Who Let The Dogs out!

News Flash! We have some “Doggies”, Dog Tooth Tuna that is. Actually a member of the Bonito family, the pictures pretty much says it all as to the name. Our main commercial fisherman is back from the reef today and called ahead to say he has 2 dog tooth on board and this is a fish we only see about 3 or 4 times a year…and we are excited. Far and away the best of all the “big tuna” this pale pink flesh is just about as good as fish gets. We will be doing sashimi and coating thick steaks with finely chopped fresh herbs and cracked pepper before searing to rare on a char grill and slicing over a bed of ratatouille. I will post some pictures of the filleting, preparation and cooking in my next post but if you are in town and thinking of going out to dinner this weekend, don’t miss this. Trevor also has a good haul of Red Throat, beautiful Coral trout, Long tail and Big Eye Tuna and some Spanish Mackerel trunks. All in all, a good weekend to eat fish and THE BOAT’S IN.

I should also acknowledge the photos I have used in this are not mine. They have been downloaded from the net. I just couldn't wait to get the word out that we have some 'doggies".

Deep Water, Red Fish and having a whale of a time in the Whitsundays

There is something quite magical about fishing the deep shoals at this time of year. Typically dead calm days, crystal clear water and red hot bites as the “red fish” on the deep water shoals feed actively into mid-morning. Usually located a few miles off the main reef areas these shoals are easy to find on any good GPS and it is just a matter of reading the charts and looking closely at your sounder to pick up the schools of nannygai, Red Emperor and other deep water targets which inhabit these shoals. Aggressive feeders, hard fighter and always we look over the side, deep into the clear water to catch the first silver pink flash as the fish is pulled from the depths. Is it a “Nanny” or a “Red”. The nannygai, while they don’t have the glamour appeal or reputation of the mighty Red Emperor are just as good to eat and now marketed as “Ruby Emperor” it is a very popular addition to the menu when we get some in. A very versatile fish which can be grilled, crumbed, battered or curried it has a firm flaky texture, outstanding flavour and rates amongst the very best fish on the reef. There are 2 sorts of “Nanny’s”,  a small mouth nannygai (Ruby Emperor) and Large Mouth Nannygai (Crimson emperor), both members of the lutjanid species and by a whisker I think the small mouth is a better eating fish while the large mouth grows much bigger and pulls a far bit harder.

The images on the sounder photo are a school of small mouth nanny’s taken this morning. They are very distinctive on a sounder. If you ever find a “show” like this make sure you mark it. Even if you don’t get a bite, because at times they just don’t, fish this area on the last ¼ of a neap run out tide, ideally very early or at dusk and get ready to get your arms stretched. A “show” like this on your  sounder, in deep water will always be small mouth nannygai.

The other "secret" to catching these fish is "position". Often it can be a very large school of fish but located in a relatively small area and anchoring to get the right "hang" is problematic in such deep water and the drift often too quick. This whole problem has been solved and is, I think, the best single advance in fishing equipment since the GPS. The Minn Kota electric motor with I-pilot facility and "spot lock" allows you to hold a fixed position , based on GPS telemetry in an exact spot (i.e. right over a school of fish in very deep water) without ever having to put an anchor down.

The other great part of this time of the year is without doubt the whales. I must have seen close to 50 this morning, including the largest pod I have ever seen of some 15 whales all playing together.

I love that this is on our very doorstep and I get to enjoy it almost every day. The plus side is business is good, both the restaurant and our catering operation are going great guns and I also know my favourite professional fisherman is out there tonight, somewhere on the reef, catching fish for us to use this weekend.

To anyone going to “shaggers” this weekend, hope to see you there and drop in to “Rum..bling” for a cold one (or 2).

Cheers

Kev

Big Mack for Breakfast. G n' T for lunch

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I’m planning a Big Mack for breakfast and maybe a G n’T for lunch. Anyone up for it? I will be leaving the ramp just on dawn……………………and , by the way with has NOTHING to do with a hamburger and Gin & Tonic

Lamb Shanks of the sea

What years ago was simply “crab bait” have become an “insiders” special as we have learnt from different food cultures more and more about the fish we take for granted. A wonderful “trend” is treating every bit of the fish as precious. Using the frames for stocks, soups and chowders, the wonderful Polynesian custom where the tribal chief is gifted the must succulent cut of a whole baked fish…the cheek, and learning that just like a lamb shank (which we used to feed to the dog years ago), the old adage about the sweetest meat being nearest the bone, we have discovered “Fish Wings”. If these ever make it to the menu (i.e. the staff don’t get them first) I describe them to guests as ‘The Lamb Shanks of the Sea”. Soft, sticky, incredibly juicy meat that falls from the one big flat “wing bone” like an overcooked lamb shank. Best off larger fish like barramundi, Red Emperor or large nannygai or Coral trout they are just amazing.

I recently hosted a long lunch for friends at my place and was blessed in the days leading up to get my hands on some really big Trout and a ‘Reddy”, suffice to say the wings were "quarantined", and became the basis of a great Sunday arvo balcony lunch. Way too much wine, too much food and too many lies but I put some real effort into making the wings the star of the show for the sceptics coming to lunch. Needless to say, never again will fish frames make it to the crab pots in those households without a bit of” tax collection” first.

The pictures tell the story but scale well, rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. Char grill on a hot BBQ for a few minutes and then transfer to a baking dish. Lace with paper thin lemon slices, some thyme, salt, pepper and a splash more olive oil. At this stage, just as I closed the BBQ lid I threw a large handful of wood chips over the char grill (not sure the neighbours upstairs shared my enthusiasm) and cooked under the “lid” for 15 minutes. This added a beautiful Smokey wood fired flavour to the soft juicy fish, which my lunch guests just devoured with a salad of rocket, pear, shaved parmesan and toasted pecans with a little blue cheese and olive oil dressing.

The attached pictures just about capture the whole process and, if you must, give the screen a little lick…when no one is watching, you can taste them!

Ultimate in Organic Food

The term takes the mind to images of poorly presented fruit and vegetables sitting in the corner of the fruit and vegetable shop. Untreated with chemicals and pesticides, no artificial fertilisers or growth stimulation; food just as nature intended. Pity few people actually buy the stuff, despite the trend towards being seen to eat healthy. Better sales trends with organic eggs, or chicken or beef exist because the visual appeal is still there, albeit often with a premium price tag.

If anyone really wants to think about and eat “organic”, is there anything more organics than wild caught salt water fish. Fish, not from polluted urban waters but from the open ocean, the reef and unspoilt rivers, creeks and beaches in North Queensland. The ultimate “free range”.

Almost the exact opposite of our fruit and vegetable market “organic” seafood presents perfectly. Skin blemishes and lack lustre presentation is more a feature of fish farmed fish or fisheries from urban waterways. Bright full eyes, pink gills, scales and skin that glisten, our fish is the ultimate organic health food. It is absolute locavore dining with our oceans the same as the fields and forests in terms of sustaining us with wonderful heathy food stuffs.

Every meal of fish we consume, is one less meal of often high intensity farmed animal protein and ultimately an environmental plus in the long term’

The vast bulk of the Great Barrier Reef fishery is line caught and a really interesting “number” is that the entire Great Barrier Reef fishery, commercial and recreational combined is roughly 3% annually of biomass. That is to say for every 100 fish which exist, we collectively take 3, and the remaining 97 need only produce 3 offspring a year to maintain the status quo. One of the great green myths is the whole “reef is in trouble from overfishing” rubbish. No, it’s not.

It is incredibly well managed and controlled, a little on the overcautious side. It is the case that, just like any dynamic living system, the fastest way to get it to grow is by controlled harvesting, creating “available habitat” and triggering spawning recruitment within the fish stock. In simple terms, the fastest way to get your grass to grow….is mow it regularly.

All available scientific evidence suggests that areas that are regularly fished have a far more dynamic breeding population than areas closed to fishing. Closed areas (Green Zones) have a very stable population of bigger fish, and are, in effect “full”, with little or no annual recruitment each year because there is no “available habitat”. While green zones are seen to be good for tourism, good for feel good environmentalism and I agree, it is great to have pristine populations, if we consider our waterways the same as we consider our farmlands as a resource we are lucky to have to sustain and feed our population, then part of the long term management needs to have long term sustainable harvest as part of the strategy. In this regard our fisheries managers have done a pretty good job. Total allowable catches on commercial fisheries, bag limits on most species and closed seasons for breeding congregations all help ensure we will be eating and enjoying “organic” seafood for as far into the future as it is possible to imagine.

Whether locking up large areas in never to fish again green zones are using a harvestable sustainable resource in the best way. Well, maybe that is…………….Food for thought?

Providence and the story of us!

I watched an interesting TV show the other night about the most expensive foods in the world. Pretty OTT (over the top) and at times plain silly and snobbish, but, a really interesting factor was the issue of the providence of the products and the story being every bit as important as the finished product. With coffee at $720 a cup (I kid you not) and desserts at over $800 a single plate it needed to be a bloody good story but clearly the super-rich are just as interested in the where and how of their food as the rest of us mere mortals who love to know more about what we eat.

This has always been critical to us and more so in recent times as we have moved into the social media space and instant information age. It is one thing to drag a box of frozen fish out of a freezer and another altogether too actually know all there is to know about the fish and seafood we are using each day.

We are blessed to have established relationships with local fisherman. Trevor Draper, Keith Brenan, Matt Vickers and his dad Paul. Ronny and Buck and Terry. Not just to know them, but know their boats, the bait they use and reefs and drop-offs and bays and creeks they fish and crab in. To know when they put to sea, what each season brings. When the Tiger prawns run and the flush of the wet that brings on the barramundi and banana prawns.  I can talk a creek corner or beach, a reef system or shoal and know exactly where it is because I will have fished it myself at some stage. I love that I know this and get to talk to guests every night about the history of everything in the window.

Our seafood window is our showcase. Nothing to hide, nothing we are not proud of and as much a part of the restaurant as the rum bar. Our Chinese guests take endless photos, new and interstate visitors ask a million questions and every local pops out from the restaurant to have look and see what’s on special today.

I often wish I was an artist and could draw, I can’t, but doing my “window” is my canvas and a chance to showcase everything wonderful about Whitsunday seafood.

Today I collected an amazing array of wonderful fish from Trevor and Tina. I know they are pretty chuffed to see fish they care so much about, go out in a blaze of glory. The future of seafood in the Whitsundays is in very good hands while fisherman like Trevor and his crew supply venues like ours who care just as much as they do about the providence and end result. This is not a box of non-descript fish on the market floor. This is bait to plate at its very best.

Some Days are Diamonds

All of us who fish, particularly if we are fishing wide on the reef are students of the weather. Typically we have 2 or 3 weather web site on our favourite’s page and watch like a hawk for that perfect combination of forecast, weather charts and tide charts. When you get a big lows in the bight, a weak high pressure system with no isobars over North Queensland and can combine that with tides a day or 2 after the “neaps” you can be guaranteed calm seas and good fishing. So it was last Tuesday and a chance to run out “wide” so 80 miles off-shore, almost to the edge of the shelf with a couple of boats to ensure safety.

We caught some beautiful Coral trout and Red Emperor, Red Throat emperor, Spanish mackerel and even a few curios like Green Job Fish.

While I get to go with mates for fun, I know our local commercial fisherman will have been taking advantage of the weather as well so with today again calm and me back to work, I expect a phone call tomorrow letting the know “the boats in”. This will be a good week to dine on the best of our local reef fish and coinciding with the busiest time of the year in the restaurant will make sure we have lots and lots of very happy guests.

Update:

Love it when a plan comes together. While I was out at the reef with mates enjoying myself, our hard working commercial fisherman and been “on the job” so I Just had a call from my main supplier and yes, the boat’s in. Wonderful catch of Coral trout, Red Emperor and Red Throat along with Spanish Mackerel and as a real bonus 2 Long tail Tuna and 1 big Eye Tuna. The long tail will hit the menu tomorrow night as Sashmi while I will coat the Big Eye in chopped herbs and cracked black pepper before searing to just past rare and slicing over a bed of ratatouille. The next few nights will be very much worth a visit for fish lovers, even if, god forbid, you don’t drink rum.

Wilderness in the heart of Airlie Beach

So close to Airlie but almost a journey back in time are some of the mangrove creeks and forests which start literally just a few hundred meters from the glitz and glamour of the main tourist strip. I have a little creek which runs into the bay our restaurant looks over and it is complete with a resident crocodile and all the life, sights sounds and smells of a mangrove creek in the wilderness. Typical of a well-managed ecosystem and the general resilience of our environment it is still an easy place to drop a crab pot, catch a barramundi or Mangrove Jack and always makes me feel like I am miles from anywhere, when in fact I am less than a kilometre from the very centre of Airlie Beach. It is one of the great advantages of our village. Diversity, unspoilt wilderness on the very doorstep of commerce, industry and jobs. Half an hour, a few pots and Black Pepper crab for dinner. I love this place. I didn’t think to take a picture of the cooked item. I was in too big a hurry to eat it. So you will have to take my word for it. Delicious. Clean and crack the crab, into a wok with a half a cup of chicken stock, a “lot” of fresh ground black pepper, a teaspoon of ground white pepper, good pinch of salt and a large knob of butter (100 grams per crab). Cook with lid on for about 12 minutes and then remove the lid and allow the liquid to almost evaporate away, tossing and coating the crab  till you have a thick sticky coating with little or no “sauce” to speak of. An amazing taste and smell and for the lovers of a bit of spicy kick. A true Singapore sensation using our best seaffod.

Done and Dusted!

I had a great time yesterday at our first “Bait to Plate” long lunch sharing stories about all things fishing and cooking. My 2 favourite hobbies and also my job.

It has been a long journey through the hospitality industry from the kitchen to the board room and all the way back. I have run resorts with more than 300 staff and ridden the rollercoaster of life, and everything has brought me to this position.

An opportunity to do whatever I want, whenever I want and typically my time is spent either fishing….or cooking! I have made my mistakes, taken wrong turns; my life has been a bit like the way I cook. I can make an awful lot of mess along the way but the end result is usually pretty bloody special.

I have been blessed with wonderful children and amazing supportive wife and my fantastic business partner of some 12 years who has ridden the highs and lows of business life beside me, supporting most of my decisions, and like me, can now indulge her passion for cooking and travel as a result of a lot of years of hard day in day out grind.

As a company we have formed a bond with local marketing legend Jo Sweeny who is helping us transition into the social media frenzy so important to the future of any customer focused enterprise and as an over 50 self-confessed grumpy old man, absolutely sceptical about this facebooky thingy, I’m now a convert.

 Still does not mean I know how to use it, but it is working and to see the “on line” reaction to yesterday lunch as it was being live blogged was amazing. Speaking of amazing, Russ Benning’s photographs are some of the best food photos I have ever seen. I will post a few here but the image of the Moroccan Black Mulloway on the lemon and chickpea tagine is so good you could lick the photograph and just about taste the food.

Thanks to everyone who came along, sorry to those we couldn’t fit in and I have already started thinking about the next one.

The Boat is in and the menu is set

The boat’s in and the menu has taken shape for what will be a great inaugural “Bait to Plate” long lunch on Sunday.

I love the relationship we have built with local fisherman Trevor Draper. A man I have known and admired for over 20 years and an amazingly loyal supplier. Trevor had for many many years, supplied a local fish shop but a change in ownership occurred , and finally, after years of trying to buy Trevor’s fish, we are now his main customer.

The difference in quality is amazing. Line caught iced down and only ever at sea for a few days at a time this is consistently the best fish I have been able to purchase after a lifetime in the restaurant industry. Today I picked up amazing bright red Coral trout, beautiful Spanish Mackerel Trucks, some pan size Tropical Snappers, Red Throat Emperor and the ‘Star of the Show” for our Sunday Lunch, an amazing Red Emperor. I just can’t wait to get in the kitchen and show our guests what can be done.

Our Sunday menu will be quite literally, The Whitsunday’s on a plate.

Nummus. A Polynesian fish dish using local Cobia, ‘cured” in lime juice and coconut cream with a little chilli, red onion and shallots. This is a “raw fish” dish but the lime juice breaks down the texture to give the mouth feel of cooked fish. A delightful starter.

Moroccan style Black Mulloway, on a chickpea and roasted capsicum tagine with preserved lemon and flat leaf parsley.

Crispy Skinned whole Tropical Snapper with wilted bok choy and rich Asian glaze.

The 3 Kings. You chance to decide. Coral Trout, Red Emperor and Red Throat Emperor, the 3 kings of the reef, all simply grilled with a side of hollandaise sauce and all on the one platter. Try each one and you can decide once and for all which is our best reef fish. No tricks, no fancy sauces and all caught on the same day and never frozen.

Beer Battered Spanish Mackerel and crunchy chips. Just because we can and we should. Find out why mackerel and not fish like Barramundi. How to make the prefect crunchy batter and the low down on the right oil and right cooking method.

Mud Crab Risotto, using a stock made from the fish we are having for lunch. An amazingly simple yet rich, delicious and a perfect fusion of Italian and North Queensland classics.

Leek and Red Emperor Chowder. Again using the same stock as the risotto and showing just how versatile fish bones can be. Useful for the crab pots but better in the stock pots.

Anyone for desserts? For those with any room left our dessert menu will be available.

Bon appetite and hope to see you on Sunday.

Bait to Plate Long Lunch. August 2nd

Reef festival is the perfect vehicle to hold our inaugural Bait to Plate “Long lunch”. The long lunch concept is something we started on Mother’s Day 2003 at our previous restaurant “Pescartori’s at Water Edge" and the chance to do a similar style “table banquet” meal with lots of tips, discussions and some of the preparation and cooking being done with the guests should make this a fun, interactive and I hope eye opening event. I will be showcasing both the high profile well known fish as well as some which are less well known, far cheaper and absolutely delicious if handled and cooked the right way.

We will be working with some Cobia and local Black Mulloway, Indonesian Snapper (caught locally) and Nannygai. Some Coral Trout and Red emperor  and local Spanish Mackerel, and we will even be showing you a way to make a Stunning dish for 50 guests from just 2 or 3 mud crabs,

I will also be making beautiful Fish & Leek chowder, just the thing for a winter’s night.

One of our main commercial fisherman is at the reef till Tuesday and we will be unloading and prepping from Wednesday onwards.

Join us for not only a celebration of the best and most well known fish but also some of the unsung heroes of our local fishery.

Guests will be welcome to actually get involved and help me prepare some meals if they like. Learn some chef’s tips, some fishing tips, watch how easy it is to fillet and skin, all while enjoying 2 courses of selected wine and one of our famous Mojitos on arrival and a 7 course table banquet lunch, all for $59 pp.

The day starts at 12 for a 12.30 sit down. Hope to see you there. Come as a table of 6 or more or we will “partner you up” to meet some new foodie friends and enjoy the experience.

Kev

Too Pretty to eat.

A fish we see a few of and one I just love catching and cooking with is a fish called a “black spot tusk fish” or simply a “bluey” by the locals.  My camera has a lens problem at present so the photos don’t do it justice (new camera on the way) but this really is (almost) too pretty to eat and yields beautiful white flaky fillets which can be eaten just about any way.

A long term favourite in our household is a fish and lemon risotto and always starts with a fresh whole fish, filleted and the bones turned into a stock at the same time the risotto is cooking.

Unlike a beef or chicken stock, fish stock is very quick to prepare and in fact the long slow cooking of a typical stock actually spoils a fish stock.

The process is simple. Fillet the fish and immediately put the stock pot on with the bones, onion, carrot, celery tops, bay leaf, pepper corns, salt and any herbs from the garden. If this is done “first job”, even before you move on to skin the fillets the stock will be ready to use by the time you are making your risotto.

Skin, bone and dice the fillets while moving on to fine dice some onion and garlic. Just follow the standard risotto process of sweating this off in a generous splash of olive oil before adding aborio rice a splash of white wine and by now your stock should be bubbling away nicely and ready to ladle (through a strainer) into the risotto. 25 minutes (of stirring and adding stock) later, add you diced fish, parmesan and butter for just a few minutes, a generous squeeze of lemon juice and some chopped flat leafed parsley and some 35 minutes after you started filleting you fish you have a dinner worthy of any high end Italian restaurant and just about our favourite “after fishing” dinner.