Rockpool Consulting – Menu Planning for Qantas
October 2nd, 2009. Posted by luane
An article by Kate Barker – Menu Planer, Rockpool Consulting
The menus we write for International First and Business Class aren’t done in quite the same way as a restaurant. There is a lot more forward planning involved to get each dish onto the plate. It’s actually quite an amazing process that can begin up to twelve months in advance of the menu flying. I am just in the middle of drafting up the next lot of menus which will start flying from September next year; I write eighteen First Class menus and forty-five Business Class menus which change four times a year, with each new season.
The first part of this process is research. We scour through pages of magazines, from Australia and other countries, check out what our four restaurants are doing, as well as other restaurants in Sydney and overseas and review any new food books on the scene. Neil has the most amazing cookbook collection I have ever seen. I chat to Neil, Khan and Catherine (from RPB&G Sydney), Phil and Dave (from RP) and lots of other people in the Rockpool family to get a sense of what is inspiring everyone at the moment. My job is to try to reflect that passion in our First and Business Class menus. We also spend time with our suppliers to find out about any new products we might be interested in using as well as constantly be on the lookout for new and interesting suppliers.
I will be recipe testing through December all the new dishes and ideas I have for the drafted menus. These dishes are presented to Neil and the Rockpool Consulting Team to assess the flavour profile as well as the look of the dish and if it’s appropriate for our in-flight menus. There are some dishes that for various reasons will just never work!
The next few months before testing is what we call ‘presentation season’. Twice a year either myself or Roger, another Rockpool Consultant, head to Los Angeles, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. During this time all of the new menus and recipes are presented to us for quality purposes. We need to make sure they have followed our recipes correctly and that premium products are being used. It also gives us a chance to see what’s happening in the local food scene with visits to food markets, restaurants and other suppliers. In-flight, we also have a chance to speak to crew and check on how the food is going. It’s such a wonderful experience to see the crew plating up a beautiful dish which was created up to twelve months earlier!
Our Spring menus from Australia have been running a month now and are getting fabulous feedback. Our First Class menus from Sydney and Melbourne include amazing Australian produce such as Italian salami made from free range pork from Quattro Stelle; sustainable Spencer Gulf King Prawns managed by the South Australian Research and Development Institute; Barossa Valley chicken which is free range and fed on a vegetarian corn based diet; and Rangers Valley dry aged beef which has been grain fed for 300 days with no growth hormones or antibiotics used. All other these products reflect Neil’s passion for food and the belief that the cornerstone of good cooking is great produce. Many of these products are used in his restaurants and are generally regarded by industry professionals as brands that support good methods of manufacturing which is better for the product and also for the environment.
Here is a quick and easy recipe you can try at home this Spring as the weather warms up and the days start to get longer.
SPENCER GULF KING PRAWN AND GREEN PAWPAW SALAD WITH NAM JIM DRESSING
Plump King Prawns from the Spencer Gulf on Australia’s South Eastern coastline are served as part of a simple Thai inspired salad. Green pawpaw, cucumber, coriander, Vietnamese mint and shallots, dressed with a Thai style dressing. The dressing has a thick consistency and includes finely chopped garlic, fresh coriander, fish sauce, palm sugar and red and green chillies.
The world’s largest known population of western king prawns is in Spencer Gulf. The South Australian Research and Development Institute together with local fisheries in the area have worked together to become one of the leading groups for managing sustainability of seafood stocks within Spencer Gulf and major technological advances have been made in the way the catch is handled. The prawns themselves are snap-frozen at minus 32 degrees Celsius within minutes of coming out of the water, locking in the freshness resulting in a firm and flavoursome product.
We recommend Healthy Boy or Squid brand fish sauce for this recipe.
NAM JIM DRESSING
3 no. fresh peeled garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 no. fresh coriander root, finely chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons light palm sugar, crumbled
2 tablespoons fish sauce
½ deseeded fresh long red chilli, finely chopped
½ deseeded fresh long green chilli, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, approximately
Preparation
Place garlic, coriander root and sea salt in a mortar and pound with pestle. Do not reduce to a paste. Remove and place in bowl. Dissolve palm sugar with fish sauce in mortar with the pestle ensuring there are no lumps of sugar. Add garlic and coriander mix back in along with chopped red and green chilli and stir well to combine. Add in lime juice.
Taste and adjust if necessary, to ensure there is a balance of sweet, sour and saltiness.
GREEN PAWPAW SALAD
12-16 no. cooked Spencer Gulf king prawns, peeled, de-veined and tails intact
2 cups green pawpaw, julienne
½ deseeded Lebanese cucumber, julienne
½ a punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters if large
1 no. peeled small eschalots, very finely sliced
A small handful of fresh coriander leaves
A small handful of fresh Thai basil leaves
A small handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
About 6 leaves of Vietnamese mint, roughly torn (if available)
nam jim dressing (see recipe above)
Preparation
Mix dry ingredients together. Add enough dressing to wet the salad well and mix through thoroughly. Share between four plates and finish with prawns on top. Serve immediately.
Tags: entree, Neil Perry, Qantas, recipe, Rockpool Consulting
