Becasse

[The Chefs Office]

Becasse have a new website. Really looks great.

Also their cook book is soon to be launched, looks great for the junkie cook book collectors like me!

edit: might help if I included the link - http://www.becasse.com.au/

Edited April 6, 2006 by The Chefs Office (log)

[Taubear]

It's a beautiful website and it's nice to see that they have been willing to share some of their recipes. I had a memorable meal there in December and would reccomend it to anyone. I look forward to the recipe book.

[Shinboners]

The website does look very elegant. The cookbook looks like a must have as well. Yhis could be a very good year for cookbooks with this one and books by Teague Ezard and Karen Martini due out.

[Shinboners]

I saw a copy of Becasse in a bookshop today. It is a stunning cookbook, but it will set you back $69.95. What the heck....I'll pick up a copy soon enough.

[Shinboners]

And here's my review of the Becasse cookbook:

Justin North is a New Zealand born chef who trained under Raymond Blanc, and who now runs Sydney’s Becasse restaurant. North’s cookbook isn’t as much about his food as it is a tribute to those who supply him with his key ingredients. You can see this in the format of the book. Instead of the more traditional chapters used in most other cookbooks, his fourteen chapters are separated by the ingredients he sources from his suppliers. They are salt, mushrooms, truffles, goats cheese, shellfish, crustaceans, tuna/mulloway/kingfish, ocean trout/salt water char, squab pigeon, pork, lamb, Wagyu beef, blood orange, and basics.

Each chapter opens with an essay about the ingredient and the supplier who provides him with it. To me, these essays are the highlights of the book. In the same way that it’s easy to feel the love and respect that North has for his ingredients and suppliers, you can’t help but experience a feeling of deep respect for the dedication that these suppliers have in trying to provide the best ingredients possible. There are some familiar names here such as Murray River Gourmet Salt, Glenloth Game, and Bungalow Sweet Pork, and it was truly satisfying to learn the story behind some of the ingredients that I have used in my own kitchen. But perhaps the most fascinating story was about his mushroom supplier and how he converted a disused railway tunnel into a place where mushrooms are grown in controlled conditions.

After each essay, about half a dozen recipes featuring the key ingredient are given. The recipes are not simple, so it would be fair to assume that this is a record of how North and his staff cook and assemble his food.

The photography was interesting. I found the photographs that matched the essays to be inspiring. They were earthy and honest, you got a feel for the food and the people involved. By contrast, the photography of the food was bright, colourful, and technically great, they did lack the warmth of the essay photos.

I don’t think too many home cooks will attempt the recipes in the Becasse cookbook. However, as a source of inspiration and as a tribute to those who dedicate their lives to good food, this is a superb book.

[Shalmanese]

Interesting, does he list how ordinary home cooks can get the same supplies he does? If theres one thing Australia is lacking in, it's good mushrooms.

[Shinboners]

Interesting, does he list how ordinary home cooks can get the same supplies he does?

At the very end of the book, in the acknowledgements section, he has the contact details for the suppliers that are written about in the essays.

If theres one thing Australia is lacking in, it's good mushrooms.

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And strawberries. I remember you weren't too impressed with Australian strawberries.

[Shalmanese]

If theres one thing Australia is lacking in, it's good mushrooms.

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And strawberries. I remember you weren't too impressed with Australian strawberries.

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Oh, that was just the start of the list. If you want me to go on, then well... berries, smoked products, flour, herbs, clams, cheap cast iron... Thats whats off the top of my head.

I'm not saying these are impossible to get, it's just inconvenient and overpriced for the above-average shopper from common sources.

[J_elias86]

Besides the book,

How is the restaraunt, have any of you been?

[Julian Teoh]

Besides the book,

How is the restaraunt, have any of you been?

←

Justin North is a well-known in Sydney as a disciple of the school of unapologetic richness. A Herald article by Dugald Jellie, doubtlessly inspired by Steingarten, told the tale of how Jellie ate his way through Sydney's most luxurious restaurants and ingredients in one day. When Jellie visited Becasse, North's contribution was simply a grunted "We use a lot of cream and foie gras here." Sure Jellie was trying to work the journalistic angle, but it is telling to a degree.

However, he tempers this (and the accompanying temptation to over-indulge) with a well-thought out elegance. One of his degustation menus featured something a parmesan and avocado veloute with chicken oysters, if memory serves, along with a petite roasted rack of rabbit rib as the meat course. For every dish that tips the cholesterol scales and thickens the arterial walls, there is a light and welcome respite.

Where was I? Oh yes, Becasse is good.

[Ylee]

Went to Becasse last night with a group of friends. This was my first time visiting their new site. I must say, the room is gorgeous. Those ringed lights (chandeliers?) are fantastic. And the meal was very good as well. My pick of the desserts would have to be the chocolate one : Valrhona chocolate, coffee and Armagnac trifle with chocolate cornets - one of the best chocolate desserts I've tried in awhile.

[DJOblong]

I'd say Becasse is one of the top 3 restaurants in Sydney ATM. In terms of rising stocks it is number one without a doubt.