Good Food Guide 2023: Cook the trends at home from gildas to 'nduja, crudo to Murray cod

Holy smoked mackerel pâté, our Good Food Guide reviewers encountered a lot of seafood as they ate their way around NSW and Victoria this year.

Maybe the rising cost of red meat and lobster (or the rising cost of everything, really) is the reason we're seeing more affordable dishes such as prawns on menus, quite often kissed by a grill and kicked up with 'nduja, that fiery spreadable Calabrian salami.

Anchovies have gone from popular to stratospheric, partly boosted by our developing love affair with the gilda, while Murray cod is fast becoming this century's salmon, only much more delicious and buttery (you can thank a new sustainable aquafarm in the Riverina for that; and try it at these restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney).

And whether it's crudo, sashimi, tartare or ceviche, we're increasingly surprised when a restaurant doesn't feature raw kingfish in one form or another.

Here, Katrina Meynink reinterprets the ingredients and the dishes that appear again and again in this year's Good Food Guide so you can bring restaurant flavours home.

–Callan Boys, editor of the The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023

Gildas (tapas on toothpicks)

This classic Basque country pinchos has been popping up on bar menus the country over, and for good reason. It's a killer combo of anchovies, olives, pickled guindilla or peperoncino chillies (peppers), and is easy to make at home. I've added some salted chips for crunch and salty decadence. These are entirely optional, but just quietly, an entirely worthy addition.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 tins excellent quality anchovies
• 6-12 pitted green olives
• 6-12 pickled Calabrian chillies, peperoncino or guindilla peppers left whole or sliced depending on heat
• thick potato chips (optional) to serve

METHOD

1. Strain the anchovies from oil. In no particular order, gently skewer onto a toothpick 1-2 anchovies (they can sometimes be difficult to separate), skewer an olive and either a whole picked chilli or slice. Add to a plate and repeat until you have a desired number of Gildas.

Makes about 6-8 (depending on size of tin/number of anchovies)

Anchovies and tomato-capsicum relish on rye toast

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small loaf rye bread
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 3 sprigs oregano
• 2 garlic cloves

To serve

• 1 tin excellent quality anchovies, drained
• excellent quality butter
• sea salt flakes
• excellent quality tomato-capsicum relish

METHOD

1. To make the toasts, trim the loaf of any crusts until you have a rectangular shape then cut the loaf into thin slices.
2. Add the oil, ghee, garlic and oregano in a frying pan and place over medium heat. Once hot and the garlic is fragrant, add the bread cubes and cook until crisp, about 45 seconds, then cook the other side until crisp. Remove from the pan and strain off excess oil on paper towel. While the toasts are still warm, smear with a generous dollop of butter and top with an anchovy and salt. Add a small teaspoon of relish to a few of the toasts for those who love the combination of salty, rich and sweet.

Makes about 8-10 (depending on size of loaf and size of anchovy tin)

Kingfish crudo with ginger-citrus dressing and quick coriander oil

This makes more dressing than you will need to dress the kingfish, but it's delightful to have in the fridge to marinate proteins or drizzle over smashed cucumbers for throw-together snacks on hot summer days.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g sashimi kingfish

Ginger-citrus dressing

• ½ cup pineapple juice
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

Quick coriander oil

• 20g coriander leaves
• 150ml olive oil

To finish

• 1 jalapeno, finely sliced
• sea salt flakes and black pepper
• edible flowers to scatter (optional)

METHOD

1. To make the coriander oil, blanch the coriander leaves in a saucepan of boiling water until vibrant green, about 30 seconds. Strain and add to a blender or food processor with the oil. Blitz to combine then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside.
2. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and using a fork, whisk to combine.
3. Add the pieces of kingfish to a platter. Drizzle over the ginger-ginger dressing, a tablespoon at a time until the fish is just dressed, not drowning. Add a few drops of coriander oil and scatter over the jalapeno slices and an edible flower or two if using. Season generously with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 5-8 as part of a spread

Tip: Dress the fish just before serving. If it sits in the dressing, the acidity will denature the protein in the fish, turning it opaque and firming the texture.

Murray cod with herb butter

This quintessentially Aussie fish has a clean, mild flavour, with flesh that flakes perfectly and skin that crisps like pork crackling. The robustness of the skin and fat content help it retain its glorious moisture, so it can handle being cooked over coals in a restaurant kitchen. But at home, a simple hot pan, a herbaceous butter and lashings of lemon juice bring out its best qualities.

I don't own a fish weight, but an easy work-around is to grease the base of a heavy saucepan and place this over the fish fillets so you can crisp the skin while evenly cooking the flesh. This works beautifully served with a simple green salad and piping hot crisp fries.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 x 100-120g Murray cod fillets
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
• sea salt flakes to season
• wedges of lemon to serve

Herb butter

• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 150g butter, room temperature
• 1 cup finely chopped soft herbs (parsley, tarragon, dill, basil)

METHOD

1. To make the herb butter, combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor and blitz to combine.
2. Season the fillets with salt generously on both sides and place, skin side down, in a cold frying pan with the ghee and butter.
3. Place a large frying pan over medium heat and let it gradually heat up until fat starts to cook out of fish, about 4 minutes. At this point, you may press gently on the fish so the skin is flat against the pan and top with a fish weight or a saucepan (see note above). Continue to cook for about 6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet, until the skin is super-crisp and the flesh is mostly opaque (adjust the heat slightly if needed, but don't try to rush it). Turn fish and cook just until opaque all the way through, about 1 minute. Add about 1 tablespoon of the herb butter per fillet to the pan so it melts and the herbs become a little fragrant during that last minute of cooking.
4. Spoon the herb butter from the pan onto a platter and carefully set the fillet on top, skin side up. Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle over a little more herb butter and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.
5. Serve with a little extra herb butter and a wedge of lemon.

Serves 4

Split prawns with 'nduja butter

You will have more butter than is needed for this recipe, but leftovers in the fridge mean you can add a flavour punch to grilled proteins or roasted veg at a moment's notice.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g tiger prawns
• lemon halves to serve

'Nduja butter

• 4 garlic cloves, skin on
• 150g butter
• 85g 'nduja sausage
• 2 anchovies (optional)
• juice and zest of 1 small lemon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• sea salt flakes and pepper to season
• edible flowers, to scatter (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
2. Place the garlic on a square of foil. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, enclose the garlic with the foil and cook the parcel for 20 minutes or until the garlic is roasted and soft. Peel the garlic and add to a food processor with the remaining butter ingredients. Whiz in the processor until fully incorporated and the butter appears light and fluffy.
3. Prep the prawns by using a pair of kitchen scissors to snip through the back of the prawns from the head to tail, keeping the head intact for flavour and the shell on to protect the prawn flesh when it hits the heat. Remove the vein and open the prawns to lie flat.
4. Heat a char-grill pan (or barbecue) over high heat. Add a generous dollop (at least 1 tablespoon) of 'nduja butter and once it starts to foam, add the prawns, flesh side down for 1-2 minutes, then turn and dollop on more butter. Grill until the prawns are just cooked through (2-3 minutes) and have taken on a light char in spots. Transfer to a serving plate, season generously with salt and add a little more 'nduja butter so it melts over the piping hot prawns. Serve with extra 'nduja butter on the side for swiping, and lemon halves and salt and pepper for seasoning.

Serves 2-3 (or 4-6 as part of a spread)

The Age Good Food Guide 2023 magazine is on sale from November 15 for $9.95 at newsagents, supermarkets and thestore.com.au.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2023 magazine is on sale from November 22 for $9.95 at newsagents and supermarkets or pre-order from thestore.com.au.