Slicing Through

10:42pm Monday 16 August 2010 Sydney (gmt+10)

Yesterday was mostly sunny. And warm. But then out of the blue it just started raining. And everything downstairs got soaked, and everyone left. But because we have an indoor restaurant as well as an outdoor section we still got pretty busy. Even though it's wet and cold outside it's warm and dry in the restaurant and kitchen. And Jacqui comes into the kitchen to warm up.

Because we were busy we did a lot of everything on the menu. And one of the biggest sellers was the Fish of the Day. We had Swordfish, and I served it grilled on top of Roasted Potatoes that has been generously smothered with Roasted Capsicum and Mango Chutney. And drizzled with a bit of Balsamic Glaze. Nice!

The contrast of colors is pretty good. Plus it's like having two dishes in one: The Potato with Chutney and the Swordfish itself, which had nothing on it, except for the grill marks. We sold heaps of it! And another popular item was the kangaroo. After grilling it to medium-rare and resting it I sliced it.

But with Kangaroo and other delicate meats you have to cut them as cleanly as possible, or else risk ripping it into tiny bits. The way I do it is by first making sure the meat it securely stuck to the chopping board. Then I use a sharp knife, obviously, but I start the incision using the back of the knife and slicing through in one, uninterrupted movement using its full length, and finishing off at the tip of the blade.

The pieces come out perfect all the time. It wasn't always the case though. Like everything else it took a bit of practice for me to get it right. And also the knife itself plays a crucial role. I'm never comfortable using somebody else's knife or tools. That's because I'm unfamiliar with how they feel. With my knife I know exactly how to grip it, how much it weighs, how to hold it, and  I know how to estimate which part of the blade is best for whatever job I need it to do.

And with the plate setup with Kumera and Salad I lay the slices of Kangaroo neatly then coat them with a ladle of Red Wine Jus. Easy!

The spike, which holds all the dockets of orders that the kitchen had to make, is a good indicator of how busy the day was. And in this case the spike was nearly full by the time the restaurant closed. It was a good day! :)