Future food, future wines: Bilson’s Restaurant

Sydney International Food Festival (SIFF) Hats Off

Bilson’s Restaurant, Sydney

Future food, future wines: A celebration of Australian Produce

Tuesday October 6, 2009

(available each Tuesday night during October)

To say I was excited in anticipation of tonight would be an understatement. Tony Bilson is one of my food heroes. To my mind, he is the father of Australian cuisine. When we lived in a culinary desert, he paved the way forward, and he has always been at the forefront of introducing a new path in Australia.

Again, tonight, he has taken a step towards the future. Tonight in a collaboration with his Chef de Cuisine, Alfonso Ales, Tony Bilson took me on a journey soundly based on classical French craftmanship. The journey was not only an elegant culinary celebration of flavour, but was created with an awareness of our footprint on the earth.

“The food and wine of the future will need to display ethical sensitivy when it comes to sourcing foods requiring high interventionist agricultural methods. With this philosophy, we celebrate the quality and variety of local produce found in the Sydney area. Exotic mushrooms grown in the South Highlands, spelt, asparagus, free range eggs and partridge from the Hunter Valley, sand whiting and green school prawns from the Hawksbury River. All season produce grown naturally.”

Organic Hens Eggs cooked at 65C with Asparagus Coulis and Tasmanian Truffle

Coddled eggs are one of my favourite simple pleasures. As a child I dipped toast fingers, as an adult I dipped asparagus spears. These eggs lay on a bed of miniature crispy croutons. The eggs and fine green asparagus tips had companions of a light and airy green asparagus coulis and an even lighter white asparagus foam. The fine slice of truffle was the final note.

Oliver’s ‘Tavanga Fiano

Fiano is a new variety to Australia, and originates from the Campagna region of Italy. It is a very interesting variety, as it is able to maintain the acidity in the grapes, even in out hot weather. Nutty, herbal, aromatic, with smoky spicy notes and hazelnuts.

Spelt cooked like a Risotto with Southern Highland Mushrooms

Though each dish was a delight, this nudged to the fore, ever so slightly, as my favourite of the evening. Depth, complexity, earthiness, a full pendulum of textures from silky to grainy, elegance, simplicity and rustic goodness created a dichotomy on the plate. The locally produced spelt was supported by a creamy mushroom veloute. Dark rich unctous deep mushroom intensity encircled the dish ready to enhance the velvet cream at my will. The mushrooms (Shimeji, Swiss browns, King brown and Enoki) are from the disused railway tunnels in Mittagong.

Macquariedale Chardonnay Lower Hunter

Macquariedale Estated planted in the lower Hunter in 1993 and was certified Biodynamic in 2006. Biodynamic is a hot topic in the wine industry at the moment, is a regenerative agriculture, holistic in approach and practice, through which the winegrower brings the substances and forces of nature into a quality and sustainable production.  Certain natural additions are allowed and farming is strictly governed by the phases of the moon.

Local Sand Whiting and School Prawns with a Fennel Ragout

The prawn bisque was the perfect backdrop to the moist steamy fish, and supported the dish without overpowering. The tiny harbour prawns from the Hawksbury were soft shelled and sweet. A web of flavours created a perfect net interwoven with the fennel ragout. Outwardly simple, yet intriguingly deep and rewarding, each flavour complete in itself, the plate as a whole was fine tuned and balanced.

Chateau D’Esclans Whispering Angel Rose

Rose, once the ‘also ran’ of wine styles, has been recently emerging as the consumers choice. The Chateau D’Escans Whispering Angel Rose is at the pinnacle of quality rose wines. The grape varieties used are Gravache, Cinsault, Rolle, Syrah and Mouvedre, all traditional varietals.

Hunter Valley Partidge with Cabbage in Sparkling Wine

Did I write earlier that I’d had a favourite dish? I was premature when I wrote that … Even as a very amateur photographer I think the picture shows that the partridge meat was moist succulent and precisely right. We picked up the bones and sucked them clean. Again each flavour was individually correct, and combined created a perfect marriage. The Partridge from Game Farm NSW was plated with cabbage, speck, sparkling wine, butter and sauce salmis.

Domain Day Saperavi

I found it fascinating that Domain Day has been established using state-of-the-art vineyard design protocols based on soil assessment and analysis to give a “micro-terroir” approach within the vineyard. Bilson’s Manager and Sommelier Andrew Cullen (pictured top) and I discussed how the use of technology will affect ‘vintage’ and improve quality to perhaps make every year a vintage year.

Poached Strawberries with White Balsamic Foam and Mascarpone Sorbet

Before the arrival of this dish at the table, we talked about strawberries, picking them from the field and eating them fresh at their best in the midst of the season. We had decided there was no better way. And truly, I would have believed it until I tasted this plate of heaven. A clever twist on classic combinations, fairy floss strawberry sugar spin atop a kaleidescope of strawberry enhancing flavours and textures: hazelnut dacquoise, ethereal mascarpone sorbet, brunoise strawberry jelly, white balsamic foam, candied lemon zest, hazelnut praline.  And, of course, there were the strawberries!

Moorooroo Estate ‘Earthsong’ Moscato 8%

This wine was chosen for its low alcohol content Andrew Cullen told us. “Lower alcohol wines would seem the obvious way forward but have always stumpled over quality. The new trend for Moscato style wines is helping introduce wine drinkers to a lower alcohol alternative” Sweet, light tickling the tongue, refreshingly sticky without cloying. And, a perfect end to a midweek dinner?

Not quite, then there was the bean …

And a trio of treats: meringue with passionfruit, pates de fruits (raspberry), white chocolate jaffa

Future food, future wines: A celebration of Australian produce is available every Tuesday night in October (2009).

Bilson’s Restaurant
27 O’Connell Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

+61 2 8214 0496

Bilson’s Restaurant, Sydney