Justin North

Well  I suppose you knew that my golf buggy adventures didn’t end at the night before. When I woke up to a most brilliant view I quickly got all ready to head to the Justin North Masterclass. I jumped into the buggy, tried to start it, realised after a while that it was plugged in and being recharged, figured out what to do, got lost, almost got in an(other) buggy accident and after a kind soul dropped me off, finally made it to the Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Frantic darlings frantic!

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson the intimidatingly statuesque (I should not have have worn Havs standing next to her) host of last season’s Masterchef is hosting the cooking Masterclass and she gives us an introduction to Justin and how he grew up. You may have seen my Day In the Life of Justin North story last year in which I followed him to a trip around Flemington markets and the Sydney Fish Market. He prefers to buy produce direct from the producers as he can talk to them, get inspired by the produce in front of him and get better prices. He tells us that whilst there was always a small group of chefs that would regularly buy direct from the markets, when the GFC hit, he saw more and more of Sydney’s chefs buying produce.

Today he is demonstrating three dishes for us and he starts off with a blue eyed trevalla which he sources from a supplier in Browns Mountain off Sydney heads where there is an underwater mountain rich in nutrients and a variety of flora and fauna. The fish is selectively long lined and isn’t a protected species as it is not mass trawled.

Demonstrating an infra red gun: I suspect it’s a bit of a boy’s toy!

To cook the fish today he uses a temperature gun which is an infra red gun that you pass over an item and it will read the temperature of the item. He cooks it at a low temperature of 50C so that it becomes slowly translucent and doesn’t release the proteins and the fish doesn’t become too tense. He pairs this with a cauliflower puree, some compressed cucumber (which you can do in a food saver machine) which he demonstrates and some red shiso and baby coriander.

Confit miso Blue eye with cuttlefish and cauliflower

And like magic (or actually just like what happens on Oprah!) wait staff come out carrying large trays and hand everyone samples! The fish is beautifully tender and luscious and the creamy cauliflower puree adds a nice dimension to it.

Sarah asks Justin about the way that he buys beef in and he is the only chef in Sydney to buy in a whole carcass. He buys Gundoee Wagyu which is a breed that has been crossed twice and is 75% wagyu and 25% angus. They buy 1-3 carcasses a month and they dry age them for 4-6 weeks. This is when meat is hung from a hook at 3C in 60% humidity with a lot of airflow. As a result the water precipitates, the flavour is concentrated, it becomes lighter in weight and the enzyme activity during this time means that the meat is tenderised. He says that this is where buying in the whole carcass helps as the cost of buying a single sirloin cut, ageing it for 4-6 weeks and only have it reduce by 25% means that restaurants need to put the price up higher. Some places wet age in a sous vide bag but here the meat sits in its own blood and can have a slightly livery taste and it isn’t seen as desirable as dry ageing. And if you are interested in trying a complimentary Wagyu burger on Justin, read on my Dear Reader!

Turnip and swede

His next dish is the “forgotten vegetables” and these include swede, turnips, taro, Hawaiian sweet potato, celeriac and congo potatoes which are a fascinating black coloured potato.We watch as he peels and slices the carrots and explains that everything is used at Becasse. When they peel carrots the peel and tops are combined with thyme to make a cooking stock where they boil the carrots instead of plain water as it prevents the carrot from losing any flavour that way.

Congo potatoes

While he explains this our next dish comes out. It’s the “forgotten vegetables” that have a lovely smoked flavour and a wisp of prosciutto on top and some deep fried celery heart leaves as well as the most divine little pork scratchings.

Crackling, oh lovely crackling!

Pork scratchings you may ask? Not just the domain of Vicki Pollard, these are bite sized bites of baked and deep fried pork fat. Some heirloom and rare breeds of pig have a particularly thick layer of fat which is perfect to make crackling and scratchings from. Pork scratchings are when the crackling has been scored, salted, dried out, salt removed and then baked and then deep fried. And I don’t need to tell you how good they are do I?

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Jet lag is an awful thing to get over. Sometimes when I think I’ve got it beat then I go to sleep and wake up with a a start at 3am. Or I’ll start nodding off in the middle of dinner between courses. I should explain that it is in the mid 30′s celsius temperature wise here in Montreal at the moment which doesn’t help. Not that I’m complaining, I did wish for this weather after all. One thing that is guaranteed to wake me up however is food. And when it’s a restaurant with the most extensive foie gras menu in Canada I’m most certainly jolted awake. Au Pied de Cochon means “foot of a pig”. It featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations where he ate a 16 course foie gras meal. Chef Martin Picard told his chefs to randomly pick items from the extensive foie gras menu and send them out to Bourdain “and when he dies, stop”.

Au Pied de Cochon is one of those places that is so well known and popular that there is no sign outside. You always need to book ahead of time, even on a quiet night like a Tuesday. As it’s Summertime the front of the restaurant is filled with a bounty of fresh local seafood much of which we don’t get in Australia. These are a Summer item only and come Winter the front display would be filled with foie gras. Ah foie gras that indulgent, controversial treat. Au Pied de Cochon extensive foie gras menu includes foie gras poutine, foie gras hamburger, cured foie gras and boudin tart among the ten  foie gras items. This is not the place to take vegetarians as it also features roast piglet (aww, they are very cute I have to admit), pig’s head for two, “Happy” pork chop and  well as a slew of other pork dishes as well as boudins (sausages).

Duck in the can is served!

There is also “Duck in a Can” which is thankfully nothing like the scary chicken in a can. Instead it’s a stew with duck that is made here as they have their own cannery. I want to order it but Mr NQN puts his paw down and says no. It’s hot and he doesn’t feel like rich food. Fair enough. Diners can buy the cans for $36 each and they need to be used within two days. A lot of the items are rather plainly described so they do require some enquiries from the friendly and knowledgeable staff who are all young and good looking (well one does tend to notice these things!).

The ingredients in Duck in a Can

A diner owner chair

Au Pied de Cochon is owned by Martin Picard who is known as “The Wild Chef” and he has his own television show of the same title. On this show he tracks food from when it is caught until when it is cooked and he also employs the nose to tail philosophy. The restaurant itself started on somewhat of a shoestring. Money was tight and to help buy vital pieces of furniture, diners were able to buy their own tables and chairs. The artwork in the restaurant is all done by his staff including an interesting number where his face has devil’s horns drawn above and a love heart underneath it.

Artwork featuring the chef Martin Picard done by staff members

Foie Gras Poutine $23

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