Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the morning at Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill in Auckland with Head Chef Thomas Barta and his kitchen brigade. The purpose of my visit, a photoshoot with the talented Jonny Davis.
Thomas took the crown for the Best Ōra King Dish NZ at this year’s awards lunch, so Jonny and I were invited along to Harbourside to capture Thomas recreating his winning dish ‘Flavours of the Sea’ along with a few of Harbourside’s Ōra King specials.
Thomas is humble, passionate and talented; Harbourside is lucky to have him running the show.
After winning the Best Dish NZ award we asked Thomas if he would like to write a blog about his experience of the Ōra King Awards. Read on and be prepared to like Thomas whether you’ve met him or not.
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Thomas Barta
I have never really participated in any food competitions.
When I was a young chef I entered a food competition in England where it was a mystery box and we had to create a dish within two hours.
I finished second place which made me extremely proud but disappointed at the same time. I never liked to be second, I always want to be first. The best. And that’s not easy.
So last year I entered the Ōra King competition and with my dish I scored nine out of 10. Again good, but not good enough.
When I heard Ōra King was running the ‘Best Dish NZ’ competition again I was excited. I love challenges, but I didn’t know what I should do. I spent a lot of time thinking but couldn’t come up with anything that would WOW me.
My dish had to be perfect in every way. Beautiful, tasty, interesting. Something different. Something out of the box. There are so many good chefs around New Zealand and to compete against them with a very good dish is just not good enough. The dish had to have a message, a story.
And then one day one of my suppliers came in and brought in some exciting dried seaweeds from around New Zealand and asked me for some hot water.
He scattered the seaweeds around the plate and poured over the water. Suddenly all those dried seaweeds started to move, grow and become alive. The plate looked like a beach – I was amazed.
It immediately came into my head what I would do for the Ōra King NZ dish. “I’m gonna create the beach on a plate” I thought. I needed a liquid to help the seaweed rehydrate so I decided to make a tasty fish soup; a bouillabaisse.
But bouillabaisse is usually heavy and I was looking for something light which wouldn’t overpower the rest of the ingredients. So I decided to clarify it and I ended up with a beautiful golden, crystal clear broth. Genius!
For the soup, firstly, I had to make three types of stocks. One fish stock, one chicken stock and one crayfish stock and clam cooking juice. Then I made the soup, which had to be clarified and reduced.
I had to be very careful with the seasoning because all those seaweeds are very powerful. I had to carefully balance the flavours and that wasn’t easy. I created the soup again and again from scratch, and finally I found the right balance. When I tasted it I was in heaven. I knew it was done. It was light, tasty, elegant and sweet. Perfect.
I decided the rest of the ingredients would be those close to me: crayfish, paua, scampi, Cloudy Bay Clams and octopus. I love all of these ingredients individually and to put them together on the plate is just a great idea.
I tried to keep all the ingredients as natural as possible. Gently poached crayfish in court bouillon bound with a touch of lemon and chive mayonnaise. Quickly fried paua in garlic butter sitting on saffron rouille potatoes. Slowly cooked then briefly smoked octopus and Cloudy Bay Clams marinated in their own cooking juices. Scampi poached in clarified butter. And of course my favourite ingredient of all: the Ōra King salmon. I cured it with rock salt, brown sugar, lime, orange and lemon zest along with coriander seeds and star anise only for 30 minutes at room temperature.
I poached the Ōra King salmon in a 40°C water bath for 20 minutes. Resulting in a very tender and juicy, just briefly cooked, salmon. Melt in the mouth with a hint of citrus and spice coming through.
I needed a contrasting texture for the salmon so I decided to make a crackling. We had a pork dish on the menu which had this crackling with it where the pork skin was cooked, dried then fried. The result is a superlight airy crispy crackling. I tried the same method with the salmon skin and it worked – exactly how I imagined.
This dish is very simple yet so complex. I used only classic cooking methods. No purees, no gels, no foams. Just pure cooking.
I was extremely proud to have created this dish but I wasn’t sure if it was good enough to be a winner. When I heard I’d made it to the Top 12 front runners I was over the moon. But at the same time I was also nervous. I knew the judges would rip the dish apart.
I was expecting the judges to come to the restaurant but didn’t know when. One night I got home after work and hadn’t been to check my emails all day. So I opened my mailbox and found an email stating the judges were coming the very next day at 7 pm for dinner. I was extremely nervous and decided to get up as early as possible and start to create my dish from scratch. It almost took the whole day to prepare. I looked at the bookings that day and it seemed to be a quiet day. I was relieved, I could focus on the dish being perfect.
When Lauraine Jacobs arrived I was so nervous, I found myself walking up and down the kitchen like an anxious tiger. In the meantime the restaurant started to fill. All of a sudden around 60 people were seated and the orders started to fly in. Finally I got Lauraine’s order.
I had to run around leading my team and managing the service as well as plate up the dish for Lauraine which is super complicated. It wasn’t easy; my hands were shaking and right then I lost all confidence in my dish. I sent it out hoping for the best. She said she liked it. I was relieved, but it was far away from the end.
When I found out I was a finalist I was over the moon. And I knew I had a 25 per cent chance of being a winner, so I was hoping.
When Anna came to judge it was much easier, Anna came for lunch and after Lauraine I was more relaxed. I was confident and happy with my dish when I sent it out.
It was such a nice day down at the Awards lunch at Raetihi Lodge in Marlborough. Being among the best chefs from around New Zealand made me extremely proud. I arrived in New Zealand not too long ago and being with them was such a great honour.
To win the competition meant a lot to me. It’s confirmation I’m on the right path. It feels like the journey has just started. I want to be a great chef. It’s a lifetime commitment and I am willing to learn and work hard all the way. Challenges and achievements are two very important things in my life.
I’m very grateful to Ōra King salmon for helping me push myself to my limits and for providing such strong motivation.
I’m young and I have so much to learn – but I’m growing very fast.
Thank you Ōra King salmon.
Thomas
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