Food May 2017

Question 1

Sesame scorched oyster, salt & vinegar cracker

Answer 1

Freshly shucked Pacific oysters.
Sesame oil & oyster in a white hot pan for 10 seconds, the oyster is warm, still raw. Cracker – fried sesame rice cracker, seasoned with bamboo salt (salt has been triple baked in bamboo pipes to purify salt, product from Korea) & vinegar powder. Spring onion relish – spring onions & salt chopped together seasoned with sesame oil

NF, EF, DF, GaF, GF

Question 2

Tempura Lakes Entrance Tails, salt & vinegar sesame

Answer 2

Lakes Entrance Bugs – a type of Slippery Lobster closely related to the Rock Lobster. Lakes Entrance is situated approximately 320 kilometres east of Melbourne. The bug meat has been lightly brined in a salt solution for 20 minutes.
The bug is then battered in Tempura batter (corn flour, soda water, plain flour) Served with Yuzu Mayo - whisk egg yolks over a Bain Marie adding yuzu juice & emulsify with olive oil, white soy & mirin (similar to a Hollandaise sauce) topped with mixed coloured sesame seeds.

NF, DF, GaF
Can be made EF

Question 3

Spicy Lamb Buns, Szechuan pickled cucumber

Answer 3

Buns – from ‘the Pastry Lounge’ (flour, water & yeast)
Lamb - Lamb shoulder cooked on the bone from Great Southern (Victoria) Slow roasted with thyme & olive oil for 12hrs @ 85°c.
Shredded then mixed with spicy hoisin – shallots, chilli, shaoxing, hoisin, soy, vinegar & sesame oil.
Szechuan pickled cucumber – water, vinegar, light soy, sugar, sesame oil, Szechuan peppercorns, shiitake, chillies, ginger & garlic. Compressed in vacuum pack.

EF, NF, SF, DF
Contains fructose, garlic Can be made GaF

Question 4

Greenvale Farm Capocollo, Red Onion Petals & Crisp Bread

Answer 4

Capocollo - a traditional Italian pork cold cut made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the 4th or 5th rib of the pork.
Pickled Red Onion Petals – Red Onion warm pickled in red wine & sherry vinegar, olive oil, thyme & bay leaves.

NF, EF, GaF, FF, SF, DF Contains gluten
Can be made GF

Question 5

Crispy Turnip Cakes, Spring onion, Ginger Dipping Sauce

Answer 5

Turnip cake – grated daikon & onion covered with seasoned boiling water & left to steep for 2 hrs, drained & mixed with sautéed rehydrated shitake & spring onions. Mixed with rice flour, Shaoxing wine, black vinegar & sugar to a porridge consistency & steamed for 1 1⁄2 hrs. Sauce - boil black vinegar, white sugar, salt. Add Fresh spring onion whites & grated ginger & Tears of Dragon. Cake cut into squares, deep fired to order, 4 pieces per serve.

EF, DF,GF, SF, GaF Contains fructose, nut Can be made NF

Question 6

Candied Pork, Pickled Papaya & Red Nam Jim

Answer 6

Pork Belly - Cured in brine (water, white pepper, salt, garlic, liquorice root, mandarin peel & ginger)
Confit in Szechuan duck fat for 9hrs @ 95°c, this process renders out the fat. Fried to make the outside crispy then boiled in bitter sweet caramel (palm sugar, chicken stock, star anise & fish sauce)
Nam Jim – red chilli, garlic, coriander root, palm sugar – blended, seasoned with lime juice & fish sauce.
Papaya Salad – green papaya shredded, pickled in vinegar, water & red chilli, mixed with Taxi herbs & topped with toasted coconut.

NF, EF, DF, GF, SF
Contains fructose, fish, garlic Can be made FF

Question 7

Buckwheat Noodles, Broccolini, butter beans, kombu dashi

Answer 7

Soba Noodle - Japanese thin noodles made from Buckwheat flour ( a seed that is not related to wheat & gluten free) Noodles are mixed with blanched Yellow Butter Beans and Broccolini and -
Kombu Dashi Stock – rehydrated kombu added to water, brought to 80°c. When cooled, seasoned with sake, mirin & soy sauce

NF, DF, NF, EF, SF, Gaf, FF

Question 8

Son-In-Law Egg, Wild Mushrooms, Garlic soy butter, Nam Prik

Answer 8

Son-in-law egg – egg that has first been soft boiled & then fried.
Sauteed Mushrooms – Pine, Oyster, Enoki & Shitake Mushrooms sautéed with garlic & soy butter then seasoned with lime juice.
Nahm prik – charred green chillies, roasted shallots & garlic in their skins, all peeled, chilli deseeded & blended with lime juice, toasted sesame seeds & salt. Garnished with Spring onion.

NF, SF
Can be made GF, DF

Question 9

Kingfish, Pickled Daikon, Ponzu Jelly, Shiso & Toasted Sesame

Answer 9

Hiramasa Kingfish a natural inhabitant of the cold, crystal clear, clean water of the Spencer Gulf off the Eyre Peninsula in SA. Renowned as a superb sashimi fish with delicate texture & fresh, sweet, clean flavour.
Ponzu Jelly – Ponzu Sauce (a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine) dark soy, yuzu juice, lemon & orange juice, rice vinegar, sugar, Kombu, Bonito (a staple in Japanese Cuisine made from dried, fermented, shaved fish) and mirin. Then added to gelatine to make the Ponzu Jelly cubes.
Spring onion oil – white part of onion roasted in a pan, oil added and left to infuse.
Daikon – (A long white crunchy vegetable from the radish family, light peppery flavour) shaved into ribbons and pickled in cry vac.
Shiso – (the more widely used name of the Asian culinary herb Perilla, belonging to the mint family) leaves have been fried. Garnished with spring onion curls and lightly toasted sesame seeds.

NF, EF, SF, DF, GaF Contains gluten, fructose Can be made GF

Question 10

Orecchiette, Lemon Crème Fraiche, Bottarga, Chive & Shiso Crumb

Answer 10

Orecchiette – flour, egg, water, salt, oil. (small ear shaped pasta)
Lemon Crème fraiche – tuna poached in milk with white miso, pureed, strained & left to set. Then whisked into crème fraiche seasoned with lemon juice & salt. Bottarga - is the Italian name for a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typically of the grey mullet or the Bluefin tuna. TK uses Tuna. The bottarga is shaved over the top. Shiso Crumb – dried sourdough fried with chilli, garlic & shallot. Blitzed the chopped parsley, dried shiso & chives.

SF, NF
Contains fish, gluten, fructose, garlic, dairy, egg Can be GaF, FF

Question 11

Rare seared Tuna, Pickled Ginger, mint, wasabi, shichimi pepper

Answer 11

Yellowfin Tuna Back Loin -Sake and mirin boiled till the alcohol is cooked off. Tuna is then cured in sake and mirin, light & white soy - for 12hrs. It is then dunked into boiling hot water which seals the marinade in. Served with
Cucumber, Daikon & Pickled Ginger Salad
Cucumber Ribbons, White Pickled Ginger, Pickled Daikon, Black Sesame Seeds & Mint.
Yuzu Gel – yuzu juice, mirin, white soy, agar – Is then piped onto the plate.

NF, DF, EF, SF

Question 12

Poached Veal, Capers, Parsley, Smoked Miso Mayonnaise

Answer 12

Veal Girello (a cut from the hind leg) vac packed with a white wine, shallot & garlic stock & poached for 1 1⁄2 hrs @ 58.5°c. Meat is sealed in hot pan, sliced & topped with crispy capers, cornichon, parsley & a Hickory smoked miso that’s mixed with house made egg mayonnaise.

GF, NF, SF
Contains egg, fructose, garlic

Question 13

Steamed Pork Dumplings, Scallops, Szechuan Broth

Answer 13

Crispy Pork Belly folded through a chicken mouse to bind together with fresh aromats of chilli, ginger, garlic & lemongrass. Wrapped in wonton skins (Flour, water, salt).
Garnish of thinly sliced, fresh raw Japanese scallops sits under the dumplings. Szechuan Broth – made from duck bones and Szechuan pepper, shaoxing, lemongrass, chilli, ginger & garlic.

NF, DF, EF

Question 14

Pumpkin & Almond Tortellini, Buttermilk Purée, Crispy Sage

Answer 14

Butternut pumpkin roasted with skin on, mixed with almond meal, chervil & Espelette pepper (a variety that is cultivated in the French region of Espelette) in a wonton skin.
Buttermilk purée – buttermilk boiled with Xanthan & Agar agar, set in fridge. Blitzed to use seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice. Dish finished with Beurre noisette, activated almonds, crispy fried sage & freshly grated Pecorino.

EF, GaF, SF, FF Contains gluten, nuts, dairy
Can be made DF

Question 15

Crispy Skin Salmon, Fennel, Mussels, Kimchi & Shiitake broth

Answer 15

160g Salmon Fillet from Huon Valley, Tasmania.
Kimchi Broth - broth is seasoned with rice vinegar and kimchi. 4pc mussels out of shells in the broth. Garnished with shaved fennel & dill.

DF, GF, NF, EF

Question 16

Szechuan Duck, Hot Vietnamese Mint Salad & 5 Spice Caramel

Answer 16

Duck is dry marinated with Szechuan pepper, pepper & dried chilli for 24hrs. Steamed for 2hrs @ 85°c, this renders the fat & cooks the duck. Fried to order for 4mins.
5 Spice Caramel – Shaoxing wine, TT’s Five spice (cassia, Szechuan pepper, star anise, coriander seeds, dried garlic flakes) gula Melaka (dark palm sugar) fish sauce & lime juice. Hot Mint Salad – raw julienne pumpkin & daikon, red shallot, water chestnut, Vietnamese mint, mint, coriander pickled carrot dressed with devils sauce (pickling liquid, fish sauce & red chilli).

GF, DF, EF, NF, SF Contains fructose, fish

Question 17

Roasted herb stuffed Chicken, Jerusalem Artichoke, Wild Mushroom, Madeira jus

Answer 17

Roasted Chicken Breast – Tarragon, chives and chervil are stuffed under the skin, Breast is served on top of Jerusalem artichoke puree, Jerusalem artichoke chips, sauteed brussel sprouts, sprinkled with mushroom powder and finished madeira jus.

GF, SF, NF, EF

Question 18

Baby Murray Cod fillet, Scorched Beans, Celery, Star Anise Broth

Answer 18

Marianvale Blue farm, NSW near Goulburn is the largest indoor sustainable
commercial Murray Cod farm in Australia, with a yield of 200 tonnes per annum.
160g fillet is pan fried & served on top of scorched green beans, fresh Chinese
celery.
Star Anise Broth – made from a chicken stock base, seasoned with ground star anise, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger and seasoned with Oyster sauce.

DF, NF

Question 19

Braised beef cheek, celeriac puree, bacon lardons, shallots, red wine jus

Answer 19

Beef Cheek (Cape Grim) – Marinated in red wine & Mire Poix for 2 days then braised in master stock for 8 hours until tender. Served on Celeriac Puree with bacon lardons, petit shallots. Finished with a red wine sauce.

GF, NF, SF, EF

Question 20

Whole Lobster tail, crispy pork hock & hand rolled rice noodles

Answer 20

260g lobster tails from WA. Steeped in 200°c aromatic oil (garlic, coriander seeds, lemongrass, ginger, chilli) Pork hock is deboned and marinated in Ketchup manis for 24hrs & braised in master stock (chicken stock, rock sugar, shaoxing, soy, vinegar, garlic, onion, star anise, coriander seed, cassis, white pepper) for 5hrs, left to cool in stock for further 24hrs. Flash fried to order to create crispy outside & soft centre. Noodle – rice flour, boiling water. Set in sheets rolled with Hoisin sauce & spring onion, steamed to order. Chilli caramel – palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, chilli. Garlic & oyster sauce sautéed choy-sum. Garnished with deep fried rice paper, fresh coriander, snow pea tendrils and shaoxing wine dressing.

NF, EF, DF,
Contains gluten, fructose, garlic, shellfish

Question 21

Whole Barra, kombu butter, caramelised lemon (excellent for 2 to share)

Answer 21

Humpty Doo – located in a remote part of the Northern Territory, halfway between Darwin & Kakadu on the Adelaide river they produce a sustainably farmed saltwater barramundi. Baked for 15 mins @250°c. Kombu butter- roasted snapper bones deglazed with sake add kombu (an edible kelp) & butter then strained, essentially a clarified butter. Lemon – lemon slices with olive oil in a pan, the natural sugars in the lemon caramelise to golden colour. Garnish – alfalfa, red vein sorrel, pickled onion, spring onion curls, sliced red radish dressed with olive oil & lemon juice.

EF, NF, SF, GaF, GF Contains fructose, dairy Can be made FF, DF

Question 22

Slow roast lamb shoulder, mint jus (great for 2 to share)

Answer 22

1.1kg lamb shoulder in the bone from Great Southern (Victoria) Slow roasted with thyme & olive oil for 12hrs @ 85°c. Mint jus – roasted lamb bones, mirepoix, diced tomatoes & chicken stock left to simmer for 1.2hrs, reduced by 1/3 & strained. Fresh mint added to serve. Caramelized yoghurt- sheep’s milk yoghurt & pomegranate molasses cooked in thermo-blender @ 100°c for 45 to 60 mins. Pickles- white onions (white wine & white vinegar, sugar) cucumber pickled in 3- 2-1.

EF, NF, GF, SF, DF
Small amount of garlic in stock

Question 23

Pommes frites, chilli salt

Answer 23

Murray river salt flakes mixed with Sriracha ( a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar & salt) dehydrated & blitzed.

GF, NF, EF, SF, DF, FF Contains garlic
Can be GaF

Question 24

Green leaf salad, beans, radish & honey mustard dressing

Answer 24

Mixed leaves, cucumber, sliced red radish & blanched green beans. Dressing – honey, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, olive oil

GF, NF, EF, SF, DF, GaF, FF

Question 25

Roasted Cauliflower, caramalised miso, broccoli furikake

Answer 25

4 piece Cauliflower Florets, blanched then roasted in caramelised white miso. The Miso is cooked on low heat for 4 hours until caramelised with sugar, mirin and sake. Shaved and pickled Broccoli stems and taxi furikake with grated broccoli

GF, NF, DF, SF, GaF, FF

Question 26

Wombok coleslaw, nashi pear, mint & ‘Tears of Dragon’

Answer 26

Thinly slice wombok, sliced nashi pear, pickled red onion (compressed in rice wine vinegar & sugar) spring onion, mint, Vietnamese mint & coriander. Lime mayo – kewpie, lime juice, lime zest & salt. Tears of Dragon – dried chilli, chilli powder, chilli flakes, Szechuan pepper, cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise, white pepper corns, fennel seeds & almonds. All let too steep overnight in 140°c oil. Strained before use.

GF, DF, SF, GaF Contains nuts, fructose Can be made NF, FF

Question 27

Sesame Scorched Greens, Garlic & Oyster Sauce

Answer 27

Choy sum, bok choy, Gai lan, green beans & snow peas blanched & in white hot pan with sliced garlic, sesame oil & oyster sauce. Garnished with snow pea tendrils & crispy soy beans.

NF, EF, DF, GF Contains fructose Can be made FF

Question 28

Taxi’s Lemon soufflé, Olive oil Gelato

Answer 28

Soufflé – Lemon puree brought to a boil &, mixed with corn flour slurry (corn flour & water) & mixed through whipped egg whites. Soufflé ramekins are greased with butter. Gelato – Sugar, milk powder, water and olive oil. Add Basil puree right up the end and makes the swirl.

GF, NF
Contains eggs, dairy

Question 29

Vanilla marshmallow, caramel wafer, dark chocolate, salted almond ice cream

Answer 29

Ganache – cream, dark chocolate, milk and butter. Boil cream, milk and butter and add chocolate, set in the fridge and then whipped.
Vanilla Marshmallow - sugar, water, vanilla and egg whites. In a pot at 140 degrees and add gelatine to it. Pour the syrup into the egg whites.
Salted Almond ice cream - cream, milk, sugar, egg yolk and salted almonds.
Caramel wafer - caramel, flour, sugar, eggs, butter.

Contains gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs

Question 30

White chocolate parfait, raspberry honeycomb crumble, cassis sorbet

Answer 30

Parfait – white chocolate, cream, egg yolk, sugar, gelatine, water. Set in freezer on top of choc sponge – eggs, caster sugar, salt, Dutch chocolate powder, baking powder, clarified butter which has been layered with crispy choc – 70% dark choc, butter, hazelnut praline (roasted hazelnuts, salt, skim milk powder, oil, dry caramel) dried sour cherries, Paillete Feuilletine (broken up pieces of crepes) Sorbet - water, glucose powder, sugar & stabilizer with black currant puree. Crumble – French meringue (sugar, egg white, vinegar) raspberry powder, dried & crushed & mixed with crushed honeycomb( honey, golden syrup, bicarb)

Contains nuts, gluten, egg, dairy

Question 31

Honey yoghurt, oat crumb, quince, coffee tequila, milk chocolate ice cream

Answer 31

Honey yoghurt – honey, yoghurt, cream, gelatine and egg. Bring honey to 120 degrees and pour into the egg white in a mixer and add semi whipped cream and gelatine.
Coffee Tequila - sugar, cream, chocolate, coco powder, coffee extract & Cafe Patron.
Milk Chocolate ice cream - cream, milk, sugar, egg yolk & chocolate. Garnished with Quince puree and Sea Buckthorn jam & Oat crumb

NF
Contains gluten, dairy, egg Can be GF

Question 32

Warm Ginger bread, rhubarb, custard, caramalised banana ice cream

Answer 32

Warm ginger bread - golden syrup, trickle (almost burnt sugar), brown sugar, milk and self raising flour.
Rhubarb compote - rhubarb, sugar, salt and lemon juice.
Custard - milk, egg yolk, vanilla, sugar and corn flour.
Caramalised banana ice cream - caramalised banana in dry caramel, add to ice cream base

NF
Contains dairy, eggs, gluten

Question 33

Woombye triple cream brie, waldorf salad, truffle honey

Answer 33

Woombye in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Jersey & Friesian milk is sourced from three premium neighbouring dairy farms. Triple cream Brie’s delicate white bloomy rind hides a deliciously rich & creamy centre. Waldorf - walnut, celery, apple, celery leaf, grapes dressed with truffle honey.

Contains nuts

Question 34

Cropwell bishop shropshire blue, fig jam

Answer 34

Cow’s milk blue cheese, mild to medium intensity. From Nottinghamshire in UK. Added annatto seeds (South American turmeric) and it makes the colour of yellow.
Garnished with Fig Jam.

Question 35

Yalla Valley Black Savourine, pickled beets, walnuts

Answer 35

100% goat’s milk semi matured cheese from Yarra valley. Rolled in ash which is made from the local vegetables.
Garnished with pickled beet and honey walnuts.