Murray Cod - Chef Recipe by Tomasz Kornacki

Ingredients

"Best of Australia on a plate... and in a glass, we are Australian dining.

Our menu combines delicious Australian produce with highlights from indigenous ingredients, matched with some of Australia's most interesting wines. To dine at The Peak is to gently celebrate Australia in the finest luxury.

This dish is particularly personal to me as it brings back memories of my childhood, when my grandmother would make Borscht for the whole family. We would gather together as a family at one table after a hard days work on the farm. I felt inspired to combine it with the Murray cod, a succulent meaty native fish, which I have spiced with pepperberry accompanied by river mint. I wanted to offer this dish as an emulation of the natural environment of the cod, mixed with memories of my past. We have paired this with the d'Arenberg Money Spider Roussane from McLaren Vale in South Australia for its texture and fruity sweetness that complements the earthiness of the Borscht and the salty crispy cod skin." ~ Tomasz Kornacki.

Herb Soup:

225 g Desiree potatoes
2 bunches of fresh dill, parsley, coriander and tarragon
800 ml Kombu Dashi
455 g crusty sour dough
180 ml grape seed oil
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbs cider vinegar

Beet Kvass:

1.2 L water
480 ml sour whey
910 g beets
2 rye bread end

Beetroot Soup:

920 g beetroot
120 ml water
450 kombu dashi
2 garlic clove
2 Tbs fermented honey
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
720 ml beetroot Kvass
1 large potato

Buttermilk
Salt and pepper, to season
Chopped river mint

Murray Cod to the portions you need

Murray Cod Skin:

200 g salt
600 ml water
3 b bicarb soda

Method

Herb Soup:

Preheat oven to 180C and place potato directly on the oven rack, roast until tender for approximately 40 minutes. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add all of the herbs and cook until bright green. Immediately transfer to an ice cold bath. When cool, squeeze all the excess water out and blend until a smooth paste forms. Add potato, sourdough and Kombu Dashi and blend until smooth. Push the soup through a mesh sieve. Do not over blend or the mixture will overheat and spoil the flavour.

Beet Kvass:

Pour water, whey and beet juice into non reactive container. Add beets and rye bread to the mix and top with the weights to keep beets and bread submerged in the brine. Open the container every few days to release carbon dioxide buildup and check for mould. Keep in air tight containers in the room with the temperature of 15-23 C for up to 10 days or until beets will develop mild sour flavour.

Beetroot Soup:

Preheat oven to 180C. Place beets in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan and bake until soft enough to pierce with skewer. Let them cool down and peel them using a sharp knife. Blend pureed potato in dashi with caraway, fennel, honey and pepper, add cooked and peeled beetroot, and garlic and push through mesh sieve. Put beetroot skin with beetroot kvass and add it to the beetroot mixture.

Buttermilk:

Season buttermilk with salt and pepper. Add chopped river mint.

Murray Cod:

Fillet Murray cod and keep the skin. Portion Murray Cod into fillets and place into vac bags with clarified butter. Cook as sous vide at 58C for 10 minutes.

Murray Cod Skin:

Scrape as much flesh off as possible from the skin. Place the skin in salt brine with dissolve bicarb soda overnight. Dry the skin and place it in the dehydrator at 62C until dry. After skin is dehydrated fry it at 180C until puffed and crispy.