precious fridge space.

Available in 4 great flavours, they’re 99% fat free, have natural colours, natural flavours and are suitable for vegetarians. So if you’re serving jelly cups, make sure they’re Areoplane Jelly cups, because everyone likes Aeroplane Jelly!

Available from your local distributor from mid October. For more information contact the Aeroplane Jelly Company on 1800 100 750 or visit www.mccormick.com.au/foodservice

ARM0534 Areoplane Jelly Cups 1/2_OH.indd 1

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 29 11/09/13 11:00 AM

Knives

Modern samurai Sushi chefs bring to the table a tradition that goes back for centuries, and with their knife an extension of their creativity learning the skills takes time, discovers Sheridan Randall.

M

“

itsuhiro Yashio, owner and head chef at Sydney’s Sushi@ Yachiyo, has a growing legion of customers who come as much to see his knife skills as for his culinary creations. With nine knives in his arsenal, delicacy is achieved through some very precise knife work.

I love seafood and I love being creative and that’s what got me into cooking.

”

“It is said that samurai used to use same kind of knives, and when they cut themselves it was too sharp to feel pain,” he says.

Japanese kitchens are divided into different sections “like the four seasons", where apprentice chefs learn one skill at a time, according to Yashio. This allows them to appreciate the different textures of the different types of fish and how their flesh alters as the water temperature changes over the seasons.

“They learn which knife is used for which dish,” he says. “I was taught that you shouldn’t squash fish or vegetables, you must always cut through.”

Shimpei Hatanaka, head chef at Sake Restaurant in Sydney, has been working in kitchens since he was 14, but it was his dad, a Japanese trained sushi chef at Shiki Japanese Restaurant in The Rocks, who taught him the basics from the get go.

“I love seafood and I love being creative and that’s what got me into cooking,” he says.

“My dad said you have to treat your knife like a treasure because without your knife you can’t do your job. Basically you have to know your knife really well. The weight of the blade, the weight of the handle, how to sharpen it.”

Hatanaka says it took him around

30 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

10 years before he considered himself a sushi chef.

“These days there isn’t the same teaching process as restaurants want everything done now,” he says.

“A lot of people these days say they are sushi chefs but they haven’t learned the basics. It’s all about practice. In the first year I just washed the rice. In the second year I scaled the fish. In the third year I started to fillet small fish and gradually moved on from there.

You need to get to know the fish.

Basically when you make sushi, you have to make the fish look alive. If you touch the fish too much you’re not going to get that shine to the fish.”

Sushi chefs carry a swag of knives in their kit, with “a knife for every purpose”. Hatanaka favours three brands from Japan – Aritsugu, Masomoto, and Sugimoto.

“The sashimi knife, yanagiba, has a blade on one side and looks kind of like a chisel,” he says. “It’s got a blade on one side only because when you pull the knife back the flat side polishes the surface of the fish and makes it shine.

Another knife, a deba, is a Japanese filleting knife. The Western filleting knife is flexible, but a deba is more like a cleaver.

In Japanese cuisine you use every

single part of the fish including the head so you need to be able to smash the head open and break the bones down, and you can’t do that with a normal filleting knife.

Another popular one is called the usuba, which is like a vegetable knife. Then there is also a normal chef’s knife and a pairing knife.”

Hatanaka returns to Japan about once a year to add to his knife collection, with all the chefs working in the kitchen asking him to bring them back one.

“But I tell them that a knife is something you need to go to a shop and hold, as you will be holding that knife about 50 hours a week,” he says. “It’s like your girlfriend or your partner – you have to feel comfortable with it. I’m not going to buy them a knife they saw on the internet that they think is good because at the end of the day I’ll come back and they’ll say ‘I didn’t think it was this heavy’ or whatever.

“New apprentices in the kitchen start with their Western brand knives but after a few months they want a Japanese knife, as that’s what all the chefs use. They say they want the best knife you can get but I say to them when they are going through their training you should play around with a cheap knife, because you don’t want to start with a $1000 knife and destroy it on your first day – that would be a nightmare.”

Getting a handle on knife skills Western chefs may only need around three types of knife to get the job done, but learning the basics of knife handling is still important.

Walter Trupp is no stranger to the kitchen having worked in 2- and 3-Michelin star restaurants around Europe and some of the most prestigious restaurants in Australia.

He now runs the Trupp Cooking School with his wife Dorota, with a knife handling course part of the program.

“The main thing I say to people is it is the positioning of the hand on the knife,” he says. “If you just hold the handle you don’t have much control over your knife. So what you do is lay your index finger along the blade and

that frees the handle up and you do a rolling motion which means you don’t have to use your shoulder anymore. Once you free the handle up you are just going to use your wrist and your elbow.”

Taking the shoulder out of the equation means less energy is being used.

“The second thing is young chefs often use a chopping motion, either because they just don’t know or because they want to get the attention of the waitress because it makes a lot of noise,” he says.

“You have to roll your knife and try to constantly keep the knife tip

on the board. Pull it back rather than pushing it forward and suddenly you create a little bit of a rolling motion and suddenly you are using much more of your blade. If you do a straight chop you are using a very small part of your blade. Think about opening and closing a door.”

Buying the right knife is also important. Trupp doesn’t recommend apprentices rush out to buy the most expensive knife in the store, but spending a little bit more is a good investment.

“The blade must be hardened steel,” he says. “If you use a blade that isn’t hardened steel it makes

Mitsuhiro Yashio’s tools of the trade

it very hard to push it through the food, but hardened steel does a lot of the work for you. A precision cut knife, where the steel is cut out by a laser and then hardened, is good and the most famous brand for that is Victorinox, which for a beginner is a really good knife.”

Another bad habit picked up early by apprentices is not looking after their knife.

“A lot of chefs don’t know how to sharpen their knives,” he says. “I recommend they do it themselves.

All you need is a sharpening stone.

Hold the blade of the knife at a 34-36 degree angle and push it a couple of times backwards and forwards and your knife is sharp.” OH

sofgrip

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• non-slip, ergonomic design for demanding kitchen environments • stain-free, high-carbon steel blade with an individually ground and honed edge

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Sushi knife (Right to left) Sashimi big fish knife Sashimi small fish Sashimi to very thin cut like flounder, white fish Tokyo-style vegetable knife Big fish fillet knife, deba hocho Small fish fillet such as yellow tail Westernized veggie knife Westernized sashimi knife See the recipe in the Open House iPad app.

• edges are sharp right out of the box, long lasting and can easily be resharpened • slip resistant, soft rubber grip handle which reduces stress that may cause fatigue and wrist injuries australian import agents: vgm international phone: 02 9997 3420 www.dexter1818.com

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INTERNATIONAL

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 31

Australian–made canned tomatoes and multi-serve canned fruit in accordance with the World Trade Organisation’s Safeguards Agreement, and has also launched anti-dumping action with the Federal Government.

“This [Woolworths’] commitment to Australian grown and produced products is exactly what the industry and our Australian farmers need,” said Kelly. “The volume generated by this decision from Woolworths equates to approximately 50,000 fruit trees per year in the Goulburn Valley. These are trees which may have otherwise been destroyed.”

Local heroes Buying Australian grown and produced goods doesn’t just guarantee quality, it also helps supports whole communities, discovers Ylla Wright.

W

hen SPC Ardmona, Australia’s largest fruit and vegetable processer, last month negotiated with supermarket giant Woolworths for the retailer to convert all of its “own brand” packaged fruit category to 100 per cent Australian-sourced product, it was a major victory for the company.

SPC Ardmona has in recent years suffered from what it has called a “perfect storm” of external economic factors, including the high Australian dollar, which has both enabled the flood of cheap imported product to be sold in Australia below the cost of production here and decimated the company’s export markets; the dumping of cheap imported fruit and vegetable products into the Australian market; and the fact there are no, or very low, tariffs imposed on imported fruit products from countries such as China while these same countries impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on average on SPC Ardmona products into their markets.

In April the company revealed to growers in Shepparton in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley the impact the continued decline in sales had had on the business, and what it would mean for the growers themselves.

Speaking at the time, Peter Kelly, managing director of SPC Ardmona,

said “market share of imported private label canned fruit has grown to 58 per cent today, while SPC Ardmona canned fruit share has declined to 33 per cent; SPC Ardmona export market volumes have declined by 90 per cent in the past five years”.

With the company’s forecasts for the coming seasons indicating that demand for canning fruit would fall even further, the company said that it would need up to 50 per cent less fruit for the 2014 season for some fruit categories. With the company operating three facilities in the Goulburn Valley, employing around 1500 people on a casual and full time basis, and supporting an additional 2700 jobs in the region, the cut was devastating. Many producers, with nowhere to place their fruit, were expected to go out of business and as many as 750,000 fruit trees bulldozed.

Since then the company has stepped up a campaign to secure the future of the business, the local processed fruit industry in general, and growers. In addition to working with retailers and non grocery partners such as foodservice operators, the company has made submissions to the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission for safeguards against imports of retail

32 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

According to Kelly the decision will have an immediate impact on the fruit intake required for the 2014 season.

“Our team will meet with each of our 118 growers over the coming weeks to discuss the impact on their expected tonnages,” he said.

The Woolworths decision came just two days after former Minister for Innovation and Industry, Senator Kim Carr, announced the Labor Government’s decision to invest $25 million into the long-term future of SPC Ardmona, conditional on matched funding from the Victorian Government and significant funding from SPC Ardmona’s parent company, Coca-Cola Amatil.

Kelly is hopeful that the new Coalition Government will honour the commitment.

“From the outset, we have been seeking bipartisan support for SPCA and our industry,” he said.

“We have had a lot of productive discussions with the key players and likely ministers in the incoming Federal Government and we’re confident of the strong investment case behind the $25 Million co-investment proposal.

“While it’s early days for the new government, we’re encouraged by [the Liberal member for Murray, Victoria] Sharman Stone’s continuing efforts to support the investment case which will bring much needed packaging and product innovation to the business along with a series of efficiency investments. We’re [also] still awaiting a positive decision from the Victorian Government to match the investment from the Federal Government.

“We remain intent on doing everything we can to ensure we secure the future of SPC Ardmona and jobs in the Goulburn Valley region.”

For any turnaround of the local industry to be fully successful

however it needs Australian chefs and consumers to support it by choosing Australian grown and produced products over imported products.

The good news is that research commissioned by the Australian Made Campaign and released in August found that buying Australian-made products is more important to Australian consumers than it was 12 months ago, with most regularly buying local produce, even if it is more expensive.

Australian Made Campaign chief executive Ian Harrison said that the results are encouraging.

“The research confirms that people are becoming more conscientious about buying local,” he said. “They are aware of the benefits of buying Aussie products, and of the impact that their purchasing behaviour has on jobs, local business and future opportunities.”

However, Australian Made Campaign research has also found that just 20 per cent of Australian companies have a firm policy of buying Australian wherever possible. Harrison is calling on all business owners to buy Australian.

“It is worrying to discover that the portion of companies with ‘buy local’ policies in place is so low,” Harrison said.

“Perhaps even more concerning is the percentage of businesses with no apparent inclination to reinvest back into the local business community they operate in.

“At a time when it is clear that consumers, even government, are placing more importance on buying Australian-made, it is disappointing that businesses are not leading the way.”

The top three reasons given by businesses for not having a clear policy or preference were price (21 per cent), lack of availability (20 per cent) and value (14 per cent).

Harrison stresses that the misconception that Australian products are always more expensive needs to be revisited and put into a broader context.

“Products made and grown in Australia to our high quality, health and safety standards offer genuine value,” he said.

The Australian Made website, www.australianmade.com.au, features more than 10,000 products which are certified to carry the official Australian Made, Australian Grown logo. OH

Some things were meant to be made in Australia, not in factories overseas. Which is why at SPC, we proudly make the above products here in Australia. In fact, our Aussie grown products are made from locally grown fruits and vegetables, which are sourced from the Goulburn Valley and other locations in Australia. Give us a call today to find out how your kitchen can proudly support Australian farmers, manufacturers and their families by buying quality-assured products made in Australia.

1800 805 168 | spcardmona.com.au

cooking the Books

In the pink One of Australia’s most successful chefs and restaurateurs, Luke Mangan shares the signature dishes he’s renowned for and some of his personal favourites in new book Salt Grill.

Seared tuna with celeriac and apple remoulade Serves: 4

400g (14 oz) sashimi-grade tuna, cut into 4 blocks 2 tablespoons cajun spice mix Extra virgin olive oil, for pan-frying and drizzling 1 native bush lime or regular lime, halved Chervil sprigs, to garnish Celeriac and apple remoulade

Drizzle over the celeriac mixture and mix well.

To serve Place small mounds of the remoulade around four serving plates, then add the tuna.

Remove the seeds from the bush lime and squeeze

¼ celeriac, peeled and julienned 2 teaspoons fine sea salt ½ green apple, julienned 2 sorrel leaves, julienned 2 tablespoons creme fraiche 2 tablespoons sour cream 1 tablespoon salted capers, soaked in water to remove excess salt Juice of ½ lemon 2 teaspoons dijon mustard Method Season the tuna with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then roll in the cajun spice mix.

Place a frying pan over very high heat. Carefully add a little olive oil to the pan. Sear the tuna on each side for no longer than 10 seconds.

Place the tuna on a tray, then cool in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and to make it easier to cut. Transfer the cooled tuna to a chopping board, then cut each block into five slices.

Cover and set aside at room temperature.

For the celeriac and apple remoulade Place the celeriac in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Leave to cure for 10 minutes, then rinse the salt off and drain the celeriac. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a bowl with the apple and sorrel.

In a separate bowl, mix together the crème fraîche, sour cream, capers, lemon juice and mustard.

34 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

the juice over and around the tuna.

Garnish with chervil sprigs, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve. ● Recipe and image from Salt Grill

by Luke Mangan (Murdoch Books, $59.99). OH

What’s on shelf this month?

New York: cult recipes by Marc Grossman (Murdoch Books, $49.99) It is often said that New York City is a melting pot of different cultures, and nowhere is this more evident than in the food that its associated with: smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, Italian-style baked cheesecake; huevos rancheros, Eastern European cabbage rolls, pork buns from Chinatown. In this part cookbook, part travel guide, author Marc Grossman tracks down New York’s most iconic food hubs and dishes. Pack this one for your next New York holiday.

Patissier by Emmanuel Mollois (UWA Publishing, $55) French born Emmanuel Mollois, co-owner of Bistro des Artisites in Subiaco, is one of Perth’s most colourful chefs, but when it comes to the creation of patisserie items and desserts, he’s all business.

From the basics to the most advanced creations, this book is intended to be a French patisserie masterclass, and as such even the most passionate pastry chef will get something out of it.

Coi: stories and recipes by Daniel Patterson (Phaidon, $59.95)

Family cooking by Justin North (Lantern, $49.99)

Not a cookbook in the traditional sense, this fascinating book explores the ideas and emotions behind chef Daniel Patterson’s food, and the philosophies by which he runs his kitchen and restaurant.

Recipes, where they appear, are far from exhaustive but are intended to give a sense of the dish to intrigue and inspire.

Patterson readily admits this is “not designed to be a everyday cookbook” but chefs will get a kick out of it.

One of the questions chef Justin North gets asked most often is what he cooks at home. In this book, he sets out to answer it, sharing the recipes he cooks for family and friends. A fan of farmers markets, North finds his inspiration in fresh, seasonal produce sourced from local producers, while cooking methods are kept simple. Chefs and home cooks will find their inspiration in his clean, well thought out flavours and beautiful presentation.

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 35

Products

flavours, Black Sesame, Caramel Honey Macadamia, Mango, Coconut, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel.

With no artificial colours or flavours, it is ideal for vegans and those with dietary sensitivities. ● www.cocofrio.com.au

Super freekeh G

oodness Superfoods has launched a new Australian grown and processed Freekeh, which is available for bulk purchase for the foodservice industry. Australian Freekeh is made from wheat harvested while young and green and has been dry roasted to lock the nutritional value including high quality fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Featured artist Thomas Wilcox said of the project, “Using waste to make art is an amazing transformation to me. Recycling materials creates a need for a different way of thinking”. ● www.biopak.com.au

Australian Freekeh comes in two varieties, roasted wholegrain and roasted cracked wholegrain, and is as easy to prepare as rice or pasta. It can be cooked on the stovetop, in the microwave or pressure cooker.

Cocofrio has recently launched dairy and gluten free ice cream. A healthy, delicious and guiltfree alternative to dairy, the certified-organic coconut milk ice cream ticks all the boxes for the health conscious.

Boasting a nutty flavour and unique texture, Freekeh has low GI and four times the fibre of brown rice. It is an ideal choice for weight control and diabetics. ● www.goodnesssuperfoods.com.au

The dairy and gluten free ice cream is made from certified Australian-made organic ingredients and organic agave nectar and is available in 500ml tubs and 5L trays for foodservice professionals.

Guilt-free ice cream

Cocofrio Ice cream comes in a range of six

Dispose artfully BioPak has teamed up with six Australian artists to develop the first release of the BioCup Art Series. Ideal for eco-friendly businesses, the range of eyecatching, carbon neutral cups also promote the Australian arts community.

The individual artworks that explore environmental themes are printed on BioCups that have been conceived, designed and manufactured with a focus on resource efficiency from creation to disposal.

36 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

Smart sauce Fountain has introduced Fountain Smartsqueeze, a new portion control sauce sachet, ideal for any foodservice operation. Each sachet can be opened with a simple snap and squeeze ensuring no fuss and no mess for customers.

Fountain’s two most popular sauce varieties, Tomato and Barbecue, are currently available in the new 14g design.

With the signature Fountain taste, the no-strain sauce sachets are the perfect addition for pies, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, hot chips, finger foods and meat-based meals.

Fountain Smartsqueeze also comes with a dispenser unit designed for countertop display that holds 40 sachets. ● www.fountainsauces.com.au

Poacher’s delight Poachers Pantry’s range of smoked meats and gourmet dining products are now available for restaurants, hotels and foodservice professionals.

Using traditional curing and smoking methods,

from as low as 70°C to past the 300°C mark for superb quality and taste.

The YS480 has more than 0.51sqm of cooking space with the optional second shelf, while the YS640 has up to a whopping 0.7sqm. The larger size allows for a good sized flame as well as easy cleaning accessibility. ● www.grillpro.com.au

Chicken range goes homestyle Ingham has introduced Homestyle Wing Dings to their extensive foodservice range.

the smokehouse produce a wide selection of smoked meats and poultry.

The raw products – meat, vegetables and herbs – used to create Poachers Pantry’s products are sourced from the quality Australian suppliers.

The range of “slow food” is easy to prepare, ready to eat and can be used to create antipasto platters, seasonal salads and canapés. ● www.poacherspantry.com.au

Made from 100 per cent Australian chicken, the Homestyle Wing Dings are lightly coated in a traditional crunchy homestyle crumb containing specially selected herbs and spices. Ideal for function catering and foodservice operations, the versatile and flavoursome chicken pieces can be served with chips, pasta or salad. With no added preservatives and no artificial colours or flavours, the Ingham Wing Dings are conveniently portion controlled, cost-effective and simple to prepare.

The value-added chicken products join the existing Wing Dings selection of Chicken, Roasted and Devil Wing Dings. ● www.inghamsfoodservice.com.au

Snap to crumbed prawn cutlets Markwell Crumbed Prawn Cutlets are the latest addition to the Markwell Foods foodservice range.

The raw tail-on butterflied prawn cutlets are coated in a light fresh breadcrumb and are individually snap frozen for convenience. The prawn cutlets are perfect for entrees, functions, share plates and mains.

Made from high quality ingredients and no added MSG the prawn cutlets come in convenient, simple to use 1kg inner cartons which are ideal for cafes, bistros, restaurants, high volume catering, function centres and entertainment facilities. ● markwellfoods.com.au

Flavour of summer

Smokers fuel the fire

Rekorderlig Cider has released the new Rekorderlig Apple-Guava flavour in time for summer.

Yoder Smokers have introduced the YS480 and YS640 Hardwood Pellet Cookers, restaurant quality wood fired single grill and oven combination units ideal for cooking meat, pizza, chicken, fish and veggies.

The Apple-Guava cider blends crisp apple cider with flavoursome tropical guava. The new flavour is best served to patrons and function attendees over ice with a squeeze of lime for a refreshing summer drink.

Both cookers feature the steakhouse quality grill marks, caramelisation, colour and texture to replicate the results of cooking over an open fire. Temperatures can be adjusted

Rekorderlig Cider is crafted at the cider’s family owned fourth generation brewery in Vimmerby, Sweden, and is made from water is sourced from one of Europe’s most accredited natural springs combined with the highest quality fruits.

Spice it up Exclusively available for foodservice, Knorr has introduced Professional Pureed Spices, a range of flavour pastes made from high quality ingredients.

The pureed spices release immediate flavour when cooked as they are made using a unique cold process. Adjust or enhance the taste of dishes quickly and conveniently at any stage of the cooking process for fuller flavour.

Apple-Guava joins the popular cider range that includes pear, strawberry-lime, wild berries, apple and blackcurrant, apple, mango-raspberry, orangeginger, and passionfruit, all in 500ml glass bottles. ● www.rekordelig.com OH

Knorr Professional Pureed Spices are simple to use and very versatile, with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

They last 12 months unopened and up to three months once opened and refrigerated.

Knorr offers ginger, garlic, mixed peppercorn, mixed chilli and paprika pureed spices in the range. ● www.ufs.com www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, October 2013 37

CULINARY CLIPPINGS

Aussies go global I

t has been a rather hectic couple of months for the Australian Culinary Federation (ACF) and will continue to be that way till November. A very successful Australian Culinary Challenge was held at Fine Foods in September where the team from Brisbane Club Queensland were crowned Restaurant of Champions for 2013.

Well done to Neil Abrahams and his committee for their first major event since the amalgamation of New South Wales and ACT.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Peter Wright Australian Culinary Federation (ACF)

The Nestlé Golden Chef's Hat competition was won by team Tasmania Libby Green and Daniel Garwood. And in a remarkable run for Daniel and Tassie team manager Andre Kropp, along with Steven

Lunn, they backed it up the next day with gold at the Restaurant Challenge.

The ACT, South Australia and Queensland sent teams to Japan in late September to compete in the International Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge. They were supported by a large contingent of teachers, family and ACF members.

This month in Canberra is the final of the Fonterra Foodservice National Apprentice competition and Battle of the Chefs, with entrants from around Australia competing to take out the top titles. The apprentices have a full week of tours around the competition and the Gala Dinner will be held at the Royal Canberra

Golf Club.

November will see a junior team heading off to Korea to compete in the inaugural International Young Chef Challenge and the Culinary Team will travel to Dubai for the Dubai World Hospitality Championship.

Finally, a reminder that the online membership management program is up and running and membership can be renewed at www.austculinary.com.au.

Peter Wright National President Australian Culinary Federation peter@austinwright.com.au www.austculinary.com.au

Brisbane Club rises to the challenge The Brisbane Club team representing Queensland has taken out first place at the Fonterra Battle of the States Restaurant of Champions at Fine Food in Sydney last month with a near perfect score of 99 out of 100.

The competition saw teams of three competitors from each state battling it out in a live kitchen, cooking and plating a two-course menu for 35 guests over two hours.

Bocuse d’Or candidate Shannon Kellam was captain of the Queensland team alongside Shane Keighley, executive chef at The

Regatta Hotel, and Tara Bain, an apprentice chef at The Brisbane Club.

The two dishes cooked by the Brisbane team were an entrée of low temperature Huon salmon with furikame seasoning, Hervey Bay scallop, spanner crab and cucumber, citrus meringue, with Flowerdale Farm sprouts and a main of Milly Hill Lamb lamb loin with Rougié foie gras, and smoked belly, braised neck, brown butter and sage jus, Flowerdale Farm heirloom vegetables.

The win bodes well for Kellam who is currently in training for the 2015 Bocuse d’Or. Tara Bain, Shannon Kellam and Shane Keighley.

d.

ine Foo

on at F

in acti Judging

Main.

38 Open House, October 2013 www.openhousemagazine.net

Entrée.

Tassie tops in golden competition against World Association of Chefs Societies globally approved criteria by the professional judging panel, which included celebrity chef and restaurateur Adrian Richardson.

Their medal-winning menu included an entrée of pan-seared breast of duck, salad of leg meat, with white asparagus, pickled zucchini, glazed figs, leek emulsion, apricot and raisin relish. Main course was slow roasted topside and braised Emerald Valley lamb, roasted beetroot, carrot charred onion, kipfler potato and potato foam. For dessert they created a chocolate custard cake, honey curd, fresh mango jelly, fennel and thyme granita, with spiced coconut crunchy oats and crisp meringue.

Libby Green and Daniel Garwood (centre) embrace their winning moment.

Watch the video in the Open House iPad app.

Two young chefs from Tasmania, Libby Green and Daniel Garwood, have triumphed in Australia’s longest running culinary competition to be crowned the 2013 Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award National Winners.

Green, 21, and Garwood, 19, who work at The Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, had their achievements in the competition announced at an industry Awards Dinner in Sydney recently.

Entrée.

Green and Garwood were awarded two gold and one silver medal for their entrée, main and dessert courses, in what was described as one of the closest competitions so far. Down to the wire in the final cook off, with two other teams, New South Wales and South Australia, also scoring two golds and a silver for their courses, the two Tassies pulled off a remarkable victory, which was for Green a case Main.

of third time lucky.

“We went all out to win the title,” Green says. “We put a lot of time in and trained really hard, so I’m just stoked it paid off. This is my thirdtime as a finalist in the competition and (am) just so proud to be bringing the trophy home.”

As recipients of the 2013 Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award, Green and Garwood are headed to London, for a once-in-a-lifetime prize-trip to carry out work experience alongside legendary chef Alain Roux at world-renowned, three Michelinstarred restaurant The Waterside Inn, as well as celebratory meal at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant. OH

OPEN HOUSE FOODSERVICE is proud to be a diamond sponsor of the ACF.

The pair had to create a three-course meal in four hours from a mystery box of ingredients, to be judged Dessert.

For information on ACF, visit www.austculinary.com.au, or contact the ACF National Office via acfnationaloffice@austculinary.com.au or (03) 9816 9859.

Official organ for the Australian Culinary Federation; Association of Professional Chefs and Cooks of NSW; Professional Chefs and Cooks Association of Queensland Inc.; Academie Culinaire de France; College of Catering Studies and Hotel Administration, Ryde, NSW; Les Toques Blanches, NSW Branch; Australasian Guild of Professional Cooks Ltd. Subscriptions: 1 yr $99; 2 yrs $174; 3 yrs $261 (incl. GST and surface mail).

ISSN 0312-5998

PUBLISHER Alexandra Yeomans MANAGING EDITOR Ylla Wright Journalist Sheridan Randall Sales & Marketing Manager Jo Robinson Account Manager Leah Jensen DESIGN/PRODUCTION Manager Bin Zhou Digital/Production assistant Xin Jin Editorial assistant Anna-Louise McDougall

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Opinions expressed by the contributors in this magazine are not the opinion ofOpen www.openhousemagazine.net House, October Letters to the editor are subject to editing.

2013 39