Open House Food Service December 2013 / January 2014 Issue

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Taking stock Stand out sauces Staying ahead of the game Top cafe trends CAB Audited. Circulation 20,388 — September 2013

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OPEN HOUSE NEWS

Editor’s word

I

All change at the Sydney Opera House T

he Van Haandel Group, headed up by Frank van Haandel (pictured, middle) has been chosen as the preferred tenderer for the Opera House’s Bennelong restaurant by the Sydney Opera House Trust, following a public tender process.

Van Haandel is one of Australia’s most successful restaurateurs with more than 30 years experience in Melbourne, where he owns and operates four venues, and more recently at Stokehouse Q in Brisbane.

“We are thrilled to have been selected for this iconic Sydney restaurant, which will be the focus of our attention over the coming years,” he said. “It is the perfect place for our particular style of dining, which is classic and exuberant, respectful and contemporary.”

The new Bennelong by Stokehouse signals a change of pace for the landmark venue, which has been run by chef Guilluame Brahimi as Guilluame at Bennelong, which currently has three hats in the SMH Good Food Guide, for more than a decade. The decision to put the restaurant out to tender earlier this year created controversy, however the Opera House Trust indicated that they wanted the space to be accessible to more people.

CONTENTS

Stokehouse’s creative director and executive chef Anthony Musarra (pictured, right) will return to Sydney

to oversee the new restaurant, while Stokehouse Q’s Richard Ousby will be head chef.

Bennelong by Stokehouse will open its doors in May 2014, after a substantial refit. The restaurant will capitalise on Bennelong’s two-tiered design to include a sophisticated dining area and more casual upper level.

Meanwhile Brahimi, who chose not to tender, has announced that he will open a new restaurant in Sydney in early 2014.

Brahimi and his team will move into Darcy’s Restaurant site in Paddington, and will reopen as guillaume by Easter.

The new restaurant will see his award-winning team continue the high standard they have become known for.

“It is a fresh start for us in a wonderful venue, full of character and history, a real Sydney institution,” Brahimi said. “We have some ambitious plans that I believe will raise the standard of what we do to a whole new level.”

The team at guillaume will include Bennelong’s head chef of 12 years, Jose Silva, as well as head sommelier and former Sydney Morning Herald Sommelier of the Year, Chris Morrison.

Having served more than half a million diners since 2001, Guillaume at Bennelong will mark its last service on New Year’s Eve.

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

Hygiene.................................................. 18

Cover story – Eagle Foods tortillas........ 08

Stocks and sauces................................... 20

Profile – Andy North, The Star.............. 10 Consultant chef...................................... 11 Origins of gelato.................................... 11

f you need any further proof that having an online presence is vital in this day and age, figures released in the Dimmi Australian Dining Index recently reveal that 189 million restaurant-related searches have been conducted online in the last year alone.

This equates to 16 million diners turning to Google every single month to find and book restaurants.

Whereas diners might have asked friends for their restaurant recommendations in the past, these days they turn to social media, review websites and mobile searches to check out a restaurant before deciding to book. Even once they’re in the door, you can’t escape the influence social media plays in the dining landscape, with many diners Facebooking, Tweeting and Instagraming every morsel on their plate before they eat.

And yet, there are still restaurants out there that don’t have a website, let alone a social media profile.

You might not like this particular trend, but this is one instance where if you can’t beat them, you should definitely join them.

Ylla Wright Managing Editor @ohfoodservice

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Cafe options........................................... 24 Cooking the books................................. 26

Q&A – John Hall, Qantas...................... 12

Products................................................. 28

Sustainability......................................... 14

Culinary clippings.................................. 30

Stocks and sauces.

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, December 2013/January 2014 3

NEWS

Chef Jam returns to Melbourne T

he 2014 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival will see the return of Chef Jam, an industryonly event which will see hot topics in Australia’s hospitality industry debated.

Now in its third year, Chef Jam is an evening of discussions and demonstrations designed to inspire those working in the food and wine industry, from apprentices to hospitality professionals.

Chef Jam sessions will be led by leading chefs and industry authorities including New Yorkers Chris Ying (editor-in-chief of Lucky Peach) and pastry chef Johnny Luzzini.

Seafood expert John Susman and sustainability advocate Ryan Squires (pictured), from three-hat restaurant esquire in Brisbane, will share how sustainability influences and inspires their work, while Aaron Turner (ex Loam, Drysdale) will reveal what he has learnt cooking in Sean Brock’s Husk kitchen in Nashville in the US. Chef Jam will be held on March 9, 2014, at Deakin Edge, Federation Square in Melbourne. For more information, visit melbournefoodandwine.com.au.

Watch the video in the Open House iPad app.

Indigenous apprentice program back for 2014 The National Indigenous Culinary Institute (NICI) has begun the search for Australia’s most promising Indigenous chefs, having recently launched its 2014 Indigenous trainee chef program.

Designed by leading chefs, restaurateurs and food writers, the program connects apprentices with mentors including Neil Perry, Guillaume Brahimi, Matt Moran, Peter Doyle and Michael McMahon. The apprentices will undertake three years of training with these chefs, moving to a different restaurant each year to expand their skill set and networks.

According to Cain Slater, NICI coordinator, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“It’s a great launch pad for those wanting to forge a long and rewarding career in hospitality under the guidance of the great minds in Sydney’s restaurant scene,” he said.

The new trainee chefs will begin their formal training in early 2014 at the Surry Hills campus of

the William Angliss Institute before being placed in restaurants including Rockpool, Aria, Catalina, Est and Fratelli Fresh’s Café Sopra.

Visit www.angliss.edu.au/Indigenous-Programs for more information.

New restaurant guide for Sydney The 2014 Gault&Millau Sydney Restaurant Guide was officially launched last month to 300 of Sydney’s best chefs and restaurant owners at Salt Meats Cheese in Alexandria.

The new restaurant guide features more than 300 restaurants across Sydney, from casual eats through to fine dining. Each restaurant has been reviewed in the guide and awarded between one and five hats.

Momofuku Seiobo, Quay and Sepia each received five hats placing them on the same international platform as Gault&Millau five hat recipients in Europe such as Hof van Cleve (Belgium), Restaurant Guy Savoy (France) and Obauer (Austria).

Gault&Millau’s chief judge Marc Esquerre travelled from France to Australia to review a number of restaurants himself and said he was particularly impressed with the dedication of younger chefs in Sydney and the quality of menu they are producing.

The $7 million Skills Pathways project was launched in October to help improve retention rates amongst apprentices in the foodservice industry, increase the quality of apprentices to meet industry needs and up-skill chefs and supervisors.

Aussie pastry chef wins third at World Chocolate Masters Australian pastry chef Deniz Karaca has come in third place at the 2013 World Chocolate Masters in Paris, the highest placing ever achieved by an Australian in the five year history of the competition. Karaca also received the award for best decorated globe (pictured below).

“It’s been a tough road, but I was really excited to get to Paris and show the judges and other contestants what Australia and the Asia-Pacific region has to offer,” said Karaca, executive pastry chef at Epicure’s MCG Culinary Centre.

The 2013 championships brought together 19 of the world’s best patissieres, chocolatier and chefs, with contestants creating each a chocolate showpiece, a chocolate layered cake, dipped and moulded pralines, a decorated globe and a gastronomic chocolate dessert.

Davide Comaschi of Italy took first place in the competition with Marike van Eurden of the Netherlands coming second.

Australia’s best restaurant named Jacques Reymond Restaurant in Prahran, Melbourne, has been named Restaurant of the Year in the Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering Hostplus National Awards for Excellence 2013, which were announced recently at Royal Randwick.

Other major award winners included Customs House in Brisbane which took out the Caterer of the Year category and Ananas Bar & Brasserie in Sydney’s The Rocks, which was named Best New Restaurant.

Additional winners included the Aboriginal Workforce Development Project, which was honoured with the George Mure Memorial Professional Development Award; and Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre which won the Green Table Awards for Excellence in Environmental Sustainability.

Restaurant & Catering Australia chief executive John Hart said there will be new categories introduced to the Awards next year, focusing on education, training and digital technology.

“Businesses that get involved in the Skills Pathways project and take note of the Digital Business Kit, which includes five modules to be released by June 2014, will have a head start,” he said.

4 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

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category. Key judging criteria included appearance, texture, aroma and taste.

The judging of the hams was carried out by a panel of judges, made up of Fleishmeister Horst Schurger, and chefs Paul McDonald and Simon Bestley (pictured).

Nespresso ambassadors announced Two of Australia’s most respected chefs, Tetsuya Wakuda and Shannon Bennett, have become the first Australian Nespresso Culinary Ambassadors, with Tetsuya’s Restaurant in Sydney and Bennett’s Vue de Monde at the Rialto, Melbourne now serving Nespresso coffee to restaurant and event guests.

Speaking at a recent industry event to announce the partnership, Wakuda said, “I find diners remember the first course and the last course – which is coffee – and that’s why it is incredibly important that the coffee we serve at Tetsuya’s is consistently of the highest quality”.

“I am delighted to be working with both Tetsuya and Shannon, who join some of the world’s leading chefs from around the world that have chosen Nespresso for the consistency, quality and time saving benefits we offer,” said Eva Caprile, commercial manager for Nespresso Australia.

Nespresso started its business-to-business offering in France in 1996 and has now operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. Nespresso currently provides coffee to more than 700 Michelin-star rated restaurants worldwide.

Nespresso has also launched Crealto, its first Limited Edition coffee for professional use.

Inspired by gastronomy, the blend was created with the help of two Michelin-starred chef Mauro Colagreco (Restaurant Mirazur, Menton, France).

Australia’s best ham The winners of the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards for Excellence were announced recently at an Australian Ham Week event held at Chur Burger in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

The awards are open to all butchers and smallgoods processors that make their ham from Australian grown pork, with this year’s competition receiving 146 entries across three categories: Traditional Artisan Bone-In Leg Ham, Artisan Boneless Ham, and for the first time, the Nationally Available

The winning hams were: Traditional Artisan BoneIn Leg Ham – Master Meats, Queensland; Artisan Boneless Ham – Bertocchi Smallgoods, Victoria; and Best Nationally Available Ham – IGA Naturally Smoked Bone-in Leg Ham. Masters Meats also took out the overall title of Best Australian Ham. Australian Ham Week and the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards for Excellence were initiated to raise awareness about the 2.7 million kilos of imported pork (worth around $10 million)

that arrives on Australian shores every week.

Overall, Australian ham accounts for just 35 per cent of the total domestic ham market, with the rest being made from imported pork meat. Seventy five per cent of the smallgoods consumed in Australia are made from imported pork.

Top 10 foodservice trends for 2014 Technomic, a leading foodservice research and consulting firm from the US, has identified the top 10 trends that may significantly impact the restaurant industry in 2014.

Based on restaurant site visits, interviews and surveys of operators, chefs and consumers, as well as data from its extensive data bases, Technomic predicts the leading trends for the foodservice industry in the US in the coming year include: Consumers will look for assurances that what they’re eating is real, with menus describing items more thoroughly, listing not only the ingredients but also where they came from and how they were prepared.

Expect to see pork take a star turn on menus.

Also, it is predicted that chicken will be big again in 2014 due to rising beef costs. Beyond meat, creative egg dishes as well as vegetarian alternatives, from mushrooms to beans to soybased products will become more popular.

Starches are staging a comeback, from ramen and buckwheat noodles to pasta made with unusual ingredients. Rice bowls will be big, due to their popularity in Asian cuisine and healthy alternatives. Consumers will see more flatbreads, wraps and artisan breads.

The demand for healthier eating is real, but so is the backlash. Consumers will see even more cheese melts, pasta with creamy sauces,

fried entrees and sides, and oddities such as doughnut-based sandwiches on menus.

There will be more emphasis on less-familiar ethnic cuisines, from Korean to Scandinavian, which are partly responsible for a growing interest in pickled, fermented and sour foods.

On the beverage menu, the trend is for sour cocktails as well as new flavour combinations with sour notes, a reaction to last year’s lolly-sweet drinks.

More restaurants are introducing innovative breakfast items, such as chicken, turkey or steak breakfast sandwiches, often available all day. Operators are promoting late-night breakfast menus, often in conjunction with 24-hour drive-thru service.

Operators are catering to the snacking-andsharing ethos with pairings, trios and flights from all parts of the menu, from soup trios to beer samplers to retro popsicle-flight desserts.

Tap technology is revolutionising the beverage world, for example barrel-stored cold-brewed coffee that can be sent through repurposed beer taps, facilitating a new kind of coffee bar.

IPad orders placed tableside will be a point of differentiation for a few tech leaders, as well as bring-your-own-device systems for advance-ordering and inside-the-restaurant ordering. Back of the house, increased use of iPads will make new menu items easier to roll out. OH

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.

6 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

F. Mayer Imports

AUSTRALIAN PATISSIER APPRENTICE 2014

Cacao Barry and F. Mayer Imports have created an Australian first ‘Australian Patissier Apprentice’ competition in conjunction with Adriano Zumbo and the Sydney Pastry Club.

This competition is open to all Australian apprentice pastry chefs. You will be required to make a range of high end patisserie products which will include entremets, platted dessert, choux pastry and chocolate.

This competition will be a live event held over an 8 hour period.

1st Prize Attend an International guest chef class at Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School in Melbourne.

Valued at $3000 which includes flights and accommodation.

21st or 22nd March Cake Bake & Sweet Show Sydney Showgrounds Olympic Park, NSW

For more information about the above competitions please call or email: Susi Weingartner 0420371114 | susi@mayers.com.au Please note spaces in the competition are limited.

cover story

Viva tortilla The trend for South American food is a worldwide juggernaut that shows no sign of slowing down. A key driver of that growth is the explosion in demand for tortillas, which are becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the baking industry.

N

ew manufacturer Eagle Foods, based in Bendigo, Victoria, is one firm that knows just how big the market for tortillas has grown, with general manager Charles Barton selling the first tortilla wrap in Australia many decades ago.

Introduced to Mexican food 40 years ago by the founder of Taco Bill Mexican Restaurants, Bill Chilcote, Barton knew a good thing when he tasted it. Now at the helm of Eagle Foods after four decades in the restaurant and food provision business, Barton is bringing his love of quality products together with significant experience to provide a real alternative in the flour tortilla marketplace.

Made using premium 100 per cent Australian flour and the best ingredients available, Eagle Foods has launched its range of tortillas to the foodservice sector. Available in meal-sized serves – the ever popular 10 inch (25cm), and now 12 inch (30cm) – the range of varieties includes

white, wholemeal, multigrain, tomato and spinach, giving foodservice operators the ability to cover every demographic, from breakfast through to dinner, and as a snack anytime in between.

foodservice operators can adapt them to any type of food. Go for a bacon and egg tortilla wrap in the morning and switch to a grilled chicken and salsa tortilla wrap for lunch – it’s up to you.

“It is a flat bread, which means it’s very flexible and you can wrap it around anything,” Barton says. “You can put anything in them, and more importantly you can put hot food in them.”

Tortillas cover many key trends, being viewed by consumers as healthy, authentic and convenient.

Embraced by the fast food giants, tortilla wraps have become a huge pillar of growth for them.

With the retail demand for tortillas showing no signs of slowing down, now is the time for foodservice to take advantage of this momentum.

Unlike traditional bread which can go soggy and does not have the structure to hold different types of ingredients, tortillas are designed to handle everything, from grilled meats and hot sauces through to vegetables and salads.

Snap frozen to seal in the freshness, and with less preservatives, the tortillas are made to be reheated before use, either in a microwave, a frying pan or on a grill, giving them that “straight out of the oven” flavour and texture that consumers love. And with the versatility and flexibility that tortillas offer,

8 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

For more information call Eagle Foods on (03) 5444 4060. OH See recipe in the Open House iPad app.

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Profile

Team player Putting people first has always been the philosophy behind Andy North’s journey from an apprentice in the UK to Echo Entertainment’s director of food and beverage, writes Sheridan Randall.

W

e must be thankful the gods of soccer decided not to bestow Beckham-like skills on Andy North, as we would have missed out on this migrant Englishman’s contribution to the Australian culinary scene.

From catering school in the UK, North went on to work in the kitchens of some of London’s top hotels – from Melia White House to InterContinental London Park Lane, before settling in Australia and bringing his passion for great produce with him.

“I would have loved to have been a soccer player but I never had the talent to make it, so instead I went to catering college,” says North.

Working under Peter Kromberg, the former executive chef at the InterContinental and chef patron of fine dining restaurant Le Soufflé, North says he “got the nuts and bolts” from every section – from the larder and the butchery through to the sauce section, fish section, grill section and soufflé section. On top of that he also helped the hotel prepare banquets for up to 1200 people.

“Five and half years working under his leadership was of huge value as I saw everything,” he says.

From London North headed to Melbourne, where he soon established himself as one of the city’s top chefs, working across many of the major hotel brands including the The Windsor Hotel and the then two-hatted restaurant at the Sofitel Melbourne. But starting in a new country was not without its cultural challenges.

“Coming from England game was a big feature – the grouse, pheasant wild duck,” he says. “When I first ordered pheasant [in Australia] it came in an ice block. The culture I had come from was they get hung with the guts in to get more flavour.

You would literally buy off the suppliers the day they had been shooting and they would bring them to your door. That was a culture shock for me. On the flip side it helped push the suppliers to think

differently and pushed boundaries.”

On his arrival in Australia some 20 years ago, it was very much an “East meets West” culinary style, he says, which rubbed off on him, bringing with it a love of Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine, all grounded in his traditional French background.

“The Australian culinary scene has gone from strength to strength,” he adds. “You can get great food from cafes to fine dining restaurants using fresh produce. People like to eat casually here but well, and they know what they want to eat.

That’s driven everyone to develop so much.”

For North, everything begins with the produce, as it “sparks everything you do”.

“Recently we had [Noma’s] Rene Redzepi here doing a dinner at the Event Centre and going back to basics using natural ingredients around us to put dishes together,” he says. “I think it’s pushing the status quo these days to think differently and look at the products you have around you.”

important thing at the end of the day is you are only as good as the people around you. For me the most important thing is the team on a day to day basis. You’re like social glue that puts its altogether.”

Part of that team is the new crop of apprentices that are learning the trade across the huge operation at Echo – a far cry from the situation when North started working there around three years ago.

“When I first started here three years ago there were no apprentices,” he says. “So I said we have to go back to basics and get apprentices back in this organisation. It’s fundamentally important for the future of cooking.

So we set up our own Echo Culinary School, and what we can offer is the diversity of what we do – whether it’s bulk cooking or being an apprentice at Momofuku or Black or Balla.

Having hung up his chef’s whites for his current role as Echo Entertainment’s director of food and beverage based out of The Star Sydney, North still likes to roll up his sleeves every now and then and get stuck in.

“The hardest thing as you go up in the world is you get further away from the stove,” he says. “In the role I have now it was actually nice to put on the whites and help plate up with the team at [David Chang’s] Momofuku Seiõbo.”

With a bevvy of top names at the Star, including Teague Ezard’s Black, Chase Kojima’s Sokyo and Stefano Manfredi’s Balla, North says he always walks the operation on a daily basis to make sure “I have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on”.

“It’s a partnership and we work closely together,” he says. “But the

10 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

We move them around so they get a good grounding in all areas.”

The apprentices also get a good grounding in the basics that stood North so well throughout his career, such as trips to the fish markets and fruit and vegetable suppliers, to see how a market floor works.

“We’ve also had Vic Meats bring in a whole lamb and let them be able to break it down as these days meat often comes in a vacuum pack and is already pre portioned, because labour is so expensive,” he adds.

“We also had [Japanese sushi chef] Chase show the guys how he handles the fish. One of the most unique things for me was watching him take the scales of a snapper with his knife and still leaving the skin on the fish. You just saw the apprentices’ faces and they were absolutely stunned at his skill. You’re never too old to stop learning in this profession and that’s why I love it.” OH

origins of...

Gelato

Gelato made its way to the United States for the first time in 1770, when a man named Giovanni Basiolo brought it to New York City.

From Roman emperors to the aristocrats of the Renaissance, this ancient dessert has been a delightful indulgence for centuries, writes Anna-Louise McDougall.

D

espite its place in Italian cuisine, the origins of gelato can be traced back to a number of ancient cultures, with the earliest recordings of frozen dessert appearing around 3000 BC. At around this time Asian cultures discovered crushed ice could be consumed with assorted flavourings, whilst in Egypt it became customary for pharaohs to offer their guests a cup of ice sweetened with fruit juices.

Recordings from the Roman Empire indicate that Nero Claudius Caesar dined on a mixture of snow, honey and spices. The Renaissance signifies the beginning of the gelato tradition in Italy. The wellknown Medici family of Florence held a contest for the best frozen dessert. A man named Ruggeri, a chicken farmer and cook, won the competition with a frozen dessert of sweet fruit juice and ice, much like the sorbet of today.

Ruggeri later recreated his frozen specialty at Caterina de Medici's wedding to the future king of France.

In the late 1500s, the Medici family commissioned famous artist and architect Bernardo Buontalenti to prepare a sumptuous feast for the visiting King of Spain. Using his culinary skills to present an elaborate and visually pleasing display, Buontalenti presented the King of Spain with the creamy frozen dessert that we now call gelato.

While Buontalenti is considered the inventor of gelato, Francesco Procopio Cutò, a famous restaurateur from Palermo, made gelato a household name all over Europe. In 1686, Procopio travelled to Paris and opened a café called Procope, which soon became known for its exotic coffee, chocolate and refined gelato served in small egg cup like glasses.

Gelato soon spread throughout France and into other parts of Europe.

A meaty issue I would normally do a wrap up for the year but I have become obsessed with the livelihood of our farmers, so I need to make mention of the carry on about the animal cruelty happening in the Middle East with Australian livestock.

Let’s be very careful here and remember the last government and the damage they did to the Australian livestock export business with their knee jerk reaction of stopping all exports of live animals, which basically sent a number of farmers broke.

I do not for one moment condone animal cruelty, but when do we stop our own residents from buying puppies each Christmas, even though

by March we have animal shelters full of unwanted pets? Please feel free to

In Dolomite gelato was made with milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and mixed with cinnamon, pistachio, coffee or chocolate. Snow was stored in the cantina (basement) during the winter.

In southern Italy, the gelato was predominantly made by mixing water with fruits such as lemon and strawberries. Lower in fat and slightly higher in sugar content, it was called sorbetto, which we know as sorbet. Southern gelato manufacturers used techniques similar to those of the Dolomite region, where underground storage areas as deep as 30 metres were used to store compacted snow.

By 1846, the hand-crank freezer was developed and changed the way Americans made the frozen dessert.

The freezer kept the liquid mixture constantly in motion and kept it cool throughout, making a product that

Consultant chef

check the RSPCA for actual numbers; you would be astounded. Consider the amount of abused horses and pigs in sow stalls, but do we see the banning of pets and horses and the closure of piggeries? No. But see a few idiots in the Middle East rough up some sheep and we have to be the savior of all things woollen, according to the ill informed activists that want to stop the live trade and ruin the livelihood of Australian farmers.

Seriously, do you really think the Middle East cares what we think? And honestly, is this our greatest problem?

I think it is very poor practice to start the blame game and try to convince other nations that once they buy and own something that we still have the right to dictate how they will treat it. Be mindful of how you feel when

By this time there were two types of gelato, hailing from two separate regions – Dolomite in the far north of Italy and Sicily in the far south.

was no longer granular, but creamy.

Today, Italy remains the only country where the market share of handmade gelato versus industrial is more than 55 per cent. Despite this, Italians rarely make gelato in their own homes; to walk to the nearby gelateria and enjoy a cup or cone is a leisurely part of Italian culture.

Today in Australia, there is a strong contingent of traditional gelatarias across the country. Recently in October, Melbourne’s Donato Toce and Simone Panetta of Gelato Messina took on Australia’s 16 best gelato artisans to win the Gelato World Tour Oceania competition.

They won with their “Cremino”, a salted caramel gelato with home-made gianduia fudge, fresh meringue and crushed amaretti. OH

to the problem and not listen to the ill informed people that have the potential not only to destroy a fantastic business but the livelihood of Australian farmers.

We need to develop a policy of education to explain and show the benefits of correct meat handling – the better eating qualities of unstressed, not bruised, meat.

Experience has shown me that an educational approach works far better than an approach of dictatorship and aggression.

Glenn Austin

www.glennaustinconsulting.com others try to tell you what to do with your own property.

Instead, lets lobby our government or representative bodies such as Meat and Livestock Australia to develop a professional friendly approach

Let’s learn from this and support those that have helped build our country, the farmers, as without the food they produce we would be substantially worse off. As if the weather, subsidised imports and mongrels at the top of Australia’s two largest supermarket chains don’t do enough to make the farmers' lives unbearable, don't encourage the animal rights lobby groups to add to the dilemma.

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, December 2013/January 2014 11

Q&A

First class catering With the recent unveiling of the $80 million Qantas catering centre in Brisbane, Anna-Louise McDougall asked general manager John Hall how the airline is bringing silver service to the skies.

Q: What makes the Qantas catering centre one of the most advanced catering centres in the southern hemisphere?

robotic food-handling technology.

enhance safety.

Q: How does the new delivery model and foodhandling technology ensure quality?

Q: How many meals does the centre prepare in an average day?

A: The catering centre uses radio-frequency identification technology to track equipment throughout the centre as well as an advanced under-floor waste processing system which removes the need for waste bins, improving hygiene and reducing landfill. Human cart movements have been reduced by 80 per cent through the use of auto guided vehicles and clean cart conveyors, while the manual movement of waste has also been reduced by 90 per cent through the use of conveyors. We’ve also implemented a “just-in-time” delivery model and

A: By incorporating a just in time delivery model, with an increased level of automation, we’ve been able to reduce the time taken to assemble catering requirements for flights, ensuring we are able to give our customers the freshest possible on-board meals. Robotic food-handling technology is used to reduce manual handling, improve production efficiency and

A: The centre currently produces 20,000 meals per day, servicing 120 flights per day, with allowance in the design for significant growth over the coming years.

Q: Qantas caters to both business and economy passengers. Are there any key differences to how food is prepared for the different classes?

A: The main difference is the majority of our business meals are prepared onsite in the Brisbane catering centre, whereas all economy meals are third party supplied but packed and transported from our catering centre.

Q: What are some of the challenges of coming up with dishes that will present well and taste good when reheated mid-flight?

A: Good in-flight food is all about the cooking technique and how it is handled in the air. We know what works in the air and what doesn’t. Recipes are developed and tested in controlled environments to ensure they can be translated into the catering centres around the world and on-board. Dishes are designed with seasonal and fresh produce.

They are prepared, cooked, stored and reheated to simulate the on-board experience to ensure the quality is perfect. They are also tasted by [consultant] chef Neil Perry, the Rockpool head chef and sous chef to ensure the dishes pass the highest Rockpool standards.

Q: What sort of different dietary requirements do you cater for?

Fast facts • Q Catering achieves more than 273,000 on time departures a year with A380-capable refrigerated vehicles.

• The centre has a national ISO 22000 certification, the world's leading food safety management standard.

• Q Catering aims to achieve 20 per cent reduction in water consumption and 25 per cent reduction in waste to landfill by 2020.

The centre also implements water-wise wash lines, waste segregation, and recycling opportunities.

• Qantas was named Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering in the 2012 World Airline Awards, and is in the top five (as chosen by customers) in the First Class Catering, Business Class Catering and Premium Economy Catering categories in the 2013 World Airline Awards. Qantas was also named in the top 10 World's Best Economy Class meals according to customers.

12 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

A: Qantas caters for a range of dietary requirements including gluten-free and vegetarian. Our in-flight catering also reflects the cultural and regional influences of the international destinations that we fly to. We serve approximately 200,000 vegetarian meals per year and 90,000 gluten-free meals per year.

Q: How does food fit into the flying experience?

A: For a lot of flyers the meal is an important part of their travel experience. Qantas is continually challenging the notion of traditional airline food in an effort to give our customers a restaurant style experience in the sky. World-class catering is essential to our full-service offering. OH

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Sustainability

Waste to go Disposing of organic waste in an environmentally thoughtful way can be problematic. Ylla Wright looks at the options for businesses large and small.

F

ood waste is a major problem in Australia, with anti-waste organisation FoodWise calculating that Australians discard around four million tonnes – $8 billion worth – of food every year. A National Waste Report 2010 by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts estimates that 21.5 per cent of commercial and industrial waste is food, around 1.388 million tonnes.

Most of this inevitably ends up in landfill where it is a major producer of methane gas, a greenhouse gas more than 20 times worse than carbon dioxide.

If you have the space, a good old fashioned composting bin is an easy, and inexpensive, option for recycling food

scraps such as fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells and coffee grounds (meat and dairy product need to be disposed of separately).

Composting works by encouraging the aerobic breakdown of organic material; once broken down the compost can be used as fertiliser.

Cameron Cansdell, head chef at Manfredi at Bells, located at Bells at Killcare Boutique Hotel, Restaurant & Spa in New South Wales, says the decision to introduce composting bins was driven by a desire to reduce the overall amount of waste the restaurant created by 50 per cent.

A considerable reduction in costs has been a bonus.

around 170kg of organic waste every week, including some cardboard and paper products, in two Aerobins, which break down organic matter twice as fast as regular compost bins, producing between 600-800kg of compost every three months.

The garden itself is thriving because the compost “enriches the soil with rich organic matter as well as good bacteria and worms, and decreases our water usage as the soil holds moisture a lot better than before”.

Cansdell says he has not only seen annual waste disposal costs halved, but the restaurant is also able to use the compost to fertilise the 500sqm kitchen garden its famous for, further reducing expenses.

Large scale composting

“By using the free organic matter to feed the plants we save money on fertiliser as well,” he says. “All of these costs usually come from my food costs so in helps in that area as well.”

The restaurant is currently composting

14 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

In July Melbourne-based environmental solutions company Closed Loop launched City Harvest in the Victorian capital, an Australian first recycling program which, while still being set up, is projected to cut food waste to land fill by over 90 per cent or 36,000 tonnes, and save the restaurant industry up to $5 million in food waste collection costs each year.

Chefs Cameron Cansdell and Stefano Manfredi in the Bells at Klllcare veggie patch.

Under the program, Organic Composting Machines will be installed in commercial kitchens throughout Melbourne, with the compost collected and delivered to city gardens, and vegetables grown there sold back to restaurateurs.

City gardens will be established on rooftops and in public spaces within the Melbourne CBD, with The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre at Albert Park committing space for four gardens already.

A third prong of the project will see disadvantaged young people trained in commercial and horticultural skills to prepare and maintain the gardens.

Rob Pascoe, founder and managing director of Closed Loop, says Australia’s mounting food waste is not only a massive waste but unsustainable.

“In Australia we send around 20 million tons of organics to landfill every year,” he said. “That’s absolute madness when we live on the most soil depleted continent on the planet. In the context of dramatically increasing food prices, it’s a problem we can no longer afford to ignore.

“Our units are turning this abject waste into a valuable resource. We believe that in the next 10 years, every commercial kitchen in Australia will have an Organics Composting Machine and every home will also have a domestic version, much as they already have a dishwasher.”

The Closed Loop Organic Composting Machines transforms food destined for landfill into organic compost in just 24 hours.

When added to veggie patches to help grow fresh produce, the compost “closes the loop” on organic waste.

The machine works by decomposing organic food waste in an aerobic

environment using controlled temperatures, agitation, airflow and organic starter material. Kitchen staff simply need to add food and organic waste throughout the day, including fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, meat, fish, poultry (raw and cooked), eggshells and small bones, and within 24 hours the original material is reduced by up to 90 per cent, transformed into concentrated compost. The unit features a ventilation and deodorisation system that promotes decomposition without any unpleasant smells.

Amongst the restaurants to have installed the machines are Ladro, Pope Joan, Auction Rooms, Cecconi’s and the Healesville Hotel.

Renowned environmental designer and restaurateur Joost Bakker has installed two Closed Loop Organics Machines, at his Hardware lane “zero-waste” café Silo and his Perth restaurant Greenhouse. He is fully in favour of composting, regardless of how big or small your venue.

“One day food and materials will be endlessly recyclable and all our restaurants will be creating compost for crops,” Bakker predicts.

Adelaide Convention Centre chief executive Alec Gilbert with castings from the Centre's worm farm.

“We don’t need to wait for new technologies or look overseas for solutions. All we need to do is participate.”

Bokashi bins, although less hightech, are an option for smaller businesses. These compact sealed bins, which are available in a range of sizes, use fermentation to break

down organic waste including fish, meat, cheese and paper products into nutrient-rich fertiliser.

Leave it to the worms Worm farming offers a third option for environmentally-friendly disposal of organic waste. The worms feed on food scraps, creating natural solid (worm castings) and liquid (“worm wee”) fertiliser which can be used on domestic or commercial gardens.

In Sydney suburb Newtown The Green Living Centre, funded jointly by the City of Sydney and Marrickville councils, wrapped up a six-month trial of a worm farm earlier this year, utilising a 1500-litre skip bin at their King Street office in Newtown to house the worms.

According to project manager, Mithra Cox, the farm diverted 462 kilograms of food waste and scraps from two local businesses, Boost Juice Newtown and Soffritto Restaurant, away from landfill.

The worm farm also produced 323 litres of organic fertiliser, which was given away to local residents at the Green Living Centre, and about 40 kilograms of compost.

“The worm farm plays an important role in turning food waste into a valuable organic fertiliser, and diverting waste from landfill,” Cox says.

“This trial has shown that large worm farms can handle commercial quantities of food waste and halve

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, December 2013/January 2014 15

the amount of waste going to landfill from restaurants and food outlets.”

Since completing the trial, The Green Living Centre has recently installed a worm farm in Soffritto which is able to process around 20 kilos of food waste a week, producing around 11 litres of liquid fertiliser.

The Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC) has had a worm farm, home to around 45,000 worms, since 2008. With the worms consuming around 78 kilograms of food waste per week (4100 kilograms every year), the Centre calculates that in the five years since the worm farm was introduced, 20,892 kilograms of waste has been converted into 2188 litres of liquid fertiliser and 4592 kilograms of solid fertiliser.

The fertiliser is used on the Centre’s

Restaurateur Joost Bakker has installed Closed Loop Organics Machines in his restaurants.

gardens, local community gardens and given to the local council. It has been also been packaged and given as a unusual gift to guests at the Centre’s annual client dinner.

According to ACC chief executive Alec Gilbert, the worm farm forms a key part of the Centre’s environmental and waste reduction program, not only on a practical level but also in establishing the Centre’s “green” credibility.

“The Centre was the first convention centre in the world to introduce an onsite worm farm and the idea has attracted worldwide attention,” he says. “The publicity achieved has been immense and it has given credibility to our environmental initiatives.”

Whatever method you use, the benefits are considerable. OH

Responsible cafes take away problem Australia’s take away coffee sector is responsible for around one billion coffee cups and lids ending up as landfill – or litter – every year.

Unfortunately for the environment takeaway coffee cups and lids are not recyclable and rarely composted as they are lined with plastic or poly lactic acid (PLA), a “bioplastic” which combines genetically-modified corn starch with plastic polymers.

A new program, the Responsible Cafes Program, www. responsiblerunners.org, aims to reduce the number of discarded takeaway coffee cups and lids at cafes across Australia by incentivising the use of reusable coffee cups by offering customers a modest discount if they supply their own takeaway cup.

Justin Bonsey, says “engaging businesses in innovative ways based on the idea of preventing waste – not just containing it – is absolutely essential for cutting out waste and litter before it begins”.

While the program started in iconic Sydney beachside suburb Bondi, more than 50 cafes from around the country have jumped on board so far. “[The program] has clear triple bottom line benefits – social, economic and environmental,” says

Bonsey. “Not only does it foster a culture of reuse among customers, building identity and community, but it also saves cafes the cost of takeaway materials and increases loyalty among a growing number of eco-conscious customers. Selling reusable cups such as Cheeki or KeepCup also uncovers a potential additional income stream.

“We often take for granted the environmental costs of doing business, a model which is overlyreliant on petrol and throwaway

By signing up for the program cafes are able to save on the cost of disposable packaging reduce waste, incentivise customers to make better decisions for the planet, and capitalise on the many latent economic benefits, such as increasing customer loyalty, attracting new customers eager to take advantage of the discount and support sustainable practices, and by selling reusable cups, many of which are sold at a 60-80 per cent mark-up.

The program's founding director,

16 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

Kate Ross from Banff in St Kilda has signed up for the Responsible Cafes program.

packaging that remains in our oceans and landfills for generations. Single-use waste on a planet with finite resources is clearly not sustainable.

“Customers love it because they get a discount for doing the right thing.”

Murray Begg, owner of Organic Republic Bakery in Bondi Beach, was one of the first café owners to sign up for the program, which he says is consistent with the “core values and beliefs” of his business.

“Even though we use supposedly biodegradable cups and lids we know that very few of these ever get composted,” he says. “Our takeaway business alone generates 10,000 'waste' cups per month.

All of the raw materials have to be processed, cups manufactured and distributed.

“By changing to reuseable cups, substantial change is back cast and the profligate waste of 'upstream' resources and energy, which would otherwise be on a one way journey to the dump, is eliminated.”

The number of customers bringing their own takeaway coffee cups to the cafe is gathering momentum, he says, with “the most sensitive customers aware and adapting”.

“Our goal is to reduce disposable cup/lid consumption by 20 per cent, which means millions of cups and lids saved from landfill each year,” adds Bonsey.

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hygiene

Coming clean on hygiene We all love a foodie headline, except when it involves food poisoning. Food hygiene is one of those subjects that only gets attention when something has gone wrong, but many food authorities are doing their best to make sure it stays out of the headlines, writes Sheridan Randall.

A

s consumers often the last thing we think about when going out for a meal is whether there are correct food safety standards in place. However, as a foodservice operator that needs to be one of the first things to think about.

Operating any foodservice business requires a whole range of skills.

Dealing with suppliers, inventory, staffing costs, menu planning – the list is seemingly endless. In amongst all this is the constant monitoring of food safety standards – not the sexiest thing on a chef’s plate. When it’s done right nobody even notices. However, when it’s overlooked the consequences can quite be devastating both for the business and customers.

Last month, between November 11-17, was Australian Food Safety Week, an initiative of the Food Safety Information Council that aims to inform and strengthen the food safety culture within the foodservice industry.

But there are other schemes in place that are also helping raise the food safety bar, using two different methods. One rewards while the other punishes.

The New South Wales Government’s Name and Shame register falls under the latter, with the scheme marking its fifth year in operation this year. Over that time more than 4000 business have

appeared on the register, with the website receiving more than 8.5 million hits. The power of shaming businesses seems to have had its desired effect with 3.4 per cent of businesses placed on the register in 2009-2010, dropping down to less than 2 per cent in 2012-2010.

This initiative works in tandem with the voluntary Scores On Doors program, which was implemented

by Brisbane City and Logan City in Queensland in 2010, and has been adopted by 26 councils in NSW since 2011. Using a starbased rating system, the voluntary scheme rewards food outlets that do the right thing in food safety compliance.

With around 4000 food businesses in the City of Sydney, the take up rate for the Scores on Doors program was initially very low, with around 80 businesses taking part. That figure has risen to just under 500 following recent changes to the program, which include a

reduced inspection fee for those signed up and scrapping the Scores on Doors participation agreement.

possible cross contamination issues to equipment that needs to be serviced.

“So what we now do is give them a star rating regardless and then give them the option as to whether they want to sign up with the program,” says Peter Harding, manager of Health and Building at City of Sydney.

“Many years ago the inspector was like a policeman coming in and they would all grab their brooms and start sweeping,” he says. “The element of surprise is countered by us sitting down with them and going through all the issues, and it’s not just what the problems are, but offering suggestions on how they can fix those problems.”

“It’s all about thinking of ways to try and make it easier to get on.”

But irrespective of whether a business signs on or not “we treat every premises the same”.

“We go in as a snapshot inspection, and sometimes as business operators see the same thing every day they might miss something,” he says.

This could be anything from

The most common food safety breaches under the Food Act 2003 according to the NSW Food Authority are: • Cleaning and sanitation (35 per cent) • Temperature control (13 per cent) • Pest control – infestations, droppings (13 per cent) • Hand washing offences (13 per cent) • Protection from contamination – storage, personal hygiene (11 per cent)

18 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

Harding is confident that there are very few businesses breaching food safety regulations out of wilful neglect. Rather it is often a side effect of businesses trying to cut costs.

“It’s where people try to cut corners, where business isn’t as good as they thought it would be, so they might re-use food they shouldn’t be, or turn their cool room down to save on power,” he says. “That’s where we have to be good educators. It’s about working with business owners. At the end of the day we both have the same intent and that is to provide a safe environment for people to come and eat in the city.” OH

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stocks & sauces

Back to basics Sauces may not be the hero ingredient in a meal, but they can definitely elevate what’s on the plate and may even become the thing people will remember, discovers Sheridan Randall.

T

wo restaurateurs that have taken Sydney by storm of recent years are Ben Milgate (pictured above, right) and Elvis Abrahanowicz (left) with their Argentinian inspired Porteno and Bodega. Both restaurants rely heavily on their trademark barbequed whole carcasses, which results in a lot of bones lying around at the end of the night. And as every chef knows, bones equal great stock.

The duo use the bones to cook up what they call “Animal Stock” and use it as a base for a lot of their dishes including their Animal Sauce and Barbeque Sauce and even ladle some hot stock over carved meat before serving.

Melbourne burger joint The Merrywell also prepares its own stock in-house to use in its barbeque sauce amongst other things.

“It does make a difference, it gives the sauces a lot more body, and more soul you could say,” says The Merrywell’s head chef, Ewart Wardhaugh.

“The house sauces we make are classics that we take and put a little twist to it. Everyone knows Heinz ketchup but we want to have Merrywell ketchup.”

After some initial trial and error, with the first batch coming out far too spicy, the recipes are “pretty much locked in”.

“It’s all about what’s on the plate,” he says. “Our special sauce goes into our mini-burger which is a nice wagyu burger with caramalised onions and cheddar cheese and it just needs a little bit of a zing. You don’t want to overpower the burger but you just want something to spice it up a little bit.”

Wardhaugh describes the The Merrywell “special sauce” as a chipotle rémoulade.

crazy, they’re [burgers] like so big and silly that it sort of takes away from what a burger was.”

“We spice it up with charred chipotle peppers, garlic, spices, capers and cornichons,” he says. “It’s got a little bit of sweet, a little bit of sour and a little bit of spice. You don’t want one to overpower the other.

Taking a back to basics approach with their burger offering, with only four things on each burger, “those four things all need to be perfect”.

Sydney’s Chur Burger is another place that takes its house-made burger sauces seriously. On the cusp of expansion, the team behind Chur put a fair bit of thought and time into getting the basics right.

“We put a bit of thought into the sauces at the start because we wanted to keep things simple, and didn’t want tons of stuff on the burger,” says Chur’s co-founder Warren Turnbull. “Over the last couple of years things have got

20 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

“We spent a lot of time looking for the perfect bun, went to the butcher to find the perfect meat, and then with sauce we wanted the same thing, we wanted big punchy flavours,” he says.

“We make our own barbeque sauce for our pulled pork, which is our second biggest seller. Tomato jam for the beef burger, and different flavoured mayonnaises, which are all made in house. We didn’t think about it at first but once you are up and running it becomes a signature trademark.”

Animal Stock Makes 3 litres

2 brown onions, skins on, quartered 1 leek, halved lengthways 4 spring onions (scallions) 3 kg cooked animal bones Chargrill the onions and leek on a barbecue over medium-hot coals.

Ensure a nice dark char on the exposed flesh then place in a large stockpot. Add the leek, spring onions and animal bones then cover with 6 litres of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce to a very low heat and simmer for 6 hours, or until reduced by half. The stock should be steaming and just ticking over with tiny bubbles (put the pot half-off the heat if need be). Skim away any impurities or fat from the surface of the stock as it cooks.

Animal Sauce Makes about 500ml

3 raw chicken carcasses 2 litres animal stock (see other recipe)

Remove from the heat, strain and remove the bones and veg, then leave to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. This is your animal stock. You can either use it up over the next few days in soups, stews or meat dishes, or you can freeze it in small bags to use up as needed.

To turn the animal stock into sauce, preheat the oven to 200°C and roughly chop the chicken carcasses.

Put the chicken carcasses into a large roasting tin and cold smoke for 20 minutes. Transfer the roasting tin of smoked chicken to the oven

Put all the bones into a stockpot and cover with the animal stock. Simmer so just ticking over for 3 hours, then strain to get rid of the bones. Strain again through muslin (cheesecloth) then put in a clean saucepan and place over a medium heat until the sauce has reduced down to around 500 ml. Allow to cool, then transfer to a sterilised bottle and refrigerate until needed. It will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

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This stuff was the ketchup of ancient times, and was slathered on pretty much everything they ate. Essentially a fish sauce, it was made from fermented fish guts in brine. It fell out of favour as the

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Roman empire collapsed, but is still found in different guises in other parts of the world. In Naples it is still made but called colatura, while many Asian countries have variations on the sauce, such as Thailand’s Nuoc ma. There are still remains of Roman garum factories left throughout the countries under their rule.

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Bodega Barbecue Sauce Makes about 250ml

250ml animal sauce (see other recipe) 4 tablespoons tomato sauce (ketchup) 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon Sriracha chilli sauce Freshly ground black pepper (to taste) 1 tablespoon molasses 1 tablespoon potato starch 1 tablespoon water Combine all of the ingredients, except the potato starch and water, in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat.

Mix the potato starch and water together in a small bowl until the mixture becomes a thick slurry

(the texture of glue). Whisk that slurry into the boiling sauce then strain and serve warm. Place any leftovers in a bottle or jar and store in the fridge. It will keep for up to 2 weeks.

Recipes and images from Recipes for a Good Time by Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz (Murdoch Books, $59.99).

As a chef would make it Open House was invited to sample Nestlé Professional’s new premium concentrated stock that is being sold under the Chef brand. Nestlé Professional executive chef Mark Clayton whisked up a couple of tasty dishes utilising the new stock that comes in two varieties – shellfish and veal. The Chicken stock is on its way and should be available next year.

“We have been working on this for a few years, but there is an awful lot of work that goes into getting a product like this ready for market,” says Clayton.

Using nothing but natural ingredients – premium bones, vegetables and herbs – and no salt, the stock is “exactly how a chef would make it”.

“Chefs that are really serious about their craft make their own stock,” he says. “But there are issues involved in that. A lot of places just don’t have the space. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a separate stock pot stand and for people this is a great opportunity to still use quality without compromising and save a whole heap of time. A veal stock is up to a three day operation to get it where you want, and it’s a constant operation to keep up. Labour, storage of the bones, and then getting rid of all the bones, these are all things that add up over time.”

Clockwise from left: beef with veal and red wine jus, scallops with shellfish and cream sauce.

Clayton first demonstrated the Shellfish stock by cooking up a creambased sauce for some fried scallops.

He simply reduced the stock with some white wine, vegetables and spices including fennel seed, before adding some cream.

“A lot of chefs don’t make shellfish stock because they don’t have the left over shells needed,” he says.

“If they have the ability to do this [cream sauce] whenever and don’t have to wait until they have enough shells, they can put this on the menu instead of just having a special every now and then.”

Next up was a jus using the veal stock. He took the veal stock, which comes five times reduced, and added water, vegetables, herbs, garlic and finely chopped onions before cooking it down slowly for around 40 minutes. Then he added some red wine and a little sweet alcohol and reduced it down further to rich syrupy concentrate, which was served sparingly on a two beef fillets.

“The great thing about this is because it has no salt you can reduce it down as much as you want it will just be packed with the flavours you want,” he says.

22 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

“Per plate it’s only about a 20ml serve, and so it’s actually very cost effective. It has an intense flavour so you don’t need to flood the plate otherwise you’ll overkill everything you do. For functions it’s a great way to control costs, and it’s very versatile.”

Clayton says that it is “up to chefs what they do with it”.

“Running a busy operation day in day out I’d at least want some of this as a back-up even if I made my own stock,” he says. “When you’re busy it’s a constant headache for chefs to keep up with making stock.” OH

cafe options

Trends to watch The cafe sector is consistently performing well, even as high end restaurants falter, but as with all areas of foodservice, understanding the market and staying current is the trick to staying in the game, writes Ylla Wright. coffee renaissance and probably the only country doing coffee and food well in a holistic sense in any significant way,” says Salvatore Malatesta from Melbourne’s St Ali and Sensory Lab.

with low acidity, has become so wellknown that iced coffee brand Dare has recently launched Dare Cold Pressed Coffee, the first cold-pressed coffee available outside specialist coffee stores.

Malatesta credits the “third wave coffee movement” for “re-shaping the strategy of many commercial coffee roasters and by default, the execution by cafes”.

According to the manufacturer, the Dare Cold Pressed Coffee process lasts for more than 12 hours and includes the blending of three natural ingredients to create a smoother, richer coffee experience with no bitterness.

The third wave refers to the move towards producing highquality, artisanal coffee, through improvements to all stages of production, from growing, harvesting and processing, through to small batch roasting. The movement aims to promote a higher form of coffee appreciation similar to the way wine is appreciated, with an emphasis on the subtle nuances of flavour, bean varietal and growing region.

“Often those who do not keep up are left behind and become like the dinosaurs,” he says. “Extinct.”

A

ustralia has a strong, vibrant cafe culture, driven by the nation’s enduring love affair with gourmet coffee, with revenue for the sector tipped by research company IBISWorld to increase by 3.7 per cent to $5.3 billion in 2013-14.

With the sector expected to see sustained growth through to 201819, IBISWorld analysts believe consumer demand for high-quality, convenient food and beverage offerings should support strong sales of coffee and other cafe products.

Improved economic conditions and ongoing interest in health and ethical issues (such as Fairtrade) are also expected to bolster sales.

While the number of international players and coffee shop franchises opening in Australia is expected to increase, it is predicted the number of small specialty operators and intense competition in the industry will remain the underlying drivers of the industry's success and vibrancy.

However, with an ever increasing number of speciality cafes opening

around Australia, operators can’t afford to become complacent.

According to IBISWorld success is often determined by the level of customer service, price, the quality of their coffee brand and how well they make a cup of coffee from the texture, temperature and taste of the milk, down to the amount of crema in espressos.

Malatesta identifies cold pressed coffee as being a key trend at the moment.

The technique, which steeps coffee grounds in room temperature or cold water for an extended period resulting in a sweeter brew

“Moreover, the ability to understand and cater to the unique characteristics of demand has been a determinant of success for some players, but an obstacle for those who fail to incorporate them into business operations,” says IBISWorld analyst Ryan Lin.

Turning good into great While good coffee will never go out of fashion, a new breed of cafe operators are striving to redefine what “good” is, and setting themselves apart from their competitors.

“Australia, and in particular Melbourne, are leading the global

24 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

It’s a technique that has impressed Malatesta’s head barista at St Ali, Matt Perger, who is the winner of the 2013 AustralAsian Specialty Coffee Association (AASCA) Coffee Championships.

“By taking the heat out of the process, you preserve the grounds in their natural state, locking in flavour,” says Perger.

“The Cold Pressed technique is seen as the most superior form of coffee extraction and is the reason coffee can be served cold.

“I was impressed by the authentic taste of Dare Cold Pressed Coffee and that

Innovation chef Tom Allen.

they are bite size treats that leave you feeling guilt-free.”

There are however differences between the cafe market in Australia and the UK, where there are more cafe chains operating than here.

“In the UK seven out of 10 people buy a pre packed sandwich every day,” he says. “Given that there is a huge amount of competition in a £4.2 billion industry, the cafes have to have a good food offering to make them a destination of choice.”

Salvatore Malatesta from St ALi and Sensory Lab.

it’s blended with just three natural ingredients – premium Arabica coffee, fresh milk and raw sugar.”

Here to stay Like Malatesta, Matt Brown, R&D and quality supervisor at Belaroma Coffee, identifies cold brewed coffee as one of the key trends for cafes.

“Some cafes are even going to the extent of carbonising this coffee and serving it like a coffee beer, with a creamy head,” he says.

Brown also identifies single origin coffee, coffee sourced from a single coffee growing region, as a trend which is here to stay.

“The flavour of each origin comes from, first, the variety of coffee, just like the variety of grape for wine,” he says. “Then you will get flavour from the land – the French call this terroir, which are basically flavours from the soil and climate. The farmer can also manipulate the flavour by the processing method they use.

“It is getting to the heart and the uniqueness of the flavour of the product. The flavour of a single origin coffee is complex enough all by itself, and is always changing due to influences in climate, that the human palate will not get bored.

Just like any specialty industry, its quality not quantity that drives it.”

Filter coffee is also gaining popularity with many baristas, Brown adds.

“If the coffee is roasted correctly for the filter, you know the fundamentals of brewing coffee and you are brewing to order, filter coffee should not only taste better than a long black from an espresso machine, but also be much easier to actually taste the flavour characteristics I was describing before – of the variety, terroir and process,” he says.

“A simple analogy would be that filter coffee is more like wine and espresso is concentrated like a spirit.

If you have a beautiful washed

coffee from Rwanda and you brew it with a filter, it should highlight a refreshing, lemon-like acidity. If you concentrate this in an espresso machine, it can cause the lemon to become too dominate, undiluted, and harshly sour.

Allen says that pre-packed sandwiches are one trend that isn’t likely to take off in Australia in the short-term.

“It is a challenge in Australia for several reasons, one being the sheer size of the country,” he says.

“Specialty coffee vendors have known this for many years; the only problem is that it is time consuming to brew fresh coffee for each customer. The new trend in Sydney is the batch brewer, which is just like the stereotypical image of the horrible American coffee pot, but done properly. A batch is made and refreshed every 30-45 minutes to keep the integrity of flavour, and simply just poured out of the warmed pot when ordered by the customer. It’s not as good as brewing to order, but much more practical in today’s fast paced cafe.”

“But I would say the biggest challenge is customer perception.

As a rule pre-packed sandwiches in Australia are not great and that is something you have lived with for some time, so customers’ perceptions of pre-packed sandwiches are pretty low.

“To change that expectation the ingredients need to be better quality, the bread needs to be fresh and they

At St Ali Malatesta says they’ve developed a brewing method that “results in a filter brew but utilises a coffee machine”, which delivers an aromatic, perfectly transparent, consistent filter shot, brewed in less than a minute. The method, which Perger debuted at the 2013 World Barista Championship in Melbourne, is now being tested worldwide.

need to deliver good value for money.

“I don't think one chain can change Australians view of pre-packed sandwiches; it’s going to take all multiples, cafes and service stations to gradually improve the offering to take customers on that journey.”

Instead, he thinks that the next few years will see cafes “evolving to encourage customers to eat in”.

“I believe that the way society has changed, and will continue to change, means people will increasingly use cafes to meet with friends, have business meetings and take time out,” he says. “For many people now it's socially unacceptable to drink alcohol in a lunch break at a business meeting, people are working longer hours and shift workers have the same need to enjoy the same dining experiences as a nine-to-five worker. As such, I think cafes will open earlier and close later, making the most of the customers around them.”

Overall, however, the local industry is on the right track, according to Allen.

“Where you get great coffee in Australia, nine times out of 10 you get great fresh food too,” he says. OH

CAN WE TEMPT YOU?

The full package It’s not just with coffee that there are clear trends in the cafe market, says Tip Top Foodservice’s London-based innovation chef Tom Allen.

Internationally Allen is seeing a “lot more hot food dominating the menus and fixtures of cafe, with a real step up in quality, for example with the use of batch breads, slow fermented breads and open faced sandwiches”.

“We are seeing a lot of nostalgic products and flavours being used in products which give the customer an escape, bringing back a childhood memory or becoming a weekly must-have,” he says. “Mini treats and cakes are also everywhere in the UK and US; full of flavour

We have an irresistible selection of ReadyGlazed Danish pastries, buttery viennoiserie, scrumptious sweet treats, delicious donuts and tempting continental savouries for you to choose from www.lantmannen-unibake.com.au

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, December 2013/January 2014 25

cooking the Books

Made with love Guy Grossi is one of Australia’s best known Italian chefs. Here he shares his recipe for the Italian classic cannoli, with a deliciously summery strawberry mousse filling.

Cannoli alla fragola (Strawberry cannoli) Serves 8

In my version of this traditional Italian dessert, I use a crispy pastry for the cannoli shell, which really lightens up the whole dish. The tangy yoghurt ice-cream also provides great balance against the rich mousse, which in turn works really well with the freshness of the strawberries.

You’ll need a sugar thermometer and also some cannoli moulds (or a new broom handle cut into 14cm lengths!).

Finely grated zest of 2 lemons 150g caster sugar 750g strawberries, hulled 75ml verjuice Icing sugar, for dusting Strawberry mousse 175g caster sugar, plus 10g extra 4 egg whites 10g gold-strength gelatine leaves 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream

and set aside in a saucepan. Cut the rest in half and set aside in their liquid.

Cannoli dough 60g liquid glucose 2 tablespoons caster sugar 60g plain flour 60g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature Yoghurt ice-cream 125g caster sugar 150ml thickened cream Juice and finely grated zest of 2 lemons 420g natural Greek-style yoghurt

1

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Mix the lemon zest with the sugar. Cover the base of a baking tray with most of the lemon sugar.

Lay the strawberries on top and sprinkle over the remaining lemon sugar. Pour in the verjuice and cover the tray with foil. Cook for 10–15 minutes until the strawberries are just tender.

Purée 350g of the strawberries for the mousse

2

To make the mousse, place the 175g of sugar and 2½ tablespoons of water in a saucepan and begin to heat to 121°C. Just before the syrup reaches the required temperature, start to whisk the egg whites and the extra 10g of sugar in a mixer until frothy. Once the syrup reaches 121°C, slowly pour it into the egg whites, whisking on high speed. Whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture has cooled.

3

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. Warm the reserved strawberry purée over low heat, then squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine leaves and stir them into the hot purée until dissolved. Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool slightly. Whisk the cream to soft peaks. Fold the egg white mixture into the purée, then carefully fold through the cream.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (but preferably overnight) until the mousse has set.

4

For the cannoli dough, preheat the oven to 170°C. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor with 25ml of water until smooth.

Thinly spread 9cm × 6cm rectangles on a baking tray lined with baking paper; the mixture should be about 1-2mm thick. (The easiest way to do this is to draw 9cm × 6cm rectangles on your baking paper about 2cm apart. Turn the paper over and use the rectangles as a guide.) Bake one tray at a time for about 7-8 minutes until golden brown, then take out and roll lengthways over a cannoli mould or clean broom handle to form cannoli. Remove from the mould and leave to cool. You need to work quickly; otherwise the cannoli will set hard while still flat. Store in an airtight container.

5

To make the yoghurt ice-cream, whisk the sugar into the cream. Place in a pan over medium heat and heat until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Leave to cool. Place the cream mixture in a food processor with the lemon juice, zest and yoghurt and blend together.

Churn in an ice-cream machine, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

6

Assemble just before serving, otherwise the cannoli will go soggy. For each serving, fill two or three cannoli shells with strawberry mousse and place on a plate with some strawberry halves and syrup. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the yoghurt ice-cream alongside. ● Recipe from Love Italy by Guy Grossi, photography by Mark Chew (Lantern, $100). OH 26 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

What’s on shelf this month?

Recipes for a good time by Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz (Murdoch Books, $59.95)

Simply Good Food

by Neil Perry (Murdoch Books, $49.99)

Veganissimo: beautiful vegan food

by Leigh Drew (Arbon publishing, $34.99)

In the same month as restaurateur and chef Neil Perry moves his flagship Rockpool restaurant in Sydney to a new Bridge St address, comes the release of a new collection of the simple, produce-driven dishes he cooks when he’s not on duty in one of his restaurants.

Featuring a selection of stand alone dishes, as well as Mexican, Asian-inspired and Mediterranean dishes that will work as part of a banquet, this probably isn’t the sort of fare Perry would consider for his next menu at Rockpool but it has great appeal for food lovers.

With more and more people having special dietary requirements, catering to them is often a challenge, and nowhere is this truer than with vegan cooking where no animal products at all are used. Far from being bland and unimaginative however, vegan cuisine can be flavoursome and visually appealing as this new book sets out to prove. From recipes such as Vietnamese savory pancakes and portobello burgers with the lot to lemon self-saucing pudding and chocolate mousse tart with raspberries, there’s inspiration galore to be found here.

Well before the move away from fine dining started, chefs Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz decided they were sick of working in high end restaurants and opened up Spanish/Argentinian tapas restaurant Bodega, the sort of place they wanted to eat at. Seven years, and an additional two venues later (Porteno and Gardel’s Bar), Milgate and Abrahanowicz are loved by diners and critics alike. Here, they throw open the doors of their kitchens and share the dishes that have helped them land on must-try lists across Australia, all served up with a side of the rockabilly cool they’re known for.

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, December 2013/January 2014 27

Products and South East Asia, delivering a rich, sweet taste with a smooth aftertaste.

The Caffe premium blend can be used in a plunger, percolator or with an automatic coffee machine.

Available in 1kg packs for foodservice. ● www.arquilla.com

No slip ups Mat World has introduced Wet Star and Kitchenguard to their range of industrial mats for commercial kitchens.

Made of PVC, the moulded plastic mats have an extremely large area of open space ensuring quick and effective draining. Both mats stand on a series of 3mm high lugs so chefs aren’t working in the wet, as well as a slip-resistant surface to avoid injury.

The moulding has no tubes or crevices for insects to breed and is designed for easy cleaning.

Roles can be supplied to length as required. ● www.matworld.com.au

Cream of the crop B

ulla Dairy Foods has introduced new Vanilla and Chocolate creams to their dairy product range.

Bulla’s Vanilla and Chocolate creams will cater to a wide range of customers, with the ability to be incorporated into sweet treats and pastries or served alongside existing dessert favourites.

Chefs will love being able to customise their dessert menu with the rich and flavoursome creams. The creams can be used as standalone products or ingredients in desserts, saving chefs time and providing consumers with more choice. ● www.bullacommercial.com.au

consistent flavour in every bean, inside and out.

Undercooked or over roasted beans can leave a bitter or burnt taste, but these whole Arabica beans are roasted according to strict European standards ensuring consistent quality for customer enjoyment.

The Arabica bean blend is produced using the most prized beans from Central and South America, Africa

Roasted perfection Rosa Caffe Whole Arabica Beans are roasted using a high-tech hot air roasting system which ensures 28 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

Belgian brew Kollaras Trading Company has launched its Premium Belgian cider brand Stassen in Australia.

The Stassen family cider brewery was established in 1895 with a century old family recipe combining high quality varieties of apples, pears and other fruits that are grown on orchards in Belgium and France.

The unique real cider taste is created from the 100 per cent fermented fruit. The premium “over ice” range (330ml) will be available in four flavours including, sweet apple, delicate pear, juicy red fruits and zesty elderflower and lime, each

containing no preservatives or artificial colours. A Sparkling Fruit Cider range is also available in a 750ml bottle. ● www.stassen.be

Flavour infused skewers Bar-B Skew skewers are the new and natural way of marinating meat, poultry, seafood and vegetables from the inside out while you cook.

For barbeques, roasts and grills, the skewers contain no fat, salt or sugar making them the healthy alternative to marinades.

Available in a bulk pack of 200 skews for chefs, flavours include hot chilli, crushed garlic, Thai basil, Australian smoke, wild pepper and Spanish rosemary. They are suitable for sausages, steaks, mince, lamb and rolls of beef; even whole fish can be skewed and oven baked.

For best results, pierce the meat with the skewer about 1cm from the surface for a natural, crisp taste. ● www.sinclairimportexport.com

The hotter the better To keep things cool for busy restaurants and catered events in the summer months, Ozmist has introduced the PatioMist Cooling fan and Low Pressure Misting Fan. Effective for cafes, restaurants, stuffy warehouses and food packaging facilitates, the fans use “Flash Evaporation” technology which can drop the temperature up to 14°C without wetting floors and surfaces, or rusting of tools, equipment and materials.

The hotter the ambient temperature and the lower the relative humidity, the quicker the evaporation will take place, giving a greater temperature reduction. The fans can also be used inside buildings for “spot cooling”.

Both systems are designed to be easily installed, cost effective and require minimal maintenance. ● www.ozmist.com.au

Savoury speciality Edlyn Foods has recently released a new range of European-inspired premium antipasto products.

The Antipasti Specialties offer a selection of gourmet antipasto products including a range of sun and semi dried tomatoes, olives, char-grilled vegetables and delicious tapenades and pesto.

Edlyn sources the finest ingredients, ensuring all products result in maximum quality and consistency for the customer. The antipasto products last from two months to six months and are available in 2kg foodservice packs. ● www.edlyn.com.au

It’s a wrap Crown Commercial has released a range of top grade, commercial-quality cling wraps, foils and baking paper for the hospitality industry.

Each product in the Crown Commercial

by Multix range is designed to suit the hardworking, time-conscious environment of commercial kitchens and bars.

Cheese to please Organic Dairy Farmers have released a range of organic traditional Italian cheeses that reflect the unique characteristics of their hands-on artisan approach.

Produced on family owned organic farms in Victoria, the milk used to make the cheeses is produced without chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, while the cows graze on a diverse mix of grasses and herbs.

The traditionally made Italian organic parmesan has been matured for up to 12 months to increase the organic milk flavour.

The range also includes bocconcini and ricotta which come in 1kg and 2kg baskets.

The parmesan comes in a 6kg wheel or 1kg shredded. Organic Dairy Farmers also offer 10kg organic butter. ● www.organicdairyfarmers.com.au OH

The cling wrap (600m roll, 33cm or 45cm wide) is made from Polyethylene which will not transfer into food when the product is heated. The wrap also has an anti-fog layer for better transparency as well as greater strength and heat tolerance; it is oven safe to 120°C. The range also offers foil in All Purpose and Heavy Duty varieties, and silicon-finished baking paper (120m roll). ● www.crowncommercial.com.au

www.openhousemagazine.net Open House, December 2013/January 2014 29

CULINARY CLIPPINGS

Building for the future S

eason’s greetings to you all as 2013 draws to an end and let the celebrations begin. The silly season has different meanings for everyone – spiritual, cultural, family or just plain hard work. However you choose to spend the time I like to reflect on the success of the past year and to consider new plans for next year.

It has definitely been an excellent year for the Australian Culinary Federation (ACF) achieving success as an organisation, strengthening our office and management with strong growth in membership, in particular in New South Wales, exceptional results in culinary training focused on young chefs and a rejuvenated National squad in full flight competing successfully in both Korea (juniors) and Dubai last month.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Peter Wright Australian Culinary Federation (ACF)

So what are we in for in 2014? It will be the year for our members – our entire focus will be on driving new memberships in each state and territory and offering an increase in membership services and communications. We now have

Junior Team snags two medals at Seoul The Australian Junior Team has pulled off a remarkable feat snagging two medals at this year’s International Youth Culinary Challenge, held in Seoul in South Korea.

Nick Gillan, Chris Malone, Phil Grice, James Cole-Bowan, Jade Hugi-Fergusan and Cherise Davids won a Silver Medal in the Hot Kitchen and a Bronze Medal in the Cold Table categories.

the potential to employ dedicated resources to assist in achieving these goals in both membership and sponsorship development.

In addition, we will seek industry support and restructure our entire culinary team portfolio to make sure Australia as a whole has the opportunity to join in and be part of the great training and culinary development that comes from culinary competition.

On the agenda is the Fonterra Proud to be a Chef event which has a clear focus on apprentice chef education through creative masterclasses, mentoring and fine dining opportunities. The Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Awards 2014 will provide hundreds of young chefs the opportunity to challenge their culinary boundaries, with entry nominations commencing in early 2014 to select state and territory competitors.

To the ACF sponsors and supporters thank you once again, and a special thank you to all of the ACF committee, and presidents, and to the companies that sponsor all of our activities; Sydney Tan, Carolyn

To all of the ACF members, chefs, cooks and apprentices, friends and colleagues enjoy this time of year, try to take some time to have a meal with your family or best mates and more importantly stay safe.

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

Australia in top three in Dubai

The team from Hong Kong were crowned overall winners.

Team manager Patrick O’Brien said that it was a “big experience for them”.

“They got to meet lots of chefs from around the world and even had a long conversation with our WACS president,” he said. “To compete at this level and get a medal is outstanding.”

Plummer, Nick Dymond – Fonterra Food Services, Claire Tindale – Meat & Livestock Australia, Mark Clayton and team – Nestle Professional, Otto Meile – Moffat, Peter Crowe – Bidvest, Steven Popovic – Robot Coupe, Lee Alsten – Krio Krush, Kurt Von Buren – international judge, Minnie Constan and team – Fine Food Australia, Paul Moore – web master, Deb Foreman – office manager and our continental director Glenn Austin and his team. Finally a special thanks to my family, Gill and the kids, who always manage to put things into a good perspective.

The Australian National Culinary squad has placed third in the Dubai World Hospitality Championships.

Held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the team also scored first place in the Hot Kitchen category.

Call out for QLD dream team The Australian Culinary Federation Queensland (ACFQ) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Queensland Culinary State Squad. The Squad will include apprentices, chefs and pastry chefs.

On top of having previous competition experience, nominees will need to demonstrate the 30 Open House, December 2013/January 2014 www.openhousemagazine.net

The three-day competition saw the team complete a buffet for 54 guests consisting of four show centrepieces (sugar art, chocolate art, bread display and one open piece) an array of buffet appetisers, salads, cakes, gateaux and tortes. The team consisted of Australian Culinary Federation national president Peter Wright (manager) Shane Keighley (team captain). Australian Bocus Do’r representative Shannon Kellam, Che Tam Nguyen, Jenni Key, John Ralley and Neil Abrahams. ability to commit to a training program; be available for scheduled and random training sessions and be a current financial member of the ACFQ. To apply email bgent@bigpond.net. au and attach a letter expressing your interest, a resume and a photo of yourself in chef’s whites. Nominations will close on December 31, 2013.

Golden ticket to see the world As winners of this year’s Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Awards, Libby Green and Daniel Garwood are just back from their once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe, which included working at the Waterside Inn and lunch at the Fat Duck.

Open House caught up with them to hear about their experiences, their favourite moments and what’s next for these up-and-coming Australian chefs.

Libby Green (left) and Daniel Garwood in London.

What were the highlights from your time at The Waterside Inn? Garwood: My highlights were being able to work alongside Alain Roux, working one-on-one with the chocolatier and seeing all the amazing produce from the other side of the world.

Green: Meeting Alain Roux and his team, and working with new and exciting ingredients – trumpet mushrooms, foie gras, truffles, Northern Hemisphere seafoods and fish. Also seeing that a lot of supplies, like game, are brought in whole – feathers, guts and all! They do all their own butchery and fish filleting in-house.

What impressed you most about The Waterside Inn approach?

Garwood: I was impressed by the military precision of the way they work – they were all so disciplined – and the absolute respect they have for each other and the produce.

Green: Every single ingredient is the best of the best it can possibly be, the quality of produce was truly impressive.

Favourite food moments?

Garwood: Eating at the Fat Duck.

My favourite part was the Mad Hatters Tea Party. It was astounding.

Green: The Fat Duck was a highlight for its over-the-top craziness. I was wowed by the flavours and textures the entire 15 courses, that took us 3.5 hours to eat!

What was the biggest lesson you learnt?

Garwood: To love and respect the people that work for and with you.

Every day Alain Roux shook every chef’s hand and said good morning, just genuinely treating everyone like family.

Green: What it takes to work in a three-star Michelin establishment

Former Nestlé Golden Chefs’ Hat Competition winner Richard Ousby has just been picked to head up the kitchen at the new restaurant Bennelong

by Stokehouse, due to open at Sydney Opera House in May, 2014 following the Van Haandel Group’s winning tender. Ousby won the Nestlé Golden Chefs’ Hat back in 2005, along with fellow teammate Ben Devlin, who has also gone on to great things as part of the team behind three-hatted Brisbane restaurant Esquire.

– a lot of discipline, consistency, attention to detail. Doing everything the right way even if it’s the long way.

What did you take from the experience?

Garwood: That you have to keep pushing your way through the kitchen to get more involved, being as proactive as possible, not being even a little bit shy!

Green: Just keep learning and never stop practising knife skills.

Now back in Australia the two chefs are looking forward to getting on with their careers, with Green now heading to South Africa (visa pending) to work at the Tasting Room. OH

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

Alain Roux, Libby Green, Daniel Garwood and head chef Fabrice Uhryn at The Waterside Inn kitchen.

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

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

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Opinions expressed by the contributors in this magazineOpen are notHouse, the opinion of Open House www.openhousemagazine.net December 2013/January Letters to the editor are subject to editing.

2014 31

Made Perfect, the Italian way.

Perfect Italiano combines old world recipes and excellence in cheese-making to create authentic Parmesan that’s true to tradition.

Aged to perfection for at least 18 months, and with a crumbly texture and distinctive bold flavour, Perfect Italiano Parmesan adds zest

and character to pasta, pizza, soups and salads.

Available in a traditional block, shaved, shredded or grated, Perfect Italiano is the Parmesan you can rely on for the consistent quality and superior taste that every busy foodservice kitchen demands.