Newsletter # 28 – Battered fish with tartare sauce
Newsletter # 28 – Canberra’s Heritage Hotels
A peg driven into the ground in February 1913 ended the debate on where Australia’s National capital would be built. The location of the nation’s capital was a discussion that had been around since the 1890’s, but progress continued to be slow with bureaucratic delays and WW1.
In 1927 Federal Parliament moved from Melbourne to reside in what was then called The Provisional Parliament House but again Canberra’s development was hindered by The Great Depression. Preceding the opening of what is now The Old Parliament House was the construction of Hostel Number 1 and Hostel Number 2, which offered accommodation for public servants working in the fledgling capital.
Today these buildings are known as the Hyatt Hotel Canberra and The Kurrajong Hotel, respectively. Both hotels, as you would expect, have an interesting history and share similar design features with both being in the Garden Pavilion style and were designed by the same architect that had designed The Provisional Parliament house, John Smith Murdoch.
Both these hotels naturally have heritage value, and each have the distinction of being the preferred residence of an Australian Prime Minister. James Scullin led Australia during The Great Depression and lived in the Canberra Hotel while the post-war Prime Minister, Ben Chifley lived in The Kurrajong Hotel. Apparently neither man was interested in living at the official Prime Minister’s residence, Yarralumla. Mr. Chifley suffered a heart attack in his room at the hotel and passed away on the way to the Canberra Community hospital.
You will note that I like linking places to certain foods or individuals to recipes that they invented or were famous for. In the mundane culinary landscape of the Great Depression and WW2 we find that Ben Chifley had a penchant for the ‘humble’ fish and chips.
So today I will investigate ‘deep frying’ and the ever popular battered fish. Gone are the days when fish and chips was a ‘working man’s’ dinner; fish and chip prices, like many take-away foods have risen considerably in the last few years. My batter recipe is easy and will give a crisp golden finish.
Deep – frying
As you may know I am not a proponent of buying specialised equipment for your home kitchen unless you intend to use it regularly. A domestic deep-fryer would be one item that you would probably include in that thinking.
The downside of deep-fryers are that they are expensive to run in terms of power and cooking oil and can be dangerous if you are not careful. There is also a perception that they are not healthy.
The upside is that food cooked well, in a deep fryer, can be pretty delicious and moreish. Provided that you look after the cooking oil, you should be able to re-use the oil a number of times.
Firstly, let’s look at some basic equipment you will need if you don’t have a thermostatically controlled deep-fryer
- A handheld digital thermometer (optional but recommended). These are cheap and will eliminate the guesswork when gauging the temperature of the cooking oil
- A saucepan around 20cm in diameter – wide enough to take a portioned fish fillet, but small enough to minimize the amount of oil you need.
- A slotted metal spoon.
- Absorbent kitchen paper
Safety
- Ensure your saucepan is in good condition – flat bottom, sturdy handle
- Use the back hotplate, with the handle turned away
- When heating, never leave unattended. Overheated oil is combustible.
- Turn off the hotplate when not in use
- Cool the oil in the saucepan, off the heat at the back of the stove
Care of the oil
- Do not overheat the oil. A good blanching temperature (for chips) is 165c, while you finish them on the higher temperature of 190c. When temperatures go above 200c you run the risk of not only scorching food, but you also shorten the life of the oil.
- After using, cool the oil down to room temperature and strain the oil through coffee filter paper to remove food residues.
- Store the cold oil in a sealed, labelled and dated container in the fridge
Battered fish with tartare sauce
The fish
Ingredients
Method
- Assemble ingredients
- In a bowl mix the dry ingredients and chill them for a ½ hour
- Take out and stir in the beer; whisk until it is lump free
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to use
- The batter should be OK for 4-5 days if stored correctly
- Pre-heat about 750ml of good quality vegetable oil to around 185c
- Test the temperature with a little drop of batter
- Pat the fish fillet dry. Season with a little salt
- Dust the fish fillet in plain flour and pat off excess
- Holding the fillet by the end immerse the floured fish in the bowl of batter
- Drain off excess batter
- Slowly lower the fish into the oil – do not drop
- Release the fish. The oil should be bubbling quickly – not lazy
- The fish will float when cooked and will be a crispy golden brown – about five minutes
- When ready take out of the oil and place on absorbent kitchen paper
- Repeat the process with subsequent fish fillets
- Serve with Chips, tartare sauce and a lemon wedge
Ingredients
Method
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients together.
- Cover and store in the fridge
Ingredients
Method
- Wash and peel the potato. Slice the potato to baton shapes -10 cm long and say 10/15ml across. Aim to make the chips roughly even in dimensions to ensure even cooking
- Pat dry
- Plunge the chips into oil at around 165c (lazy bubbles) for about 5 minutes
- Remove the chips from the oil
- Increase the temperature of the oil to 185c/190c - blanching
- Cook the chips a second time in the hotter oil for another 5-6 minutes
- Take out the chips and drain on absorbent paper
- Turn the heat off if finished cooking
- Salt the chips and serve with the fish
