The pastry chef, who is also food and beverage manager at the Novotel Perth Langley, has used every part of this under-rated vegetable for the umami pumpkin tart that will tempt diners at the hotel’s Sen5es Restaurant and Wine Bar throughout June.
“The seeds are toasted and then caramelised to create a pumpkin seed praline,” she says. “The skin is peeled, blanched and softened in a spicy syrup (orange and lemon zest, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon) and then blended and added to a caramel deglazed with lemon juice, while the flesh is cooked in vanilla syrup and orange juice and blended smoothly for a delicious curd.”
Nelly’s dessert is topped with a punchy raspberry and yuzu jelly to refresh the palate and balance the sugar and finished with a coulis made from parsley.
This striking combination is one of more than 45 innovative dishes highlighting the diversity and quality of local ingredients across the State for Plating Up WA – and a taste of what you should be eating this June.
Ocean delights
Bib & Tucker co-owner/chef Scott Bridger, who returns as chef liaison for Plating Up WA 2025, has put a different spin on a beloved local ingredient that has been on the North Fremantle restaurant’s menu for 13 years.
“We are hot smoking Fremantle Octopus over apple wood and serving it with puff pastry loaded with local saltbush,” he says.
The native flavours naturally season the handmade puff pastry, reducing the amount of salt required, and the dish is finished with Block 275 and fennel sauce. “We’re loving this canola oil from the Mid West – it’s got the most amazing flavour and colour but doesn’t overpower the octopus,” Scott says.
He isn’t the only chef serving up the iconic octopus for Plating Up WA, either. Over at Fraser’s Restaurant, in Kings Park, lucky diners will enjoy charred Fremantle Octopus tentacle with native bush tomatoes and spicy pickled cucumber. Then there’s the Asian twist at Lotus, in Highgate, where charred coconut octopus is the star of a tom yum that includes cherry tomatoes, baby corn and wild mushroom.
From paddock to plate
The ocean doesn’t hog the limelight, though. With so many other wonderful ingredients at their fingertips, chefs have pulled out all stops to create dishes that epitomise the true meaning of paddock to plate.
Stirling Ranges Beef boasts more than a century of farming tradition, when the O’Meehan family first set down roots in the foothills of the Stirling Ranges. Their cattle are raised in the pristine Great Southern with a commitment to sustainability and quality.
Available to home cooks through Ryan’s Quality Meats and Albany Farm Fresh Foods, their premium cuts have also become a favourite with chefs. Brown Street Grill is dishing up Stirling Ranges Beef’s 1kg Bluff Knoll T-Bone for Plating Up WA, with Paris mash and port jus; while Tall Timbers has married Manjimup’s famous black gold with Stirling Ranges Beef mince to create a decadent truffle burger.
Amelia Park lamb is another popular choice. Head to Jetty Bar & Eats in Fremantle for a lamb kofta, paired with La Delizia Latticini’s scamorza cheese, tomato and capsicum salsa and smoked labneh made with Mundella yoghurt and chives. Or tuck into a lamb rack with macadamia and wattleseed crust, served with heirloom baby beetroot and puree, at Matilda Bay restaurant in Crawley.
Taste the difference
Plating Up WA is also a great time to step outside your comfort zone and try something different. We are in awe of how chefs can marry unlikely flavours and textures to create something spectacular.
Over at Nonna’s Pizzeria & Cucina, they are dishing up a sourdough ice-cream with beetroot custard and Jingilli Devine extra virgin olive oil. If that doesn’t pique your interest, we don’t know what will.
That Plant Café is putting a twist on the traditional eggs benedict, with a luscious dose of Halls Family Dairy cheese. Enjoy free-range eggs on toasted sourdough, layered with the award-winning Halls Suzette cheese and finished with hollandaise sauce, micro herbs and lemon zest.
There are so many interesting things on the menu. Fancy a banksia-smoked mandarin mojo, with Linley Valley Pork, mandarin and feta salsa, La Tortilla taco and mandarin hot sauce? How about a paratha breakfast, laden with coriander, rocket, crispy eggs, pickled red onion and guacamole? Or beef tartare paired with pear gochujang and crispy garlic and papadum?
There are also dishes showcasing WA’s freshwater crustacean, the not-so-humble yabby, as well as the superb Western Rock Lobster.
As Scott Bridger says, we are blessed with an abundance of local produce from so many different growing regions, there’s not much reason to look elsewhere if we choose a seasonal menu. “If we eat seasonally, it means it’s been grown locally and hasn’t travelled the miles to get here. It’s generally cheaper and what your body needs at the time of year,” he says.
Tastebuds tingling yet? For these and so many more tantalising offerings, see what’s on the menu at Plating Up WA this June.
