"The more people think and talk about food, the better choices they’ll make about how, and what, they eat. So let me have a crack at this for you - a few food-related thoughts and an answer to that one question I’ve found nearly everybody is interested in: just how do you cook the perfect egg?
When you’re only as good as the last meal you cooked, then every meal is important. That sounds like a bit of cliche, but it really is true.
The only meals that aren’t in that category might be the ones I cook at home. If things go wrong there, it doesn’t really matter - although Hazel will definitely offer an opinion. In the restaurant, things mostly go wrong when you’re under the pump. On those days, you might be tempted to cut a corner. It has to be a calculated decision and organisation is the key to avoiding those situations, whether you’re cooking for paying customers, a dinner party or a casual barbecue.
Consider the backyard barbie. Everything is going great guns, and then you’ve got to race off and find a pair of tongs, a fish slice, oil, tinfoil, whatever. That’s time you are away from the food - and you don’t want to be away from the food. So you take a calculated risk.
We’ve all been to restaurants where they’re obviously running low on something, and they’ve cut back to stretch the menu until their next delivery. Could that have had a little more sauce? Why is one of the ingredients that’s listed on the menu not on my plate?
As a chef, there is a point when you should stop cutting back, because the dish is not as you intended, and the customer will notice. I remember somebody telling me how annoyed they were because they’d been to a restaurant immediately after the Christmas holiday shutdown and there was no seafood option. That’s a great thing. Clearly that kitchen is only using fresh seafood and they’re not going to buy frozen products just to cover the times the fishermen aren’t out working. Get over it, I say.
Gadgets
Chefs have access to so many gadgets, but I’ll tell you the two things I couldn’t do without: a good lemon squeezer and a really great grater.
Not a box grater, I’m talking more of a Microplane style - a sharp, fine grater. You know when you get to the end of the night and you’ve got that little bit of blue cheese left? Do I throw it away? Do I wrap it up and put it in the fridge where it will never be eaten? None of the above. Wrap it in cling wrap and tuck it away in the freezer and the next time you’re doing a salad, or taking a piece of chicken off the barbecue, or whipping up some pasta, take the cheese out just before serving and grate it frozen. Now you’ve got this beautiful blue-cheese snow.
You can do the same thing with nuts. A couple of Brazil nuts a day will give you all the selenium you need - use a fine, sharp grater to shave them over your salad or whatever else appeals.
Dream ingredients
My dream ingredients? Parmesan and good salt. The best Parmesan has what people call ‘crystals’ that they sometimes assume are salt flakes. They’re actually an amino acid, usually tyrosine, present in milk. As the protein breaks down, those crunchy bits form. The more aged the Parmesan, the more of those crystals you’ll find, and when you grate the cheese, it adds a texture to a dish that you just can’t manufacture.
As I said earlier, there are not many restaurants that don’t have Parmesan on the menu somewhere, because it is a dream ingredient. Sometimes, I sprinkle Parmesan like salt - and by salt, I mean the good, flaky stuff. There are so many varieties on the market, but the ones that stand out for me are Maldon, Himalayan and Murray River. They’re my three hero salts. Taste any one of them, and then taste a regular iodised salt for comparison, and you’ll probably never cook with the iodised product again.
Saltiness is a flavour, but it also adds texture. When you cook a steak, season it beforehand and then season it again when you serve it - especially if you’ve sliced it. That mouthfeel, when you take a piece of juicy steak that has been sprinkled with flaky salt? Don’t take my word for it, just try it and notice the difference.
It should go without saying, but I’m also going to remind you to taste what has been put in front of you before you season it. It drives me nuts when the first thing people do in a restaurant is attack a dish with salt and pepper. I think it says a lot about how they eat at home. Clearly they are accustomed to bland food that always needs extra flavour. I get that some people like a little more salt and some people like a little more pepper. That’s why we put them on the restaurant table. But give the cook the respect he or she deserves by at least tasting before you sprinkle and grind. And if the restaurant has got it right, and you’ve added more seasoning without checking, then you’ve only got yourself to blame for a dish that is too salty.
Cooking eggs
Speaking of salt. And vinegar. Poached eggs: they’re controversial, aren’t they? Do you add vinegar to the poaching water? What about salt? What temperature should you cook them at? How much water? How fresh are the eggs? All of those questions are answered in different ways in different restaurants.
Firstly, unless you’re dealing with an old egg or you particularly like the flavour, you don’t need vinegar. Each to their own, but the main technical reason for adding it is that vinegar helps coagulate the albumen in the egg. In simple terms, it helps hold the egg white together. The older an egg, the quicker that white will collapse.
I’d say nine times out of 10, a bad poached egg comes down to one of two issues: the egg is not fresh, or the water is too hot. You want that water to be just under 100 degrees; just bubbling off the bottom of the pan, but not boiling at the top.
You can put some salt in there, which is a bit of a restaurant trick, because salt changes the density of the water.
You know how you’re more buoyant in the salty ocean than a freshwater lake? Same with eggs. After about three minutes, the egg will tend to want to float. That’s really helpful when you’re doing lots of eggs, but for a home situation the most important thing is the freshness of the egg.
Grab a tall glass and fill it with tap water. Gently drop the egg in.
Ideally, it should sink to the bottom. If it’s floating, you don’t want to use it.
If it’s even remotely starting to rise up from the bottom of the glass, that’s when you might want to think about adding a splash of vinegar to your poaching water. Now you’re ready to cook.
Break your eggs into ramekins (crack eggs on a flat surface rather than the edge of a bowl, you’ll be far less likely to end up with broken yolks or with any shell in the eggs). Your pot of hot water should be just bubbling, not boiling. Stir the water gently to get it moving and cool it down just a little and then plop your eggs in. Three minutes.
That’s it. You need a spoon with slots in it to fish them out, and a clean tea towel. Once you’ve scooped out the eggs, rest the spoon against the dry cloth for a few seconds to allow the cloth to absorb the excess moisture, instead of your toast. Because there is nothing worse than soggy toast, right?
Hard-boiled? Easy. Put the eggs in a pot of cold water and as soon as it hits the boil, jam a lid on, remove the pan from the element, and set the timer for 12 minutes. Perfect.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, if I really had to choose a last supper? Spaghetti carbonara - the proper way."
THE BOOK
Simon Gault: No Half Measures with Kim Knight, published by Bateman Books, RRP $49.99.
Bacon and cheese souffles
This souffle came about as a result of Larry Ellison ordering a bacon and egg souffle when I was cooking for him on his boat. He loved it so much that he immediately asked for another. This is my simplified version of what Larry loved. It’s a little bit challenging to master, but it’s tasty and the perfect brunch.
Makes 6
3 Tbsp butter (for buttering souffle dishes)
1 ½ cups (375ml) milk
a pinch of nutmeg
¼ tsp smoked paprika
3 ½ Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
3 rashers bacon, grilled until crisp then finely chopped
1 Tbsp Simon Gault Home Cuisine Flavours of India seasoning
5 large eggs, separated
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese
salt and cracked black pepper
3 Tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Method
Butter 6 x 10cm-wide and 6cm-deep souffle dishes with ½ Tbsp of butter each.
Preheat the oven to 190degC. In a small saucepan, warm the milk, nutmeg and paprika until just below boiling point.
In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. When it begins to foam, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until sandy-coloured but not browned (about 3 minutes). Remove from the heat and whisk in the hot milk, then return to low-medium heat and continue whisking until the mixture is thick and smooth (about 4 minutes). Remove from the heat and mix in the bacon and Indian seasoning. Add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then mix in the Gruyere cheese. Season well with salt and cracked pepper, then transfer to a large bowl, cover and set aside at room temperature.
In a very clean electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Mix a quarter of the egg white into the souffle base (which must be lukewarm or at room temperature) to loosen the mix, then gently fold in the remaining egg white until combined.
Divide the mixture between the buttered souffle dishes then evenly sprinkle the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the top. Immediately transfer to the oven and bake on the bottom rack for about 25 minutes, or until risen and golden. Serve immediately.
Spaghetti carbonara
Truthfully, if I had to nominate my last meal on Earth, it would be hard to go past carbonara - authentic carbonara, with no cream, just olive oil, garlic, and guanciale (pork cheek) rendered down until it becomes saucy. So simple. So good.
Serves 4
100g guanciale (alternatively, pancetta or rindless streaky bacon will still be delicious)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
200g dried spaghetti
75g finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to serve
Method
Dice the guanciale (or pancetta or bacon) in roughly ½ x 1cm pieces. Place the peeled garlic cloves on a chopping board and flatten with the back of a knife.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and cook, following packet instructions, until just al dente.
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over a medium heat cook guanciale until crispy and golden. Add the garlic then turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, discard the garlic and set the pan aside (retaining the fat that has rendered out of the meat).
In a large bowl, whisk together about ¾ of the grated cheese, the whole egg, egg yolks and black pepper.
Strain the pasta when ready, reserving the cooking water.
Allow pasta to cool for 1 minute (if it’s too hot, the pasta could scramble the eggs).
Meanwhile, whisk ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water into the egg mixture (this will warm the mixture slightly and further lessen the likelihood of the eggs scrambling). Add the just-cooled pasta to the bowl, along with the crispy guanciale and rendered fat from the frying pan. Toss or stir to combine, moving quickly so the pasta retains its heat and cooks the eggs sufficiently to create a creamy, cheesy sauce.
Serve immediately, topped with a sprinkle of the remaining grated cheese and a fresh grind of black pepper.
Simon says
Adjust the consistency of the sauce if necessary by adding more of the pasta cooking water – the pasta should be coated in a glossy sauce.
