The tomatillo is related to the Cape Gooseberry. The firm, pale green flesh is surrounded by a paper-like husk. As the fruit matures, the husk will go from ‘sticky tape’ to ‘papery’, drying out and usually splitting open. A staple of Mexican cuisine, the fruit has a tart, melon flavour when young and bright green, but as it matures to a more yellowish colour it takes on a profound sweetness and lemon-balm flavour which adds amazing zip to sauces and salads. Have fun using it for the different flavours as it matures.

The tomatillo is used widely in South America and Mexico. Australians, who are not usually connoisseurs of the cuisines, don’t know this fruit very well and it’s not widely available. But, you can grow your own, it’s easy and a delightful treat. They store well out of the husk in sealed plastic bags for a few weeks and you can even slice and freeze them. If it’s not available fresh, you can buy it tinned; the flavour is a little different than fresh, but it still gives you that wonderful mixture of tart and sweet and makes your taste buds want for more.

Once you learn to use this wonderful fruit, it brings a whole new dimension to your culinary repertoire. Check out my tomatillo chipotle salsa recipe and your fish tacos or barbecued chicken will never be the same again. This salsa provides a counterpoint to bland and rich foods with its sweet & sour, astringent, green-plum flavour. It is delicious on a piece of mild cheese, chicken breast or barbecued meat.

Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa

Ingredients

8 tomatillos, husked, chopped

1 jalapeno chilli, with seeds, chopped

1 tsp chipotle chilli puree

1 small handful coriander leaves

¼ cup water

½ small white onion, diced

¼ tsp sea salt

Method

1. Put the tomatillos, chillies, coriander, and water in a blender and blend until very smooth.  Pour into a medium-sized non-reactive bowl, and stir in the onion and salt.  Use the same day as made.

Makes about 2 cups

Tequila Cured Salmon

Tequila Cured Salmon

Ingredients

1 side salmon fillet, skin on (about 2 kg)

150 gm hot mustard

3 tbsp chipotle chilli puree

½ cup chopped coriander

½ cup dill seed

3 tbsp cumin seed

5 limes, zested

1½ cups rock salt

2½ cups brown sugar

1 cup tequila

1 bunch coriander (whole stalks)

¼ bunch dill, for garnish

Method

1. Lay cling film sufficient to wrap the salmon onto a baking sheet. The baking sheet needs to have at least 10mm depth as liquid will accumulate. Place the salmon on top of the cling film, skin down.
2. In a mixing bowl, blend the mustard and chipotle chilli puree. Spread evenly over the salmon.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the chopped coriander, dill seed, cumin seed, and zest. Sprinkle evenly over the salmon, pressing into the mustard/chipotle mix.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the salt, brown sugar and tequila. Cover the salmon with the mixture, pressing lightly.
5. Lay the whole stalks of coriander on top of the salmon.
6. Wrap the cling film around the salmon to keep the curing marinade close to the flesh. The tighter the better; keeping air out and mix in.
7. Place another flat tray or board on top of the salmon and add about 2kg of weight to help open the flesh and press the curing marinade into the salmon. Refrigerate for about 18 hours.
8. Remove from the fridge, unwrap and scrape off the curing ingredients. The fish should have a raw, translucent appearance and a soft texture. If the colour is pale pink, the curing has gone on for too long and the fish is “cooked”. This is unfortunate, but the fish will still be delicious.
9. Slice the salmon across the grain paper-thin, garnish with sprigs of dill and serve.

Note:   After slicing, you can mist the salmon with a light spray of tequila for more flavour. Serve with dill mustard sauce or horseradish cream, with blue corn chips, croutons, or your favourite crunchy bread.

Serves 10-12 as entrée or stand up canapé

For the past few months I have been part of the team at Clover Food Truck located on MIT’s campus.

Clover Food Truck

Clover is bringing a new type of “fast food” to Boston. The “fast food” is made from locally sourced ingredients, is completely vegetarian, and when possible, organic!

Working on the food truck has allowed me to learn about the Food Truck movement in the American northeast. Consumers are educating themselves on how important food is, regarding are health. Americans are demanding healthier and fresher foods more and more. Our food truck seeks to meet this growing demand by preparing and cooking vegetarian food right before your eyes!

Potatoes are cut and fried per order and sandwiches are prepared fresh. Sandwiches are creative vegetarian and vegan plays on BLT’s, BBQ, and other classics. All utensils and cups are compostable and the restaurant composts on-site.

It has been great to be part of the growing Food Truck Craze in Boston, and it is great to continue working to provide fresh food while cleaning and ‘greening’ our planet!

Morena is owned by chef Alejandro Saravia and his business partner Sumedh Kataria, an architect, who did the interior design.  It is a dream come true for Alejandro, who hails from Peru, which is known for some of the most sophisticated restaurants in the world.

Arriving at Morena, in the St. Margaret’s complex in Surry Hills, make sure you notice the entrance with its lovely herb garden in the front window. This lets you know someone is paying close attention to where the food is coming from. The dining room is small and minimal in its look but has a casual warmth about it. The coloured classic fabric for the banquettes has been chosen to add a bit of splash to the room and give you a sophisticated South American flair.

Service was casual but prompt and efficient on the night we dined here. The music was perfect for the setting; I dreamed I was back in Brazil a few times, hearing familiar female Brazilian singers inviting me to visit another life. It created a bit of sway in the room without overstepping the food, which was the star.

Pisco sours were first to hit the table. They are not to be missed, with their frothy egg white topping and perfect sweet and sour balance. Pisco is a colourless or yellowish-to-amber coloured grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Chile and Peru. I could have drunk more of these, but was holding out for a South American red.

The meal started with Peruvian ceviche with pink snapper, cancha (toasted corn) and caramelised sweet potato. The tender freshness of the snapper with the crunch of the cancha gave this dish an elegant flavour and texture. (I love ceviche. It is perfect for the Australian summer, made from fresh seafood  combined with various ingredients and marinated in lime or other citrus juices thus ‘cooking’ in their own juices. I make one in my Modern Mexican cooking class using mango, tomato, red onion and lime to set it off.)

We also tried the causas three ways. Causas are chilled potato, with wonderful toppings, like octopus. The creaminess of the potatoes against the crunchy toppings made this one of my favourites. (At Rattlesnake Grill, we used blue conga potatoes in a variation of this dish, highlighting the nearly endless variety of potatoes on offer in South America.)

For our mains we couldn’t go past the Escabeche de pato, duck breast marinated in annatto seeds and aji mirasol chillies. Escabeche is another acidic marinade (using, for example vinegar), which gives the meat an intense flavour. This method is used in a variety of cuisines, especially in South America. Asado con chimichurri played well on the tenderness of charcoal cooked short ribs against the punch of the chimichurri (parsley and garlic marinade), ensuring a great combination of high and deep flavours. Morena’s addition of a beet salad and smoked salt flakes rounded out this lovely dish. Finally the Seco de alpaca backstrap hit the table, served with a traditional coriander and beer sauce, celeriac puree and Peruvian style carapulcra (a Peruvian Andean dish of stewed dried potatoes). I am familiar with llama from my travels in Argentina; I found alpaca richer / fattier and a bit more flavourful.

We didn’t have much room for dessert but still couldn’t go past the Tres leches, which seems to jump out from everywhere when travelling in South America. It’s a traditional sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk, served here with roasted pineapple ice cream. It’s moreish and brings the journey of South American flavours to a pleasant close.

Morena also serves piquedos (share plates) in its outside area, which might include some of your favourites like duck empanadas, cassava and manchego croquettes, baby sardines and 30-day cured Peruvian jamon. Whether for a light snack, with a Pisco sour of course, or a dinner, with excellent local ingredients, you can have a choice of different experiences.

What I love about Morena is it’s chef-owned, passionate, experimental, conscious of what a restaurant should be, trying to bring something new to the Australian palate, and doing an admirable job of it, without the shtick!

Morena

15/425 Bourke St.

Surry Hills, Australia 2010

e: bookings@morena.com.au

p: +61405 902 896

Argentine chimichurri sauce on flank steak

There are generally two types of chimichurri, one uses dried herbs while the other uses fresh; both use oil as the medium. Serve this as a condiment for barbecued meats for a great flavour lift, or use as a marinade for chicken or meat. This ‘fresh herb’ version was inspired by Francis Mallman, who is considered one of the best chefs in Argentina and an international ambassador for Argentine cooking. Chimichurri can be made in a blender instead of whisking by hand for a smoother consistency. Play with the textures – try it in a variety of consistencies for look and flavour. For best results, especially with dry herbs, prepare one day in advance so the flavours blend.

Argentine chimichurri sauce - by hand

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 tbsp coarse salt

8 cloves garlic, peeled, minced finely

1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped finely

1 cup fresh oregano leaves, chopped finely

2 tsp dried red chilli, crushed

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Method

1. Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.
2. Add the salt. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat to cool.
3. In a medium bowl, put the garlic, parsley, oregano and chillies.
4. Whisk in the red wine vinegar, then the olive oil, then the salt water.
5. Transfer to a jar with a tight fitting lid. Store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Makes 2 cups

Argentine Chimichurri Sauce - blended

Sitting in a 6 month old restaurant last week in trendy Surry Hills (Sydney), I had to wonder “does service really matter”? Does no one else see what I see, or do they just care less? The restaurant was very cute and stylish, the food more-ish and abundant, but the service just “non existent”. The ‘off in the ozone’ attitude of the non-smiling service staff completely captivated my attention during the meal. All I could think was “how do they stay in business”?

It took 45 minutes for the mains to come after we were done our entrees. We had to ask to have the entrée plates and cutlery cleared after sitting with empty plates for 15 minutes. They eventually cleared these, but by the time the mains came there was still no cutlery or plates to eat with (we were sharing everything – which is the style of the restaurant). I literally had to get up from my table and go to the open kitchen window and tell the chef that the food looked lovely and smelled good but without cutlery and plates it was going to be hard to eat it.

The service staff didn’t seem phased at all. Then I started thinking maybe Sydneysiders have just gotten so used to bad service that they just don’t care anymore. This seems to be the norm. I cringed, as after owning 7 restaurants all I could think was it’s called ‘hospitality’ for a reason. Aren’t the service staff there to be hospitable, to serve you and interact with you telling you about their great food and lovely wines, bringing some joy into your life after a busy day. Increasingly it seems the answer is “no”. Certainly in this particular instance they couldn’t have cared less.

So my question is: do you care about service or is it just something that is old school? This restaurant, like many other trendy hot spots was as busy as they could be – they had 2 people working the door! But, why do we keep going? As long as you eventually get the meal and it’s good, are you happy? For me, service either makes or breaks my night out. The food can be amazing, but with no service then it’s just another night of the same old thing – forking out hard earned dollars (in this case $85 per person) for mediocrity.

What do you think? Should I just give up caring?

Neil Perry

The day started out with Neil Perry from Rockpool Bar & Grill (among others) speaking about ageing steaks and how his meat spends about 60-80 days ageing before it is served at his restaurants. On each day across of all his restaurants, he has over $180,000 worth of meat at various stages of the process. Pretty amazing huh? What I liked about his talk was his passion to use farmers in Tasmania to farm the cattle that he uses. Obviously the man has some pull, but he has done his homework. The cattle from Cape Grim feed on some of the best pasture in the world and breathe the freshest air in the world at the same time. This meat has got to be good!

Perry spoke of the complexity of the aging process, and how it adds so much flavour to the meat. He has worked hard on creating the right temperatures in his aging rooms and controlling the humidity so that the ageing progresses slowly, perfectly. He loves to cook it over an open wood fire, which he has at his restaurants. As he says, “fire creates the best flavours”. The beef we get at the local supermarkets and some butchers is not aged very long for commercial reasons, so we don’t get a very flavoursome piece of meat usually. The process of aging them in cryo-vac is really not ageing, but preserving, and usually produces an inferior piece of meat. Perry’s philosophy for the average person who wants good meat: talk with your butchers, find out if they age their meat, how long and where it comes from. Try to find butchers who buy from farmers who use sustainable farming practices and care for their meat to produce the best quality possible. Perry’s final word about supermarkets was “just go there to buy your toilet paper”. As I work closely with sustainable and local producers,  I am now looking forward to my next “Meat Me in the Kitchen” cooking class in Sydney to show everyone what I am writing about.

Francis Mallmann

Next up was Argentinean Chef Francis Mallmann, who is the “father of fire” in Argentina. I can claim some credit for getting  Mallmann to Australia, as  I recommended to Crave Festival Director JoAnna Saville that she try to get Mallmann for this event as I am familiar with him from our annual food tour to Argentina and Brazil. So I was particularly excited; there he was right in front of me explaining why “fire” is the essence of cooking great meats and other food. Mallmann is delightful, full of amazing knowledge. He loves what he does. His restaurants in Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Patagonia are wonderful creations, and showcase what is on offer from the Pampas of Argentina. As with Perry, Mallmann says the story behind great meat is cooking it slow and using only the best meat you can find.

Chef Mallmann has a pretty direct approach towards food – he is not one for foams or molecular gastronomy. He just says “shut up and eat”. He sees the everyday truth of cooking – open the fridge, see what is there, spend the next 15 minutes cooking, then eat. As he knows not everyone can spend hours in the kitchen, he reminds us to balance our meals so that when you have more time you spend more time in the kitchen creating; other days you “just eat”,  but always eat good things. Mallmann says cooking is a silent language about respect. If you don’t respect the ingredients you won’t cook well. He added that you often have to cook something hundreds of times before you can understand the dish; you can’t learn this in a book – you have to do it.

I liked Mallmann a lot. His mix of tenderness and brutality as he puts it sets the stage for his new cookbook, “Seven Fires”, grilling the Argentine way. To exemplify this style, he created on stage an amazing whole Andean pumpkin salad with mint, rocket and goats’ cheese, a whole boneless rib eye with chimichurri, the most wonderful crunchy and soft “potato dominoes”, and burnt oranges with rosemary. All wonderful, easy and delicious! Get the book!

Next up was Diana Kennedy from Mexico. Well if any of you know anything about Mexican cooking you have to know who this woman is. She is the guru of Mexican cooking. She has written many books, having taking her little old car across the back roads of Mexico searching the kitchens of the mothers for their favourite recipes. Despite high cholesterol, she loves lard in her beans (frijoles) and everything else besides – the fat is where the flavour is. I was entranced as she described the hundreds of varieties of tortillas that are made in Mexico. As Mexico is vast, there is much regional variation. It’s a smorgasbord of hundreds of varieties of chillies and fresh herbs and greens. Kennedy spoke of one of her favourites in Oaxaca, called chupilines (fried grasshoppers). I wrote an article about Mexican cooking for Gourmet Traveller years ago when Australians seemed to think Mexican food was “the same 7 ingredients, rolled differently”. Now it seems finally Australia is waking up to the fact that Mexican food is a lot more. Hopefully our appreciation of real Mexican cooking will continue to grow as Australians demand better and chefs travel more.  I must go back! In the meantime, I’m looking forward to our next Modern Mexican cooking class in Sydney.

Peruvian Chef Gaston Acurio

The next chef who came in the room got a standing ovation. Little wonder – Gaston Acurio has done more for Peruvian food than any other chef in the world, and the room was filled with Peruvians. Even the Peruvian Ambassador and his entourage let out a gasp when Acurio came on.  Some of my Peruvian friends at the table said Acurio could be the next president of Peru if he wanted, that is how much he is loved. Acurio has Peruvian restaurants all over the world, so he is by far the number one ambassador for Peruvian food internationally. His dream is to seat Peru at the international culinary table. He is surely making it happen. His food is delicious, fresh and full of flavour. The balance in his ceviches was wonderful; he makes his “tiger milk” of lime juice, fish stock, fish trimmings, celery, red onions, cilantro and rocoto chilli puree to layer over his “ceviche amore”. The audience was salivating. Lucky me got to go up on stage and taste the first spoonful. It helps being in the front row!

Ceviche Amore

But he is very much about bringing the farmer into the limelight. He is about making sure farmers are being paid well for their crops and he works closely with them to bring new ingredients for chefs, as well as giving them the respect that they deserve. His new project in Lima will create an outdoor garden for all to use, an outdoor market, a beautiful restaurant and bar and a cooking school where Peruvians can come to learn for free. Yes, he is that dedicated!

The day continued with talks from San Paulo chef Alex Atala from D.O.M., and Peruvian Chef Ricardo Zarate from Mo-Chica and Picca restaurants in Los Angeles. They were both so joyous, with no attitude, just giving and sincere about their love for native ingredients and sharing them with the world. Alex Atala spoke about his search in the Amazon for special native ingredients he incorporates in his San Pellegrino 7th ranked Worlds Best restaurant D.O.M. I got a chance to speak with him about tapioca, cassava and how he uses these ingredients to create sensational dishes such as Brioche-crumbed oysters with marinated tapioca. Atala is bringing Brazilian food to the forefront. He is one to be watched for a long time. Chef Ricardo Zarate smiled so brightly and was obviously thrilled to be in Sydney. His joy is bringing Peruvian food to the world, and he has been able to start this in Los Angeles. His alpaca tiradito, dressed with amarillo chilli parmesan and truffle powder will surely keep many interested.

Classic chocolate mousse in a bitter chocolate case

The day is almost over when out walks TV star Willie Harcourt-Cooze from London to talk about chocolate. Willie became famous for his fly-on-the-wall documentary, “Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory” and has never looked back. From near bankruptcy he stuck to his guns and has created amazing chocolate the world now loves. His dream is coming true. He took us on the journey of the cacao bean, and showed off with a cacao and olive bread and a spectacular classic chocolate mousse in a bitter chocolate case. Thank the universe for people like Willie Harcourt- Cooze for bringing chocolate into our lives. His 100% Supreme Cacao is amazing. Here at VictorsFood we do our bit! We have a new hands-on corporate cookery team building event “Hot Chocolate” which we deliver to the corporate world to engage them, to give them a treat and to let their imaginations create.

How lucky am I to have such a wonderful day in the world of food! It feeds my passion to bring more to you that creates excitement for food and the adventure it can take us on in our minds and through our tummies.

Moqueca

This year we have many South American chefs coming for Crave, the Sydney International Food Festival World Chef Showcase in October. The lovely Joanna Savill is escorting food lovers on a tour to Peru. And my dear friend Alejandro Saraveja is opening his long-awaited restaurant, MORENA, featuring his wonderful take on Peruvian cuisine. So finally chefs from South America are being recognised here for their knowledge, innovation and food, and I am dreaming of my next trip to South America.

Rio de Janiero Harbour

Each year I take a small group on a tour of Brazil and Argentina which is a 15 days and 14 nights of  play, culture and amazing food. While dining in Buenos Aires (BA), it may look as if you’re in Paris, but the food is another world. When you look over the mountains from Santa Teresa in Rio de Janeiro, your heart misses a beat from the sheer beauty.

Feijoada

From the sway of the samba in Rio to the drumming girl bands of Salvador, Bahia, the essence of Brazil is brought to you in one big riot of colour and one big feast of food you have never seen before.  So many times in Northern Brazil I feel as if I could easily be in New Orleans with the rich flavours of bobo and moqueca.  The spirit of the Africans brought over as slaves dominates many Brazilian dishes, at the same time it is enhanced by the new world ingredients that it combines with to create exciting new bold flavours.   Rio and Salvador, Bahia are the highlights of our Brazilian part of our tour and then we are off to Argentina.

Asado - Argentine Barbecue

Buenos Aires has the architecture of Paris so it is extremely beautiful.  The young new chefs there are creating new dishes, so the culinary scene is changing rapidly.  They also have “underground” restaurants you can book into (if you know how to find them). These provide a unique dining experience to indulge in.  From learning the true art of making empanadas to sipping high tea at the lovely Alvear Palace, we go from old world to trendy, new world and on.

Cafayete, Argentina, Winery

The rest of the Argentina trip takes in the north where the Andes loom over the open desert of patchwork cactus fields.  The cuisine shows more native Indian influences, and dishes like llama are standard on most menus.  The “motorcycle diaries” tour down Ruta 40 to the wine region of Cafayate is a dream-like day of sheer unimaginable beauty with a fantastic asado (Argentinean BBQ) along the way.

Yes I am dreaming of South America, and looking forward to my next trip there. I hope you’ll join us!

The restaurant interior is simple, modern, and elegant. Brent Savage and sommelier Nick Hildebrandt make a great team; the food and the wine pair beautifully together.To begin we ordered the Kingfish ceviche, the duck liver foie gras parfait, and the pork belly.

The kingfish ceviche was disappointing. It was very difficult to find any fish amongst all the ribbons of pickled daikon and the yuzu mayonnaise. The acidity of the pickled daikon cleverly mimicked that of a traditional ceviche, but it surprisingly had very small and few pieces of the kingfish.

The duck liver foie gras parfait came served as a log served over a bed of puffed rice and topped with pickled raisins. It was puzzling as to how they build such a precise log!

Next, we shared the pork belly with wattle, garlic milk and rhubarb.

The pork belly was tender and topped with fried brocollini florets. It was served with black fungi, wattle, a sheet of gelatinised garlic milk and rhubarb. The rhubarb was a great contrast to the fattiness of the pork belly, great combination.

As for our entrees: we ordered the duck breast, poached kingfish, and the fillet of Black Angus beef.

The slow roast duck breast was served with cuttlefish and mushroom ‘soil’. The duck was perfectly cooked and the flavours and ingredients on the dish were great. The mushroom ‘soil’, as our waiter called it, was incredible. It was very earthy, a distinct earthiness from your typical mushrooms, and had a great umami flavour that brought together the cuttlefish and duck beautifully.

The poached kingfish was served was served with a fennel purée, white fungi, and leeks. There was also some parsley oil and lemon in the sauce.

The fillet of Black Angus beef was incredibly tender. The dish was served with carrots, and adzuki bean pure and white sweet potato cake. We also ordered a side of cauliflower with mustard, which was delicious, simple but definitely one of the highlights of our meal.

For dessert we tried the frozen goat cheese mousse with violet, buckwheat praline & passionfruit ice cream. There was a lot happening on the plate, but we felt that it was lacking. There was not anything that truly stood out: on its own, or as a whole. We also shared the triple crème cheese, which was delicious.

Chef: Brent Savage

www.thebentley.com.au

320 Crown Street

Surry Hills NSW 2010

Phone: (02) 9332 2344

In our MasterChef Challenge team building cooking events, we measure success in team spirit, team involvement, and team bonding. We can tell a lot about a team by how they act in one of our cooking team building events. If they run for the bar throughout the event, or say “Oh, I just can’t handle taking the intestine out of prawns”, or refuse to wash their knife and cutting board, we know then and there that they are not going to help carry their team forward to success. But how do we implement competition in cooking to help them see the parallels to their corporate lives and their task at hand? How do you channel competitive energy into team spirit?

First it’s all about drawing out the metaphors. For example, if you have a project to deliver, you’ll need to do your mise en plus (a classic French cooking term that roughly means “everything in its place”). Basically this is about developing a work plan, reading the recipes, preparing the ingredients, staying clean and focused. Do what feels good and put your passion into it, but don’t try to be Heston Blumenthal.

Then, it’s about getting each team focussed on the outcome, but reminding them that the process (cooking) has to be managed well for the outcome to be successful. Ultimately, winning the MasterChef Challenge doesn’t happen at the point of judging, it happens throughout the event.

Finally, it’s about making the feedback positive. What worked? What was good about the way the teams worked together? While only 1 team may be the ‘winner’ as far as the ‘Best Food’, there are lots of aspects that can be acknowledged. And, everyone IS a winner when they get to sit and enjoy the feast they’ve cooked together.

With this type of focus and encouragement from the VictorsFood chefs, our clients excel at being the best chefs-for-a-day and  succeed in finding a strong bond with their team of budding chefs. When a team contributes, puts out great food and enjoys the whole process we know they can deliver the goods at work, whether it’s IT, Sales and Marketing, Administration or any function. They now can be the MasterChefs of their company, ‘cooking up’ great results.