Chef Josh Dorset makes a raw avocado and citrus tarte

It's time to go native.

We are in a time where people are constantly looking for the next new angle or selling point for their restaurants and food. New niche markets are opening up so quickly and old trends are quickly becoming yesterdays news. So why in this ever changing Asuatralian restaurant scene, have we never really given native ingredients a go. Certainly a few restaurants have made it their speciality, but it is yet to become a real food trend or for the ingredients to even be utilised in regular cooking and recipes. Last week, we had native food expert and renowned chef Andrew Fielke lead a group of us around the Central Markets in Adelaide. He talked about native ingredients, sustainability and the diversity of uses that the ingredients have. One thing that became incresingly clear was that despite the ingredients that we were looking for being native, they were very hard to find and often expensive. Buzz words like organic and local adorn every label in sight but as for native... no where to be seen. Only two ingredients were readily commercially available, Kangaroo meat and Macadamias. In the search for native produce, two stalls stood out as having a reasonable range of native produce, here they are including some things that they had in stock: Something Wild crocodile meat Karkalla (a native coastal succulent) Saltbush Warrigal Greens Jaggers Native Pate's (emu, kangaroo, crocodile) native pepper berries lemon myrtle paperbark wattle seeds Quandong jam Rosella flowers Putting more native foods on our menus will slowly bring the prices down and will give our food an identity that is uniquely Australian.

Dinner and a show (Chef tour of the Limestone Coast)

As a chef, the kitchen can be a small place, a place that consumes all of our time and energy and sometimes, it also consumes our passion, creativity and motivation. Long, hot, busy days where your main contact with new and inspiring techniques and products is through food sales representatives who show you glossy brochures that give you a brief insight into the magical place that your produce comes from.

 Sometimes, we need to realise that those magical places aren't actually all that far away. You can go and visit them and speak to the producer or grower about the products that you use and new ways to use them. Rebuild the passion and creativity and be inspired by the amazing produce on our doorstep.

 With this in mind, The Hospitality Mentor Program gathered a group of 25 chefs and apprentice chefs from around South Australia, ripped them from their kitchens and took them out on the open road; Destination - The Limestone Coast.

 The Limestone Coast has a great reputation for amazing produce, from Coonawarra Wines, padthaway olive oils, limestone coast lamb, cheese, the largest fresh herb producer in Australia and one of Australias only full blood Wagyu Beef farms. This amazing regional food bowl was our destination and wow did it deliver!

 The morning of the trip was taken up with driving, we left the morning fog and traffic of the city behind us and broke into the rich green fields and tall trees of the agricultural region. Cows, sheep and endless rows of vines gave us a tantalising insight into the produce that we were about to see and taste. We arrived at our accomodation for the night, everyone freshened up and we embarked on the first visit in the tour, it was Wagyu time!

 Mayura Station is one of the only full blood Wagyu farms in Australia and it is located at Millicent, a small town about 30 minutes drive from Mount Gambier.
Wagyu beef has long been heralded as the king of beef, stories abound of the rock star lifestyles of these cattle, massages, beer drinking and comfortable beds are all indicators of the lengths that some farmers will go to to ensure they are producing some of the best beef on the planet. Wagyu steaks can cost upwards of $200 per kg on the wholesale market.
 Experts from the station explained to the chefs and apprentices how the cattle was bred, fed and raised. 500
days of grain feeding and rigorous quality checks and scrutiny of procedures, ensure that the wagyu produced at Mayura is amongst the finest beef in the world.

 Next was a real treat, Mayura Station not only produces some amazing beef, they also have a restaurant and chef on the actual farm. Meat and Livestock Australia had organised for our chefs and apprentices to partake in one of their famous Rare - Medium paddock to plate dinners at Mayura's restaurant to see the link from the paddock to the
 First the chef Mark Wright from Mayura demonstrated how to seam a full Wagyu D-rump out and segment all of the muscles. The participants then were all seated and dinner unfolded.

  First Course:Mayura Wagyu Carpaccio with ash salt, shaved reggiano and a nettle, wild rocket and nasturtium salad.

The Wagyu carpaccio was tender and flavoursome, the heavy marbling gave the meat a texture of butter and the depth of flavour was mindblowing. The nettle and rocket salad added a great spice to the carpaccio and the reggiano and ash salt rounded out the flavours with a sharp and salty kick. This was accompanied with a Serafino, Goose Island Rose. It perfectly accentuated the dish and kept the palate light and fresh.

  Second Course: Hay Smoked, Milk Fed Suffolk Lamb Rillette on a parsnip puree with burnt

leek, herb oil and borage flowers.
Chef Mark Wright had taken the Milk Fed Lamb Shoulders (supplied by Feast fine foods) out into the paddock and smoked them over some fresh hay, then braised them and shredded them to form a tightly packed rillette. He then crumbed them with a light panko crumb and shallow fried them in clarified butter. The result was a slightly smoky and sweet lamb rillette that nourished the soul in the way that only french inspired food can. The parsnip puree imparted an earthy base to the dish that married well with the lamb. 2010 Katnook Estate Merlot was paired with the dish and its complex pepper and oaky hues served to further highlight and confirm the amazing reputation of the region.


 Third Course: Mayura Wagyu Rost Biff on pumpkin puree with Bernaise Sauce and a medley of local winter vegetables.

The rost biff is an individual muscle within the rump. The chef had formed it and rolled it tightly so that it fomed tight medallions. A rich bernaise covered the top of the steak and paired with the sweetness of the pumpkin and the winter root vegetables, the dish was near faultless. It keenly highlighted how underutilised this portion of the rump is. The simplicity yet perfect execution of the final dish was a true testament of the skill that Mayura's chef has, he did not feel the need to over complicate it and let the products send the final message.. Wagyu is king!



 The night was finished off with more amazing wines from Serafino and Katnook Estate and Cheeses from The Limestone Coast Cheese Company and Alexandrina Cheese.

 Heads full of ideas and hearts filled with inspiration, the chefs went back to their kitchens. Memories from the night before conjuring dreams of new dishes and recipes to try and the amazing produce to go into their next menus.

Winter Menus; Comfort food and the newest secondary cuts

Winter is fast approaching and the menus (if not already) are about to change. Gather your bay leaves and mirepoix, give your brasing dishes a dust off and order in your hard herbs. But the question remains, what will be the next "rebirth" in secondary cuts to be used. Shanks, Oxtail, beef cheeks and now pulled pork shoulder have all had their time in the sun but what will be next? Maybe we will move towards the roasted pork knee of the Czech Republic or the hunter style braised rabbit from Europe, or maybe we will continue on the Americana theme and push brisket and thick smoky sauces ? Several restaurants around Adelaide are focussing much more on Offal and off cuts, for examples have a look at the menu at the Daniel O'Connell or see the pig's head terrine at Elbow Room. The meats are the driving force behind winter menus and I can't wait to see what is brought into the spotlight next and what will be the winning vegetables that will accompany it! In the past years Celeriac, parsnips, beetroot and heirloom vegetables have all featured heavily on winter menus. Kale, cavalo nero and brussel sprouts have been trying to push their way in and I wonder if this will be their year. I am a great fan of broccoli rabe and would love to see it more widely used. What are your favourite winter ingredients and what are your predictions for this years big winter breakthroughs!

To all pastry Kings, Queens & sweet tooths!!

To all pastry Kings, Queens & sweet tooths!! Check out the latest fad, which may go the distance! Who is sick of the pre- made Pavlova, Ice cream sundae or sticky date pudding options on the menu in every location you go? Chefs are time poor and don’t have the patience these days to perfect recipes. If you have a sweet tooth you must be in Heaven in SA right now with a huge array of sweet s and dessert cafes opening up. Now the selection is broader, from house made pastries, marshmallow covered sorbet sticks, bombe Alaska and frangipane tart you can really blow your mind with more traditional desserts done well. Talented patisserie Kings and Queens now specialising in almost every apprentice’s dream- to do desserts! It takes time, patience and skill to create master pieces of the patisserie food world. Key techniques are learnt over many years to perfect these hundred year old recipes with the skills to make these amazing treats. It is Vital these skills be passed on to the future workers of the industry. It is amazing to see, let this be said- everyplace needs an apprentice!! do us a favour please! pass on these amazing skills to the next-gen! South Australia has really taken off with many dessert only venues popping up. Devour Dessert Bar on Prospect Rd, Chocolateria San Churro on Rundle St, Astonish Patisserie on King William Rd, Eggless on Goodwood Rd, Dolce & Co Gilbert St, Dough Central Markets & Onyx Dessert Lounge in O’Connell St just to name a few. Let us not forget the Regional Fav’s that I have been to on my travels- hidden gems and highly acclaimed Patisserie Van Leuven Cullinare in Naracoorte, and the Metro Bakery & Café in Mount Gambier. Both selling exceptional handcrafted cakes/pastries to their lucky locals & travellers from a far. You can of course be inspired to attempt these delicious treats yourselves with a little help from some great SA producers and specialist equipment. Carême Pastry is a family run business located in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. They specialise in making a range of handcrafted, high quality, ready-to-use pastry dough. It is an amazing product, with many different uses, flavours and really does take the stress out of making your own home baked sweets. Using the finest local ingredients and seasonal produce will enhance your chances of creating exceptional dishes and let all of these places be your inspiration to become a pastry King or Queen!!

To market, to market, jiggity jig.

Markets, where else can you go and get such inspiration and instant information about the current produce and trends. The wealth of interesting fruits and vegetables from all corners of the world are sure to have you salivating over all the food possibilities. A place where you can get bok choy, olives and moroccan spices all in one place. Most kitchens that I have worked in have some kind of fruit and vegetable seasonal availability poster, but is there really a better way to find out what is available than getting out there and seeing it for yourself?

Why not grab a few kitchen staff and head down to your local markets. See, touch and smell the produce, look at the prices and talk about new and interesting products. By having a greater interest in these sort of things you can get greater job satisfaction, better creativity and a broader knowledge. So get out there!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of TV Cooking Shows

Like so many others at the moment, I have eagerly been tuning in to watch the new Masterchef  Professionals series. As I sit and watch, bemusing the skill and flaws of the contestants and commenting on how I would do things differently, I often wonder if we are taking the magic out of food. Is the over analysis of our dining experience ruining the simple pleasures that we can take from food? To make a simplistic comparison, magicians are wonderful to watch, but once you realise how they have done their tricks you can no longer truly enjoy them.

So exactly what are these shows doing to our industry? I'm sure that we have all discussed the exposure that the shows are giving to dining  and possibly the influx of new staff who now decide that cooking is their life long ambition. Now more than ever we also have to deal with the "informed diner" many of whom want to know exactly what cooking processes are involved in their dish and exactly where the products were sourced from. But knowledge is power and comes with responsibility and so many people who watch these shows and are starting to immerse themselves in the gourmet consumer world  are critiquing and disecting our dishes and dining experience without fully understanding all the intricacies of running a successful kitchen.

Often they lack the understanding that the foods that they are buying have to be costed and have to be financially and laboriously viable to be able to put them on the menu. If they want food with such flair and locally sourced, organic, free range ingredients and impressive plating, the cost has to match that and the restaurant also has to have sufficient customers to continue producing that food. Too often we hear people bemoan the fact that there are no decent restaurants or places to eat around, but then we see great eateries go under or change their niche due to lack of customers.

I feel that this all links back to the one central issue, the media are doing a great job of glorifing our industry and what we do but they fail to look at the viability side of it. The food we are shown is often self indulgent and not subjected to the constraints of time, customers, ingredient costs and staff ability. This is understandable because after all, who wants to sit and watch a chef cost out his sous vide of scotch with truffled celeriac puree and lobster roulade. Surely the media also has an obligation to acknowledge all the behind the scenes work that goes into making a successful eaterie and not just promote the idea that if you do good food you will be successful.

 We also have to acknowledge the great things that these shows have done for the industry. Without these shows, so many of us wouldn't have access to some great ingredients or be able to put some of the more interesting dishes on our menus. These shows drive innovation and normalise untraditional ingredients, methods and food, which allows us to diversify and experiment more on our menus. Suppliers are beginning to stock more exotic ingredients at more competitive prices and we get the benefit. 

The final gift that these shows give is a gift for our ego, we have truly been turned into the rockstars of the worker world, and rightly so! We work hard, give up so much and put all our emotions and personal lives aside to give the customer a memorable experience. We don't get to say that we save lives or keep the community safe or that we are nurturing the education of the next generation, but a piece of ourselves goes out on each of those plates, a piece of our pride and our self worth. We give these things willingly and it is nice to be acknowledged for that.  

The Rise and Rise of Street Food (Holy Truck and Taco batman)

Food trends are funny things, they grow and evolve at a staggering rate, throwing kitchens and menus around the country into a frenzy to try and keep up with the new emerging trend. These trends usually start in the upper echelon of world or Australian dining culture, white tablecloths, haught prices and a feel of exclusivity. Whether it is the rebirth of French cuisine and cookery, the fusion of Asian and European cuisine into modern Australian cuisine, the snout to tail revolution or the birth of molecular gastronomy, these trends appear and then slowly filter down from the top through to the restaurants and hotels and finally into the café’s, pubs and catering companies.

3 years ago this evolutionary path of food was turned on its head with the rise of Street Food, it has risen from the bottom and now effects the trends of the nations finest and most cutting edge establishments. It is a cuisine forged from pure necessity, born in the ramshackle carts of South America and the market kitchens of Asia. Gritty, smoky, cheap dining that promises so little and delivers so much.

Adelaide is embracing this trend more and more each day. The imposing line up of office workers and locals infront of the Burger Theory Truck or La Cantina every lunch time is a true testament to the food that they prepare. Restaurants can boast all they want of modern decor and funky art work, but can they truly compete with scoffing a blue cheese, pancetta and Angus beef burger while sitting on the grass in the sun? But as we watch the pubs and restaurants begin to embrace this style of food, we have to wonder, is the point of street food lost when we sit in a leather dining chair surrounded by Italian designer lighting. In these establishments, street food is being chained to all the constraints of other restaurant cuisine that should have never be applied to such a free spirited genre. The soul and theatricality of the food is being lost while it is put in the wrong environment

Finally, I could not write this without failing to mention one of my favourites, Lucky Lupitas. They are one of the restaurants promoting street food in Adelaide who is getting it all so right. From the mismatched glasses and crockery to the rickety tables and casual staff in jeans and non matching T-shirts, everything is perfect. There is no overstated pomp or intricate plating and you won't walk out with an empty bank account, it is a constant buzz of chatter and laughter and the smells that waft from the open kitchen send a promising hint of what is to come. Smoked corn cobs that are chargrilled, spread with chipotle mayonnaise and sprinkled with parmesan, this is what I dream of and Lucky Lupitas delivers. They harness exactly what makes street food great, they embrace the noise, the smoke and the grit and with that acceptance comes the soul of street food. They pay homage to the roots of their  food and remain a shining example of the unstructured love, chaos and passion that is at the very heart of this cuisine.

Food Identity, Food Tourism and the Importance of Utilising Local Produce

Supporting and using local produce in the kitchen has always been a niche market, but as the industry and our customers become increasingly savvy and better informed, it is becoming a concept that should be embraced throughout all kitchens in SA. I thought it might be interesting to have a look at some of the aspects and impacts that using local and artisan/ boutique ingredients and produce can have compared to buying imported and mass produced items.

 Firstly  I think we have to address the obvious, it often just isn’t cost viable or diverse enough to run a kitchen on entirely local produce. There are always going to be products that the local market are just unable to produce, keep up with demand on or have the attributes that a chef might be looking for.

In a perfect world we would all be buying only local produce but the demands of a modern kitchen dictate that this is usually not possible. Constraints like budgeting, deliveries and initial sourcing / exposure to the products are all major barriers to using local produce. However using local produce also has many amazing benefits. These benefits are why we should all strive to incorporate more local, boutique and artisan produce on our menus and in our dishes. So let us discuss those benefits.

Food Identity. South Australia is a great food (and beverage) producer and over the last 20 years an astronomical amount of time and money has been spent on promoting the Food Identity of the State. From the lamb and Wagyu on the Limestone Coast to the Wines of McLaren Vale and Barossa, Cheeses from the Adelaide Hills, seafood and grains on the Eyre Peninsula, beer in the Metropolitan, the list is ever growing. All of these regions have been heavily promoted to the rest of Australia and the world. This creates an international image of the state as having a strong food identity, it highlights our region as a great place to indulge and experience a wide range of culinary delights. A tourism market has been forged for the state that revolves around amazing produce and passionate driven food producers so we as the chefs, business owners and apprentices need to harness and embrace that marketing that has already been done for us. By utilising and further promoting local produce we add to this food identity, we endorse it and we claim it as our own.

By using local, artisan or boutique products you are tapping into this food tourism market, you are justifying slightly higher charges on your menu by promoting your use of a high quality localised ingredient. The support and relationships that can be gained from buying from these small producers go a long way to ensure that you have more unique menu items and a greater understanding of how those produces are made. Buying local also has a great effect on sustainability of produce and food miles / carbon footprints of our foods. All these things are becoming ever important to the modern customer.

By supporting South Australian produce you also ensure that SA will continue to have a strong food identity into the future and that we continue to attract a growing number of food tourists to the state. Talk to your local producers, see how they make their products and discuss ways that you maybe able to cross promote each other and forge strong partnerships. Supporting and utilising these products is investing back into our industry and State which is in turn supporting your business.

For these reasons and so many others that I haven’t even mentioned it is imperative that we incorporate an increasing amount of localised produce and products into our menus and businesses in the future.