Australia, without a doubt, has some wonderful produce, truly world class. I often don't remember how good until I come back home from a trip and start menu planning and hunting around at the local providore. Cooking a great meal is about firstly sourcing great food whether that be fruits vegetables, meats and or seafood. You get what you pay for is never truer than it is with food.
This dish was, as a lot of my dishes are, last minute and conceived with the produce that I was able to source that morning on my daily shopping trip. As a chef, I always have preparations already in the fridge, such as the tender baby golden beetroots that I had cooked and marinated the previous day as well as the almond mayonnaise that I dotted around the plate for a little mouth feel. Many of these things can now be purchased as either part of a well stocked larder or as a last minute item.
The beautiful sashimi grade tuna came from "Fish on the Bay" at Rose bay, a hidden gem with great fresh seafood, whilst all the rest came from the cornucopia that is Parisis Food Hall just across the road. You could use any oily fish such as salmon, just be sure that it is the freshest you can find. Parisis has one of the best selection of top quality fruit vegetables, cheeses and other goods in Sydney and is my regular grocer when I’m in the eastern suburbs.
As I always do I hand write my recipes so that I can keep track of the dishes that I serve as well as preventing double ups whilst also helping with the shopping. The scrawl that is my recipe appears below.
The pickled zucchinis are made with the stems of zucchini flowers. I love the sweet and acidic bite that the pickle contrasts in this dish. Bring all of the ingredients of the pickling liquid to the boil and pour over the sliced zucchini (sans flowers). Allow to cool to room temperature and adjust to your liking with salt, sugar and vinegar. These are also great with barbequed duck breast
The tuna was brought to room temperature and quickly seared in a really hot pan just with some Malden sea salt. Once out of the pan I dressed it with some excellent extra virgin olive oil (I love the Joseph first run) and freshly ground black pepper. Serve the fish tepid as the delicate flavour are better drawn from the flesh.
recipe
Finished salad
Once the dish is plated I finished it with a little more seasoning, dabs of almond mayonnaise, some finely shredded baby fennel and my dressing which consisted of 2/3 extra virgin olive oil (50mi) 1/3 Simon Johnson's white wine vinegar(15ml), salt, pepper and 1/4 tsp of Dijon mustard. Play around with this dish, add, subtract, change but make sure you enjoy the cooking and the eating.