His nana might have warned him against being a chef but it was she who instilled in Nic Kearney an interest in cooking.
He was raised by his mother and his nana, a home economics teacher, for seven years in Oamaru and spent many hours after school helping his nana bake and cook.
But it was nearly by accident that he headed down the cheffing path as a career.
"I always had a passion for cooking but never pursued it."
The family moved to Dunedin and when he finished King’s High School the plan was to go to university but he decided to take a year out, earn some money and "see where my head is at".
So he got a job in the bakery at a local supermarket and then at the end of the year got a job at St Clair restaurant Salt washing dishes.
It was his first taste of kitchen life and he began to think it could maybe be for him but giving himself options he applied for both building and chef courses at Otago Polytechnic as his nana always encouraged him to get a trade rather than becoming a chef because of the "hideous" hours they worked.
"I loved the atmosphere of the kitchen and I’ve never looked back."
He got accepted to the level 4 cooking course first, so he took that as a sign and enrolled. A job as a commis chef at Salt followed.
"It was amazing — I went from cooking fries to cooking classical French techniques. It was like starting fresh all over again."
He credits Bareiter and his sous chef Nico Parry for really igniting his love of cooking and especially the art of fine dining.
"Before that I’d never thought twice about it. I started to buy cookbooks, I wanted to learn more about cooking and I realised there was so much more to learn."
It also opened his eyes to a career path and the opportunities available in Auckland. He was lucky enough to secure a job at Josh Emmett’s Auckland restaurant Onslow last year.
The past 10 months has been quite a journey for the young chef, who started out in the larder section preparing salads and cold fish courses and has since moved into the pastry section due to his experience at Titi.
"I love it. There is so much room to grow in a kitchen this size too."
He has been amazed by the experiences he has had catering functions for premium consumer brands such as Prada and Aston Martin as well as then prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
"That was a different experience. She got to eat my truffle — it was part of a petit four board."
So when a fellow chef suggested he enter the Beef and Lamb Young Ambassador Chef competition— which aims to provide an opportunity for young chefs to showcase their talents, elevate their profiles in the industry and inspire excellence in their kitchens — he thought back to watching the previous competition.
The competition requires young chefs to submit their best main-course beef and lamb dishes, using both prime and secondary cuts of beef and lamb.
Kearney made the finals along with two other chefs, Jacob Aomarere-Poole from The Strong Room in Feilding, and Max Loh, an alumnus from Le Cordon Bleu in Wellington, and was invited to Peter Gordon’s Homeland in Auckland for a live cook-off. With 90 minutes on the clock, the chefs had to cook their two dishes.
He selected to cook stuffed lamb saddle with kawakawa, parsnip and lamb neck beignet, and steak and mushroom pie with sirloin and bone marrow butter.
"I felt happy with my dishes as a concept — it was Kiwi."
The lamb dish was inspired by his nana’s Sunday roast and included a nod to his new home in its use of kawakawa, an ingredient he had heard of but had never seen grow until he moved to Auckland. The beef was inspired by Kiwis, especially those in Otago and Southland, the love of a good pie and his experience making them at his first job in the bakery at New World.
"I wanted to put a fine dining take on it. I thought steak and onions or steak and mushrooms. Steak and mushrooms sung out to me a bit more."
His time at Titi secured him a sponsor in Greenstone Creek for his beef and he trimmed the fat and sinew from both meats in front of the judges during the cook.
"I was the only one that ran over the clock and I was a lot more stressed out. I thought I’d lose points. I think I was the only one who broke down the meat. I thought they wanted it demonstrated to show the skill."
It felt surreal to win after after all the hard work leading up to the competition, he says.
Judging the competition were the senior Ambassador Chefs, MacLean Fraser, brand ambassador for Lumina Lamb; Andrew May of Amayjen The Restaurant in Palmerston North; BJ Sebastian of Plume Restaurant in Matakana; and Cameron Davies from The Fat Duck in Te Anau.
The judges were unanimous in their decision to pick Kearney as the winner.
Fraser said what left a lasting impression on the judging panel was how well Kearney showcased his exceptional culinary skills.
"From the way he handled the beef and lamb products he chose to work with — right through to his methodical approach in executing his dishes with a keen eye for detail. And of course, both his dishes were absolutely delicious."
As part of his prize, Kearney gets a trip back to Otago to visit the Provenance Lamb farm in the Maniototo, which he is looking forward to.
Inspiration comes from Bareiter, top British chef Marco Pierre White and his senior colleagues at Onslow, who are happy to help.
"I can bring an idea to them and talk about it."
The competition has further whetted his appetite to travel to Australia and Europe for more work experience as he is aware there is a "whole different culinary world" out there.
However, he plans to stay in Auckland for at least the next year to continue absorbing as much as he can from his work at Onslow.
"Ultimately, I’d like to come back and settle in Otago."
Nic Kearney’s Beef and Mushroom Pie
BEEF:
1 kg oxtail or beef cheeks
400 g salt
4 L water
600 g beef stock
Mushroom duxelle:
2 shallots (diced)
2 cloves garlic (grated)
250g white button mushrooms (brunoise)
250g swiss brown mushrooms (brunoise)
60ml cab sav balsamic vinegar
10g chopped thyme
Mushroom ketchup:
1 brown onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (grated)
250 g white button mushrooms
250 g swiss brown mushrooms
60 ml malt vinegar
20 g mushroom powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
½ tsp nutmeg
1 handful thyme
To serve
A few white button mushrooms
Thyme
Method:
Beef: Make a 10% salt brine by boiling salt and water chill overnight. Add oxtail, and leave for 12 hours. Remove from brine and air dry in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Heat pan on medium-high and sear all sides of the oxtail, take your time to make sure all the flavour is sealed in. Cook in the crockpot for 8-10 hours or overnight. Remove all excess stock and reduce in a pan by 50% until it becomes a glaze. Pull meat off the oxtail and discard any bones. You can substitute oxtail for beef cheeks, just remember to trim the fat and sinew off, and cook the beef cheek accordingly. Pull your meat apart and mix with some off the stock reduction.
Mushroom duxelle: Sweat down shallots and garlic for 10 minutes on low, until they are translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until the water has evaporated, deglaze with balsamic. Season heavily and cook until the pan becomes dry, drain excess oil and chill to stop the cooking process. Set aside to mix with the beef mix later.
Mushroom ketchup: Sweat down onions and garlic for 10 minutes on a low heat until they are translucent. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until all the moisture has almost evaporated, deglaze with malt vinegar. Add the rest of your ingredients and cook out for a further 15 mins. Take off the heat and put a lid on to keep all the flavour in. Blitz until a puree texture is achieved. If it needs any more liquid while blitzing, you can add some more soy/vinegar/olive oil to taste. Don’t forget to check the seasoning.
Pastry: For the pastry I recommend using your favourite store-bought pastry for this and blind bake the pastry until cooked through.
To Serve: Heat up your pastry. Mix together the oxtail, mushroom duxelle and some of the reduced cooking stock. Build your pie by smearing your mushroom ketchup along the base and adding the beef mix, and more ketchup on top. Slice some raw white button mushrooms to spread on top, sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves over top and add a light drizzle of olive oil over the raw mushrooms. Enjoy this over a cold winter's night.
