By Leigh O’Connor.
A perfectly folded tea towel doesn’t go astray in the kitchen at Aura Hobart if you ask Head Chef Edgar Rodriguez Pelaz.
In charge of the kitchen at this 14 Chef-hatted venue on Liverpool Street, Edgar hails from Barcelona and brings a touch of Spanish flair to Tasmania, along with a simple and sustainably-influenced style.
Aura Lounge Bar and Event Space sits in the heart of Hobart, just above eye level on the top floor of the Crowne Plaza. Positioned in the city’s natural amphitheatre, Aura’s soft industrial space is sunlit by day and ignited by city lights at night.
"My family and upbringing contributed significantly to my career from the very start,” Edgar says. "My mother and grandmother are amazing cooks and still my favourite people to have cook for me.
"As a Chef coming from Catalonia and family with a background from the Basque Country, I was immersed in two of the most amazing food cultures in the world and that is reflected in my cuisine.”
The time spent around the dining table was a feeling and experience Edgar has tried to recreate at Aura.
"What is special for me compared to any other industry is the feeling of becoming family with your team. We spend more time in the kitchen together than at home some weeks and it’s a uniquely pressured environment.
"Seeing others bloom in the kitchen with confidence, knowing you have their back as they have yours, is special.”
Like many Chefs during the past three years, Edgar hasn’t been able to visit his family and also lost his job in Melbourne.
"I took jobs that I never thought I would do, like pine planting in Gippsland and grain harvesting in Northwest Victoria – both ended up being great experiences that I would do again. In 2020, I was planting 3000 trees a day!”
Growing in leaps and bounds since arriving in Australia, Edgar says the time he spent cooking alongside former Aura Head Chef Joey Astorga was a significant period of growth.
Using seasonal and local ingredients as much as he can, Edgar focuses on uplifting the texture of a dish, explaining that texture is just as, if not more important, than flavour sometimes.
It’s not surprising rice is an ingredient he can’t live it, considering Spain’s national dish of paella.
"Paella on a sunny day by the beach in Costa Brava, Catalonia, with friends…you can’t beat that.”
Edgar shares his recipe for Spring greens, Tongola goats’ curd and corn sauce as a seasonal dish sure to impress – it’s also very Aussie with vibrant colours of green and gold.
"The creaminess and sourness of the curd match perfectly with the crunchiness of the greens, the sweetness of the corn and aromas and flavours of wild foraged herbs and flowers.”
A stickler for cleanliness and tidiness in the kitchen, this exciting Chef is hoping for a permanent visa so he can use that part of his brain for cooking instead of stressing about the future!
