Chef and owner of Becasse restaurant, Justin North
Given that Australia has turned into a nation of gastroporn addicts – how else to explain one in four Australians tuning in to the finale of the inaugural Masterchef reality TV show? – it’s time to take a behind-the-scenes look at one of Sydney’s finest restaurants, Becasse.
Owned and founded by Kiwi-born chef, Justin North and his wife, Georgia, the Clarence Street eatery has won a slew of awards for a number of very good reasons including the fact that he uses only the very best Australian produce as well as some of the nation’s best local wines.
At a lunch last week, North showcased a range of delicious items that star in his menus as well as the people who produce them, including scallop diver Craig McCathie from Port Lincoln in South Australia (who gave me a detailed history of scallops and when to eat and not to eat), Duncan Garvey, Truffle legend from Perigord Truffles in Tasmania and quail grower Charlie Scott.
The great thing about dining at Becasse is experiencing North’s passion for food from the ground up. The day before lunch, he took a team from the French boite on a truffle hunt in the Southern Highlands and personally dug around in the dirt. He collected about a kilogram of truffles, worth in excess of $2500, which he used in five sensational ways at lunch.
Truffle grower Duncan Garvey revealed he was considered “crazy” when he told people he wanted to grown French-style truffles in Australia. But he did just that in Tasmania and, in 1999, debuted his delicacy at Sydney’s acclaimed French restaurant, Claudes.
“The number one thing we try to do is promote our local producers and highlight the importance of the passionate producer. We couldn’t work without their incredible passion,” North said. “We try to connect directly with the producers and growers to teach skills to the young guys in our kitchen.”
For instance, it’s nothing for North and his team of chefs to be in the kitchen at 6am when an entire beef carcass is dropped off instead of pre-cut packets of meat that look like they never drew breath. The chefs then learn the craft and traditions of butchery by breaking down the beast, every last bit of which is used in the scores of dishes plated up at any of North’s four establishments. (Some boast he makes the best burgers in town at his smaller cafe, Plan B).
Justin North doesn't just make a burger - he makes a taste sensation.
Among the local producers at lunch was Hunter Valley winemaker, Ian Scarborough, who I believe makes one of the country’s best, buttery chardonnays and who respected wine writer John Fordham rates highly. Scarborough, whose range of wines carry the family name, began working with the Norths when he opened Becasse in 2001 on its original site in Albion Street, Surry Hills.
“One of the great early memories I have is of Georgia and Ian sitting on milk crates in Albion Street drinking wine out of plastic cups – we didn’t have the restaurant set up yet – and that image has stayed with me,” said North, who The Sydney Morning Herald named the 2009 chef of the year.
One of the lunch dishes we ate last week was a tender slow cooked breast and confit leg of Redgate Jurassic quail with truffle veloute. For the Philistines among you, the quail is comically called “Jurassic” because of its size which weighs in between 300 and 350 grams, according to producer Charlie Scott. The next closest bird is between 200-240 grams.
Scott’s family were early pioneers in the Hunter Valley and set up their farm in the 1830s. Scott is passionate about the industry and is keen to breed even bigger quails, with a 400-500 gram table bird a real possibility in the not-too-distant future.
And speaking of passion: the quail was cooked at 62.5 degrees Celsius; the seared scallops were what’s known as “hand-dived scallops” in that the diver who harvested them swam along the bottom of the ocean and collected them by hand, rather than the usual way of trawling or dredging; the truffle brioche was sprinkled with black Cyprus sea salt; and the truffles North collected were found in suitably stink earth around hazelnut, and English and French oak trees.
The best thing, though, was that everything North served at the amazing lunch – dubbed the “producers winter forum” – was all produced in Australia. Now that’s supporting the local industry.
(The “seasonal producers lunch” is available every day at Becasse for $35 and includes a glass of wine.)
