must eat by Russell Blaikie
Another must read cookbook from Australia's foodie west
Robyn Lewis
Russell Blaikie, author of must eat
There are some great things coming out of Western Australia at present – and I’m not talking mining.
Perhaps it’s the relative isolation from the eastern states of Australia, the proximity to Asia and continents beyond, or the heady scent of locally-grown truffles in the air, but the west is really shining in food as well as wine, and seems to be on the way to developing its own style of cuisine.
Russell Blaikie is amongst the chefs leading the charge. One of Perth’s favourites, he established Must Winebar in inner Perth back in 2001. With over 600 international wines on the list compiled by wine consultant Paul McArdle and including many by the (Riedel) glass, it quickly became a winerlovers’ mecca.
The casual barfood with a twist by Blaikie added a French bistro touch to Perth, and swept diners off their feet. Blaikie’s previous experience included stints at the Dorchester in London and 44 King Street in Perth (with ‘brilliantly talented’ head chef Bernard McCarthy). He’s now a name on ABC radio, but he credits his early years growing up on a farm near Margaret River as providing the foundation for his career as a chef.
Roll on nearly ten years and the birth of Must Margaret River, a winebar that boasts an A to Z of Margaret River’s producers and a careful selection from Australia and around the world. Head chef on location is Chris Cheong, a man with a passion for ‘cellaring’ beef who was firstly an apprentice in Perth, with Frenchman Andre Mahe – described by Blaikie as ‘the finest charcutier in Australia’ – as Must’s head chef in Perth. What a team.
If the real estate catchcry is ‘location, location, location’, for modern chefs it’s ‘provenance, seasonality, suppliers’, and in must eat, Blaikie certainly walks the talk.
This is I learn his fourth cookbook and it’s as much about these three tenets and especially the stories of the suppliers as it is about the recipes, of which he explains: ‘some … have sprung from an original idea, (or) trying to recreate dishes I’ve eaten in Parisian bistros, while others hail from an idea or technique gleaned from another chef, or another cookbook’.
There will be plenty of chefs thumbing through must eat for similar reasons, and indeed Blaikie wants it that way. He’s keen to see new young chefs develop good relationships with their suppliers, to think about food not as a commodity but to respect its origins including the animals’ welfare and environmental sustainability factors.
The must eat recipes are restaurant dishes to ‘ideally serve to inspire your own cooking at home’, and have been developed over many years. What you get here is a distillation of the Must chefs’ many combined years of experience.
If you’re short on time for cooking – and many of us are these days – Blaikie’s advice is to select something you like the look of, whether a main, a side dish, sauce or salad, and to share the plate with some of your own recipes, or even just some good bread.
As he explains, true bistro food is ‘cooked from the heart to feed the soul. It is not always rich, but is rich in tradition and made to be enjoyed in the company of good wine’.
All the recipes had a specific wine match by Paul McArdle. Blaikie advises: ‘if you are unable to find that particular wine then use Paul’s notes as a guide, or ask a knowledgeable cellar person at your local bottle shop to recommend a wine with similar characteristics.’
Rather than listing vintages, which would be somewhat restrictive, McArdle has chosen wines from producers who have shown consistency over time. These cover a wide range of countries, regions, varieties and styles – enough to have you experimenting for years. His notes explain the reasons behind his recommendations, and suggestions for spicy foods abound (unlike some he recommends pinot noir with hotter dishes, a match I also enjoy).
And so, to the recipes. The book starts with bar snacks, which personally I’d rather enjoy in a bar than fiddle with making myself, although the Bararat-Spiced Lamb Meatballs looks like a sure and easy winner in our lamb-mad household. We can’t go past a good oyster, either – the quintessential French bistro food, enjoyed in must eat both cooked and raw with a selection of dressings.
It’s in the starters that Blaikie’s seasonal philosophy really starts to shine, and all are catered for with the likes of fresh Asparagus, Over the Moon Organic Feta, Macadamia Crumble with Verjuice Dressing; Caramelised Fig, Jamón Ibérica and Roquefort Salad with Walnut Dressing; Pan-friend Gnocchi served with Slow-braised Wagyu Shin and Parsley Purée, or with Rabbit Ragoût and Green Olive Tapenade. The range of tarts look perfect for summer – oh, how I wish we could get yabbies where I live…. surely one of Australia’s most underutilised delicacies and deserving of a far wider audience abroad.
There’s a whole section on charcuterie, with terrines, Chicken Liver Parfait with Grenache Jelly, rillettes, boudin blanc made of chicken and lobster, and even Perth head chef Andre Mahe’s recipe for pork sausages that have been on their menu since 2001. No fear of competition apparent here!
Mains cover the entire range from fish and seafood through to game and meats: some that take my fancy include Rabbit and Portobello Mushroom Pie; Middle Eastern Spiced Lamb Shank Braise with Mograbieh Salad and Eggplant Tagine; Seared Margaret River Venison with Glazed Baby Beetroot (cooked with port) and Potato Gratin; and a fine-looking paella and cassoulet.
Vegetarians are catered for in the wide range of sides, many of which could be combined for a veg meal. The Green Beans, Mint, EVOO and Sea Salt combo is similar to a recent delicious salad I ate at Sydney’s new Bar H (try with squid); and the Chickpea and Chorizo Braise could be made meatless. Blaikie’s son Alex contributes a recipe for Macaroni Cheese that would wean any child off packet mix forever, and makes a great accompaniment to an aged beef steak.
Truffles appear frequently, not to set must eat at the level of the unattainable but because in August they are now bountiful in southwest Western Australia, and fast becoming as much a feature on seasonal WA menus as in Europe. Now we can get them fresh, why not enjoy? This tells you how.
The recipes are interspersed with profiles and photographs of producers like Juliet Bateman and David Schober with their Jersey dairy herd, producers of Over the Moon cheeses; third-generation fisherman Trevor Price who is the last remaining commercial fisherman operating on the Augusta region’s Blackwood River; Ray Kilpatrick the oyster shucker; Gerhard Tischner with his free-range poultry, and an unforgettable photo of John Saunders leading his tame herd of Ringwould cheese milking goats like a Pied Piper. They give must eat a strong sense of place and connectedness, and indeed contentedness, real not contrived.
This carries right through desserts, with beautiful summer berries grown by Phillip Marshall near Albany served in a WA version of Eton Mess; local Pears Poached in Shiraz, Honeycomb and Crème Fraiche, and a Cherry and White Chocolate Clafoutis that I’ll be treating my family to this Christmas as an Antipodean alternative to heavy pudding.
Indeed the recipes seem very suited to our Australian climate and our adventurous nature. The Olive Oil, Fig and Macadamia Ice Cream with Madacamia Tuile was an award-winning dish created by Debra Hartmann, in turn originally based on one by David Tsirekas of Perama Greek Restaurant in Sydney. Hartmann obligingly shared her recipe with Blaikie back in 2001; it’s been on the Must menu ever since and went on to be listed as one of Gourmet Traveller’s top 50 dishes of the year.
Most recipes have photographs by talented photographer Craig Kindler, so you can see what you’re aiming to create; must eat is not molecular gastronomy technique nor high food art presentation, but a few visual cues help most of us. The dishes might be a bit beyond the average cook’s ability on a weeknight, but given a bit more time on a weekend are certainly achievable, and are sure to win compliments and become repeat favourites.
Frequenters of Must Winebar will be pleased to find a selection of cocktail recipes at the back; whip one up to enjoy while cooking one of Blaikie’s dishes and your wine selection is breathing. There are recipes for dressings, stocks and sauces, confit tomatoes and baby carrots, chilli tomato jam, red wine, port and madeira juses and other staples and extras that will turn the ordinary into something not.
Must eat ends with a bibliography of cookbooks, which provide an insight to the mind, inspirations and food journey that Blaikie has taken. He’s now come full circle, the local boy returned home, made good and now recognised for his talent, and that of the team he has built around him.
A must buy book, and when you do, you’re sure to be hankering after a trip to the west to enjoy even more!
Must eat by Russell Blaikie with wine notes by Paul McArdle and photography by Craig Kinder is published by UWA (Crawley, WA, 2010; sc 297 pp) and retails for RRP A$49.95.
Members and subscribers of VisitVineyards.com and Winepros Archive can purchase must eat from our bookpartners Seekbooks at 12.5% discount here (postage extra).
Regions
- Margaret River (WA)
- South West WA (WA)
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