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Southern Rocklobster Limited

number four October 2008

FOOD EDITOR ANN OLIVER

 

  • IN THIS ISSUE

    The tomalley is the essence of lobster flavour and a very small amount infused into the liquid medium can develop an outstanding depth of flavour. In this issue of CHEF NEWS, cougeres (right) and two soufflé recipes, double cooked (right) and a la minute below. Three technically sound recipes that deliver enviable food costs. READ MORE

  • GENIUS AT WORK - CHEF PROFILE IRON CHEF HIROYUKI SAKAI is mad about Southern Rocklobster and recently collaborated with Palazzo Versace's Executive Chef Steve Szabo to create a fabulous dinner showcasing Australian Southern Rocklobster. READ MORE
  • Superstar chef Shannon Bennett, Executive Chef and owner of Melbourne’s fabulous Vue de Monde, rated in the world’s top 50 restaurants shares a recipe from his most recent book My French Vue. READ MORE
  • Read more about other chefs using Australian Southern Rocklobster
  • From the Executive Officer’s Desk:

    fourth CHEF NEWS. We are expanding our USA Program! As we enter our third season of our market initiative in the USA, we are pleased to announce that we are implementing an intensive communications strategy in order to further strengthen the USA market development program.
    SRL offers a unique, branded Southern Rocklobster product certified as Clean Green, fully traceable and tagged. SRL targets high–end restaurants for which quality and supply guarantees are paramount. We specifically are aiming at chefs who recognise the value of a premium quality wild caught lobster which is tagged, traced, quality guaranteed and most importantly sourced from a sustainable fishery.
    We have completed extensive market research which has shown that face–to–face activity with chefs, wait staff and restaurant owners is likely to be the most effective way to communicate the features and values of Southern Rocklobster to the high–end US market.
    The program will be undertaken by the SRL Market Development team of Matt Muggleton and Lucy Hinge, who are now based permanently in Los Angeles for the next 2 years. The team will be supplemented with three additional American staff to be based on the East Coast and Mid West. Matthew will be responsible for managing all US operations including the market development team, while Lucy Hinge will handle logistics, administration, communication and in–house development support. Chefs can expect a call from one of our team or you can catch up with them at the upcoming International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show in November 9 — 11 in New York.
    Our Clean Green certification program now covers 56% of the active fleet and the program sets the benchmark nationally for the implementation of an integrated accreditation system which combines food safety, workplace safety and environmental standards with third–party independent auditing.
    Under the Southern Rocklobster Limited (SRL) “fisher–direct” model, fishermen own the Clean Green product through the supply chain with processing, receiving, consolidation, and distribution provided under service contracts. Data on supply chain management are essential tracking tools required to monitor service delivery and to improve on survival of live lobsters shipped to destinations such as the west coast of the USA.
    It is a chain with numerous steps and we have experienced some traceability and supply chain issues that have required attention included data entry and management. We are hopeful of relaunching the fully integrated traceability system this year following substantial improvements funded through additional investment by the industry and with Australian Government. In closing, our fisher members thank you for your ongoing support and interest and we look forward to working with you over the coming season.

    Rocklobster Cougeres, a wonderful simple rocklobster canapé made using only the tomalley

    Looks stunning, tastes even better, another great recipe using the tomalley

    Click on the image to find the recipe on our web site

     

    Our President, Roger Edwards might look like a fairly conventional bloke, but this is a man who keeps his surfboard and a couple of bottles of good Aussie red in his office just in case! An economist by profession his amalgamation of the Australian Rocklobster fishers has been visionary. The conduit between fishers, government and the market route, Roger’s unlimited energy has bought victories for the member fishers of Southern Rocklobster Limited who are quickly becoming the envy of all other fishing industry bodies.
    Whilst the member fishers acknowledge they may be able to follow the Clean Green module, the ability to represent themselves to government and the world stage was to get their brilliant product to the world market.
    Roger loves his family first and balances his life with short spells staying at the family’s remote beach side shack where there is no mobile communication or email. They are a family that loves eating out (and in) and they have a deep interest in the technical side of cooking. Gastronomic passion and balancing the books are rare combinations, but they are our president’s greatest asset.
    CLEAN AND GREEN.........................the fundamental philosopy of our member fishermen and management
     

    CLEAN AND GREEN

    Is the industry commitment to see businesses continue to prosper with sustainable fishing in some of the world’s most pristine waters.

    Clean Green Program Update — Certified Sustainable Wild Caught
    Fishers are attracted to Clean Green because it allows them to show to the local and wider community that not only do they meet the legislative requirements but reach the highest standards possible. They deliver a high quality product that has been fished in an environmentally sustainable way in an industry where workplace safety and animal welfare are of paramount importance. The Clean Green audit program has also recently been found by the Australian Quarantine & Inspection Service (AQIS) to be acceptable for catcher boats handling live crustaceans for export. This fantastic breakthrough is further evidence of the credibility of the program as their accreditation is extremely tough.

    • As fisher John Atkinson explained ‘for many years lobster fishing was just that. We set the pots, brought them home and sold them but we always worried about the future. I completed the Clean Green program and am thrilled to be part of an organization that is acknowledged as being environmentally friendly the marine environment while establishing a benchmark system for future generations working in this industry’. David Jonston, another early adopter says, ‘we pride ourselves on the superiority of our product. The Clean Green program highlighted the importance of quality and our system gives us the ability to demonstrate this to the market in a completely transparent manner. At a time when many fishing industries are facing shut down, Clean Green fishers are looking forward to market expansion under the Clean Green brand’.
      Tagged Clean Green Australian Southern Rocklobster is the chef’s guarantee of Wild Caught, live Rocklobster, from well managed fishers who understand the importance of maintaining their pristine environments and fishing in a manner that is sustainable and allows natural growth whilst at the same time adoption world’s best practice.


    Our land. Our Plan. Our Future

     
     
    TECHNIQUE MORE MOLECULAR ELEMENTS
     

    More molecular elements using consommé provide texture, taste and interest to dishes. A working trip to Chengdu in January opened up new ingredients and an unbelievable diversity of textures and tastes. It came as a surprise that this fascinating chemical reaction of Sichuan food still allowed for distinct individual flavours.
    Rocklobster Consommé Pearls
    Makes about 25
    For the pearls
    250g clarified seasoned Rocklobster Consommé
    2g sodium alginate
    1g xanthan gum
    Blend everything together and allow to stand for at least 1 hour to thicken
    For the solution
    5g calcium chloride
    1L water
    Dissolve the calcium chloride in the water.
    We use spherical moulds see IDEAS AND TRICKS immediately below. Put the calcium chloride solution into the trays and using a syringe, put the tip into the middle and syringe a pearl into each sphere. Allow to stand for about 30 minutes before carefully rinsing them off. We store the pearls in consommé which helps to heighten the flavour.
    Transparent dumpling pastry
    Makes about 30 x 8cm dumpling disks rolled to the last notch on a pasta machine
    150g corn flour
    75g tapioca flour + little extra for kneading
    1g fine salt
    5g sesame oil
    10g lard or oil – lard tastes best
    250gboiling water or Rocklobster consommé
    Mix everything except the liquid thoroughly in an electric mixer with the paddle. When thoroughly combined add the boiling liquid working the dough until it comes together in a smooth ball. Knead with a little tapioca flour and bag.
    The dough keeps well when re-sealed. A bit difficult to work but easiest at room temperature. Store the dumplings in pack away containers on a small piece of baking parchment. Completed dumplings have a shelflife of three days before the dough starts to deteriorate. We also dye this dough with spinach powder (available from health food shops) for a beautiful translucent emerald green.
    To cook
    Lift the lid and steam for about 10 minutes. Slide from the paper straight into the consommé. Pictured – our dumplings were filled with 10g of green Rocklobster leg meat seasoned with ginger garlic, white pepper and very finely shredded wood fungus.

    READ OUR COMPLETE TECHNIQUE ADVICE FOR AUSTRALIAN SOUTHERN ROCKLOBSTER

     
    SHANNON BENNETT — Vue de Monde, Melbourne Australia

    Named in the top 50 restaurants in the world 2008 Shannon Bennett’s restaurant Vue de Monde is iconic, not just in the Australian dining scene, but the world. Vue de Monde is dining par excellence as are all of Bennett’s dining tiers including Bistro Vue and the recently opened Café Vue. Innovation in combination with classical perfection, theatre, a world class wine list, attention to the tiniest detail required to make a perfect dining experience. Bennett is loyally supported by discerning diners in Australia and a pilgrimage for culinary tourists. Reservations are essential for Vue de Monde.

    Fifteen–Minute Crayfish Nage
    Serves 2

    This recipe works with just as well with prawns, oysters, Moreton bay bugs and other shellfish, such as mussels. If food was ever meant to be served with wine this would be one of the dishes named in the top ten!

    50 ml (2 fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
    1 x 800 g (1 lb 12 oz) crayfish (rocklobster), cooked and shelled, tail cut into medallions
    Sea salt
    500 g (1 lb 2 oz) clams
    1 brown onion, finely diced
    2 garlic cloves, crushed
    6 baby carrots, peeled
    1 leek, finely sliced
    500 ml (1 pint) white wine
    Juice of ½ lemon
    Pepper
    100 g (3½ oz) cultured butter
    2 tablespoons basil leaves
    1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
    8 tablespoons cooked macaroni (made from 4 tablespoons uncooked)

    Preheat a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the crayfish medallions and sauté for 1 minute, then season with sea salt.
    Add the clams, followed by all the vegetables in quick succession. Sauté on high heat, stirring constantly.
    Add the white wine and place the lid on the pot. Cook on high for 4 minutes.
    Season with the lemon juice and salt and pepper. Add the butter, and stir well.
    Once the butter is mixed into the bubbling juices, add the herbs and pasta, cook for 1 minute and serve.

    Fifteen–Minute Crayfish Nage is a wonderful example of the simplicity of true French bistro cooking; a simplicity that in no way diminishes the excellence of the finished dish or the refined flavours it delivers.
    Recipe from Shannon Bennett’s My French Vue, published by Simon and Schuster 2007, image copyright © Simon Griffiths

    Visit Vue de Monde

    IDEAS AND TRICKS AND BOOKS A Day at elBulli, an insight into the ideas, methods and creativity of Ferran Adrià
     
     

    A day at elBulli
    An insight into the ideas, methods and creativity of Ferran Adrià
    Ferran Adrià — Juli Soler — Albert Adrià
    Published by Phaidon Press Ltd 2008, www.phaidon.com — H/B $19.95 USD $75 AUD

    Every chef in the world will want to own this book so they can paw the pages, devour and analyse every image, covet the first recipes from the elBulli kitchen and make them their own. Every chef with ambition dreams of being as famous as Ferran Adrià, just as thirty years ago the chefs of that time dreamed of being as famous as Bocuse or before that Escoffier. If you think about it creativity, true creativity is a rare commodity in the greatest kitchens of the world, but no chef in history has turned food upside down in the same way as Ferran Adrià and his team. No other restaurant kitchen has ever had such a universal influence on the food of the world.
    A day at elBulli is the first book not published by their own publishing arm and the first book to really come within the reach (price wise) of even the most lowly paid apprentice. The inclusion of recipes will set a million of the world's most possessed chefs hard at work in their kitchen to push forward what the elBulli teams has been working on for years. Of course there is no catching up but the results of this ultimate generosity will certainly see changes in menus globally as chefs seek to play with the recipes contained in this book.
    This is a beautiful and unique book with wonderful pictures and a heart so rarely found in modern day cookbooks. An absolutely brilliant benchmark book that is without doubt the best book of 2008. Read our interview with Ferran Adrià
    Ann Oliver — we take book reviewing seriously, for more book reviews click here

     


     
    GENIUS AT WORK IRON CHEF HIROYUKI SAKAI
     

    INSPIRATION : Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai is crazy for Australian Southern Rocklobster

    WEB SITE : Iron Chef Official Web Site EMAIL : Chef Hiroyuki Sakai’s official blogg
    CHEF PROFILE : Hiroyuki Sakai

    You only have to look at the fabulous image or Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai with Southern Rocklobster to appreciate that he has a zest for life and a great sense of humour. Born April 2, 1942 Hiroyuki Sakai (Sakai Hiroyuki) has become a globally famous chef specialising in French Cuisine. The association of French food and wine has been longer established in Japan than any other cuisine and many of Japan’s most famous chefs specialising in French cuisine have actually done their apprenticeships in the kitchens of France’s three Michelin star restaurants. In fact Sakai named his restaurants after the French city la Rochelle where he did much of his apprenticeship.
    Sakai’s restaurants under the La Rochelle brand are found in Shibuya (Tokyo) and Fukuoka. The high reputation of Hiroyuki Sakai’s restaurants led to sn of his reputation and restaurants they, and Hiroyuki Sakai are more famous today than they ever were. Producer Toshihiko Matsuo sought out Sakai on the recommendation Kihachi Kumagai a famous Tokyo hotelier and restaurateur and thinking it would be just a few episodes Sakai agreed to a six-month contract. The rest of course is history and six years later he is still an important part of Iron Chef. Sakai’s fascination for food remains and he is famous for quizzing chefs and their assistants about their techniques.
    A member of the Club des Trente, an organization of French chefs in Japan Sakai does not fall into the category of ‘TV chefs’ but is still a highly regarded chef in his own flourishing restaurants.

     

    Southern Rock Lobster and Oysters with Somen Noodle Salad

    Serves 4

    100g (3 1/2oz) somen noodles
    2 x 850g (2lb) Southern Rock lobsters
    12 freshly shucked oysters
    1 granny smith apple, peeled and finely diced
    juice and segments of 2 limes
    1/2 cup baby watercress
    4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    sea salt and cracked black pepper

    Cook somen noodles in boiling salted water for 4 minutes and refresh in iced water and drain.
    Place lobsters in freezer for 20 minutes to send them to sleep before cooking. Cook lobsters in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 7 minutes. Refresh in iced water. Remove meat from shell and slice each lobster into six even medallions.
    To serve, place three lobster medallions on each serving plate and top each medallion with a stack of somen noodles. Place an oyster on each noodle stack and garnish with a little diced apple. Garnish plate with lime segments, remaining diced apple and watercress. Dress plate with extra virgin olive oil, lime juice and salt and pepper. PRINT FRIENDLY VERSION

     

     
    NEXT ISSUE  
     

    Extracting green meat is now so easy with our GREEN MEAT EXTRACTION technique and in our next chef news we’ll be showing great ways to keep your sashimi portions in perfect condition with simple, but divine hot dishes using the prepared sashimi. We'll also be doing ravioli, the Italian dumplings with some divine and very cost effective fillings and sauces. We want to use the best of everything when it comes to ingredients, but try to run a no waste kitchen meaning we are always looking at ways to keep our stock moving so that everything is used at premium condition.

     
    THIS MONTH'S RECIPE ROCKLOBSTER SOUFFLÉ
     
    Author Ann Oliver, Food Editor Southern Rocklobster Limited www.annoliver.com

    SOUTHERN ROCKLOBSTER SOUFFLÉ
    MAKES 7
    For the soufflé base

    200g whole cream milk
    1 fresh bay leaf
    1 pinch Iranian saffron
    100g peeled weight red onion, finely sliced
    25g tomalley
    2g white pepper, freshly and coarsely ground
    50g unsalted butter
    50g strong flour
    ½ small nutmeg, freshly grated
    15g freshly and finely grated parmesan Reggiano
    130g egg yolk
    Other ingredients
    soft butter for buttering the soufflé dishes
    approx 350g plus egg white at room temperature, preferably our of the shell for at least 3 days
    cream of tartar or freshly juiced, strained lemon juice
    7 x 50g green leg and knuckle meat
    finely grated parmesan Reggiano


    For the soufflé base
    Put the milk, saffron, onion, bay leaf and tomalley into a saucepan and place on low heat. Bring to the simmer, stirring a couple of times, boil and then turn the heat off. Allow to stand for 10 minutes then strain off the infused milk. Weigh out the paprika, pepper, salt nutmeg and flour; melt the butter and when it foams whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes, then whisk in the milk and continue whisking until it is thick and comes cleanly away from the bottom of the pan. Stir through the parmesan and without delay whisk in the egg yolk. Turn the heat off and keep stirring over for a couple of minutes to finish cooking the egg and then scrape it into a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic food wrap and pierce a couple of pin–prick holes in the top to allow the steam to escape.


    Service
    Oven temp 180°C/350°F
    Soufflé dishes should be carefully buttered before service (and collared if that is how you do it.)
    We make soufflés by sight but it is approximately 50g egg white per soufflé. Put 50g base, 1 portion of lobster meat into a bowl and gently mix them together. In a clean bowl with a clean whisk add some egg white and a small pinch of cream or tartar or 5g lemon juice and whisk until they form soft smooth peaks. If you over beat the egg white, clean the bowl and start again soufflés do not rise or have the right texture when made with dry split egg white. Mix a heaped kitchen spoon of egg white into the base, and when fully incorporated very gently add another two. Spoon into a prepared soufflé dish, sprinkle the top with parmesan and put in the oven. They take approximately 20 minutes, centre should be ever so slightly gooey.
    CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PRINT FRIENDLY VERSION


    TIPS This soufflé can be double cooked. Allow them to deflate gently pushing the tops into the dishes as they deflate so they do not get caught on the top edges of the dishes. While they are still warm (but not hot because they will break) carefully release them from the dishes and place them on trays covered with silicon or baking parchment. Allow them to cool completely and turn the tops up. They will puff again 10–15 minutes in a 200°C/400°F oven.
    Anyone can make a high soufflé, that’s easy! The hard part is making it taste amazing without tasting eggy or being so full of egg white there is no taste at all. Infusing the Rocklobster tomalley into the milk adds the most stunning but subtle Rocklobster flavour with none of the bitterness that sometimes accompanies soufflé bases made with bisque stocks. We put the dishes on small pizza trays just slightly larger than our soufflé dishes and rotate them in order. With care they can be pulled forward rotating them as you go. The hardest thing about a soufflé is getting the service staff to be soufflé savvy.

     
    WINE RECOMMENDATIONS
     
     
    COPYRIGHT © TEXT, IMAGES AND RECIPES Southern Rocklobster Limited 2008

    Southern Rocklobster Limited
    Level 1
    /16 Unley Road, Unley, South Australia 5061
    T +61 8 8357 7569 | F +61 8 8272 7767
    USA 323 371 6115

    There's plenty more on our web site - visit us at www.southernrocklobster.com