OMG food moment
I had an OMG food moment at the gala dinner of the International Cool Climate Symposium in Hobart Tasmania where renowned chef Tetsuya Wakuda prepared the signature dish from his Sydney restaurant: confit of Petuna ocean trout, with shaved fennel and lemon scented olive oil.
Indeed it was as he explained after the course. It did look raw in the half-dark mood lighting of such dinners, (and it looked good for that) – a lush 2cm thick steak of trout – pink, plush and radiant on the plate.
Being new to this blogging lark, I’ve made a note to self: take some pix of stuff I eat. It might look nerdy at table, but it could be really useful. Though there is a pic of his dish on the restaurant link.
The trout is confit-ed in olive oil at 80C for 30 minutes. It was soft, with huge flavour locked in, and came with a crust of semi-dried kelp which provided a delicious salty and crunchy textural counterpoint. Yu-um.
I was sitting at a table with the supplier of said sea trout. Tim Hess explained how he farms the trout on the west coast of Tasmania, where the Gordon river flows in to Macquarie harbour. He said the trout find their favoured spots where fresh and sea water mingle.
The dish was paired with Tamar Ridge Kayena Chardonnay 2009 and Frogmore Creek Chardonnay 2008, both of which had sufficient, delicate, elegant oak supporting fresh and soft peachy fruits. Not a bad match.
