12 March 2012

the four little pigs

Little Piggy Goes to Market @ Meat Market http://meatmarketsouthwharf.com.au/
  • 55 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf, Melbourne
  • Dining at dinnertime
  • Party of four
  • Da cost: $70 per person
The Melbourne Food & Wine festival is currently upon us and this year it is the 20th anniversary of the three-week long event.  To find out more about the events of the festival, click here.  This is the first year that I have been able to take advantage of the many events on offer (and when I say many, the guide is eighty pages long!).  Unfortunately due to my lack of awareness last year I missed out on a great event as I would have loved to have seen Nigella Lawson - my cooking heroine - in person and in action.  Hopefully I'll get the chance one day.

Anyway, I was more organised this year and managed to book a few events, kicking off with the aptly named 'Little Piggy Goes to Market'.  This event was described in the guide as follows: 'Enjoy a four course feast of free-range Berkshire pork as the experts from Tooborac's McIver Farm Foods join Meat Market to spread the word about old breed pork and taking agriculture "beyond sustainable".'  It consisted of four courses matched with local ciders.  I managed to get the last four tickets for this event with friends who had the mutual love of pork, not really knowing what to expect, nor really knowing what 'Meat Market' was.  Turns out, Meat Market is a relatively new (since November) restaurant in a new precinct that is South Wharf Promenade.  If you're interested, check it out here.

The meal began with a drink named 'Egg & bacon cocktail'.  It was brandy infused with bacon for 48 hours, rosemary syrup, lemon juice, apple juice and shaken with an egg white.  I am not too sure if this flavour combination worked with the flavour of the brandy and rosemary overpowering everything else.  Along with this, we were offered in a brown paper bag, some nibbles that were pork scratchings made from pig ears, lightly battered with salt and pepper.  I must admit although they were tender, there was a lot of salt on these scratchings, but it did awaken my tastebuds.

Up next, was the first real entree.  This was named 'Tete Fromage' - deboned pork cheek with almonds and radicchio.  The bitterness of the radicchio took over this dish, with not so much taste of actual pork.  This was served with an organic French cider (not so local as the guide had suggested) but very nice nonetheless.

Course number two was a 'Potted Pork Shoulder' which was twice cooked in its own fat served with apple, croutons and mini gherkins.  I did not expect the pork in this dish to be cold, however it was, and again, very salty.  It reminded me a little of tuna, in the way it was flaked and in oil.  However it did go very well with the crunchy croutons, apple and gherkins, but it was very rich and I could not finish all the meat.

The filler course, which the waiting staff called a "snack", came at the same time as the cider Bress.  I am not sure if this cider was supposed to compliment the course prior, however, it was a nice fresh but dry, made locally in the Yarra valley, the traditional French way.  The snack however was delicious, it was a pork butter with raw onion on a crouton.  And eaten in one mouthful, the crunchy crouton likened to crunchy crackling!

The main event.  For this course the pork was organic, slow-cooked and soaked in salt brine with star anise.  There were two lots of pork soaked for dfferent lengths of time therefore giving it different levels of saltiness.  Unfortunately, some of the pork was dry and extremely salty.  The flavour of the actual meat was good however would have been more enjoyable with a little less seasoning.  The side that it came with was roasted pumpkin and a green chilli yoghurt sauce.  The chilli was relatively mild to cater for the masses, however the pumpkin was soft and delicious.  It is funny how I enjoyed this side perhaps a lot more than the other courses that actually contained pork!  The matching cider was a pear cider made by 'The Hills Cider Company' from Adelaide.  It was light, fruity and crisp - a very refreshing cider accompanying the generous portion of pork.

And finally to finish: the dessert.  It was apple stewed in rosemary with a Napoleone apple cider sorbet accompanied with a Napoleone apple cider.  This was designed to be like a spider (traditionally made with soft drink and ice cream).  The spider concept was clever, however this was the type of thing I enjoyed as a child, although clearly this dessert is purely adults only, it didn't really hit the spot.  However, the sorbet was silky smooth and once the cider was poured over it, was obviously (if you have had a spider before) very airy.  One other positive thing was it being so light after such a heavy meal of meat.

On the whole, the event was enjoyable and for $70 it was value for money with ample portions and waiters on hand to top up your glass once it was getting noticeably low.  However, one of the main disappointments is that although the pork was flavoursome, albeit over-seasoned, there was a lack of, crackling.  In fact, there was no crackling!  Pork and crackling go together hand in hand and although I had minimal expectations of this event, I did expect crackling!  I am curious about Meat Market with their usual menu, as the ambience, location and service was excellent so those factors are enough to take me back there.