Best of best in best of breed: attending the Ōra King Awards lunch by Anna King Shahab
It’s one of the hottest tickets on the food writers’ calendar. The day when a select few journalists are invited to join a select group of industry professionals to celebrate the four chefs at the top of their salmon game. There are four awards recognising the best Ōra King dishes here in New Zealand and internationally, and Ōra King ambassadors who are doing the best job of promoting this fantastic best of breed King salmon both in New Zealand and internationally.
This year, having judged the New Zealand best dish awards alongside Lauraine Jacobs, I knew to whom one of the four awards of the day was going. After a few months spent travelling the country and tasting a total of 10 dishes, and having spent many hours convening over cups of tea with Lauraine, I felt excited knowing our winner for New Zealand’s best dish was a stellar example from the really strong offering this year.
A smooth flight to Blenheim, a coach ride to Havelock and finally a boat ride through Pelorus Sound to the deeper waters of Keneperu Sound brought us to our venue for the day’s festivities – the beautiful Raetihi Lodge (what a spot: mental note to make it back here for a longer stay).
Appropriately, Cloudy Bay Pelorus was poured to greet everyone and went very nicely with the Ōra King salmon sashimi and local Kiwa oysters freshly shucked by Meg from Kono. A lovely new discovery for me was those beautiful oysters with the Aronui Albarino: ka pai guys, what a magnificent match. Folks who prefer the grain were well catered for with beers from local Marlborough brewer Renaissance. Freshly shucked Cloudy Bay clams were to have rounded out the kai moana offering but a little mix up between the chiller and freezer meant Dion from Cloudy Bay bravely upholding his ‘alive or nothing’ philosophy. I just hope those beauties made a great spaghetti alle vongole or a midnight snack for the folk who stayed overnight at Raetihi Lodge.
With many of the day’s attendees due back at Blenheim airport later that afternoon, time was certainly of the essence and we were soon sitting down to freshly baked bread and Lot 8 Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I enthusiastically dipped in…which is how I managed to accomplish my own special achievement of the day: a large, look-at-this-idiot-shaped oil stain on the lapel of my silk blazer. Well, it was worth it. That’s some great olive oil.
Then the meal and awards announcements began. With three courses and four awards lunch was a steady stream of excitement. It went like this:
The luncheon
Three chefs took charge in the kitchen at Raetihi Lodge and each presented a course featuring Ōra King salmon, paired with a different Giesen’s wine from their barrel fermented range.
First course: Carla Jones from Sydney’s 4Fourteen went wild, enlisting the help of fellow Sydney chef and foraging nerd Elijah Holland. They sourced edible weeds from around the lodge to create the beautifully presented dish Ōra King Manuka Smoked Salmon, Burnt Lemon & Walnut Curd, House-made Manuka Honey & Seaweed Lavosh.
w/ Giesen The August Barrel Fermented Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012
Second Course: Zibibbo’s Glen Taylor presented Ink & Sounds Cured Ōra King Salmon, Chorizo, Leaves, Umami. Rich and savoury, flavour-wise it lived up to the chef’s description of being a ‘meaty’ dish, yet the presence of actual meat remained a mystery – just where was the chorizo hiding?
w/ Giesen The Fuder Clayvin Marlborough Chardonnay 2013
Third Course: Ben Batterbury from The Rees Hotel’s True South Dining Room looked north to the English seaside for inspiration and brought us a weirdly wonderful savoury dessert course: Ōra King salmon at the Seaside. Anyone who can recreate a piece of windy British beach life complete with a chunk of Brighton Rock with salmon at its heart and make it tasty to boot has got some serious culinary talent.
w/ Giesen The Fuder Matthews Lane Sauvignon Blanc 2012
The awards
Best Ōra King Ambassador International went to Matt Lambert of The Musket Room in New York City, completing a trifecta for Lambert in the category. Matt has become a familiar face at the Ōra’s but was unable to make this year’s event, so was missed by all.
Best Ōra King Ambassador New Zealand was snapped up by Nick Honeyman who, at the last minute, was unable to attend the luncheon. A message from Nick was read to the assembled guests by NZ King Salmon’s Jemma McCowan revealing his clairvoyant prowess in his admission that really he “just couldn’t face Matt Lambert taking out another award”. Long may the friendly competition live on.
Best Ōra King Dish New Zealand was won by Thomas Barta of Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill in Auckland with his stunning dish ‘Flavours of the Sea’. Thomas charmingly accepted his award with the opening statement ‘I’ve never won anything in my life’. We suspect he’ll look back on this day as the start of a steady stream of accolades.
Best Ōra King Dish International went to Elijah Holland of The Powder Keg in Sydney with his dish Rolled 42° Ōra King salmon belly, black eshallots, organic young potato confit, pickled seaweed, foraged flowers, smoked Ōra King consommé. Here’s a young star on the rise. The Powder Keg is a must on my next visit to Sydney.
Along with copious amounts of kudos, the four winning chefs received framed korowai created especially by local artist Shanell Kelly. Each korowai represented different elements relating to the natural environment of the Ōra King salmon. The sustainability theme was especially fitting given the New Zealand King Salmon industry being recognised earlier this year as a Best Choice in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch guide – the only farmed salmon globally with such a status.
Well done to everyone involved for a thoroughly enjoyable day in the spectacular Sounds; a reminder to all of us of the beautiful backyard from which we are lucky enough to gather our food here in Aotearoa.
By Anna King Shahab
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