At a glance, the tacos turn one’s notions of the Mexican staple on its head, starting with its purple shell. Created by Raffles Hotel executive chef Matias Ayala, the dish features a mélange of flavors from a filling of beef hind shank, purple kale slaw and pickled onions.

The ingredients make the tacos distinctive. The shanks are cooked for 72 hours to make them tasty and tender and are then balanced by the subtle tanginess of the onions. The purple kale gives the tacos an organic touch that is not diluted by its creaminess and still goes well with a glass of 2018 Cullen Mangan Red Moon wine from Western Australia. The dry red wine has a mellow, aromatic undertone, making it a suitable pair with the tacos.

Culinary innovations and twists

The tacos are among the dishes featured in the Taste and Create with Australia event. Held at the Raffles Hotel in Jakarta, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission or Austrade hosted the six-course dinner.

“[Taste and Create with Australia] is set to inspire leading executive chefs across Indonesia to develop innovative creations in their menus with the diverse varieties and to feature world class flavors of Australian fresh produce,” Austrade said in a press release of the event.

“[Taste and Create with Australia also] aims to increase awareness among Indonesian executive chefs from leading restaurants on the availability of fresh Australian produce, seasonal variations and new varieties and innovations. The event also encourages closer business links between Indonesia and Australia along the premium food supply chain.”

Austrade Senior Commissioner for Trade Sally Deane agreed. She noted that Taste and Create with Australia, which featured foodstuffs from four Australian states including New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, aimed to “create a [distinctive] culinary inspiration. [This] includes six types of wine for food pairing.” 

Dry wines and livestock

Among the wines is a 2019 30-Mile Shiraz from New South Wales, paired with a tenderloin carpaccio. The dry, bold red wine complements the dish well due to its balance of softness and acidity. The latter characteristic allows the thin cuts of beef, infused with tangy, fruity and sweet citrus flavors from the orange Cipriani sauce, avocado and other ingredients, to stand out. 

The similarly dry and bold 2020 Vasse Felix Filius cabernet merlot from New South Wales equally goes well with the following course of the MB9 beef bolar blade with grilled broccolini, pickled mushrooms, brioche crumbs and beef jus. Marked by notes of blackberry, oak and pepper, the red wine complements the beef specialty from Queensland. The wine and the beef au jus bring out the medium-rare bolar blade’s taste and texture without overwhelming it and highlight the crunch from the grilled broccolini and brioche crumbs.

“The MB9 bolar blade was cooked sous vide, marinated with olive oil butter, salt and pepper. It is put in a vacuumed bag, then cooked in a water runner for 24 hours at 58 degrees Celsius,” said Ayala. “The beef is then cooked again in the water runner at a lower temperature of about 45 degrees Celsius, then grilled. The sous vide brought out the beef's texture, while grilling highlights the bolar blade's external tastes.”

The Argentine-born chef asserted that a state-of-the-art cooking technique like sous vide could “make a secondary beef cut like bolar blade, which goes for about Rp 300,000 to Rp 350,000 [US$19 to $22], the same quality as a prime tenderloin that costs three or four times as much.”

Ayala noted that the sous vide method was indispensable in bringing out the beef’s characteristics, such as a balance of good marbling and flavor. He added a few tips to enhance cooking beef.

“Do not cook the beef directly from the refrigerator, as doing so will cause temperature shock. Let the meat thaw at room temperature for a few hours,” Ayala advised. “To grill the steak, use thicker cuts to sear them and wait before turning the meats slowly, as using thinner cuts entail turning them over more quickly. Taking time with the steaks would enable it to retain the jus instead of its blood.”

Sous vide is just as applicable to the truffle lamb short loin with brussels sprouts, asparagus, turnip, onions and lamb jus. Ayala masterfully used the cooking method to highlight the dish from the Australian state of Victoria without giving too much room to the potentially gamey flavor and texture of the lamb. An extra dry glass of La Boheme Missing Act cabernet and Friends red wine further eases the lamb for one’s palate.

“Lamb tends to get gamier once they grow up or age, so I used young lamb [for the truffle lamb short loin]. But preparing them is challenging, as I had to debone the lamb, separate fat from the meat, then separate it into different cuts before spreading them with the animal’s fat,” he said.

“I then insert some chicken mousse to brush into the truffle lamb short loin before rolling and tying the lamb to cleave. Then, roll and tie the lamb before cleaving it and put it in a vacuum bag before I sous vide the lamb.” He added that the lamb short loin, which could serve seven to eight portions, was then put in a slow fire to enable the fat to moisturize the lamb.

Desserts such as the cherry sorbet and peach vanilla parfait compote with yuzu creamy ganache round out the meal. The former’s sour, fresh overtones makes it an ideal palate cleanser to whet up one’s appetite, while the latter aptly recreates the peach’s new flavors.  

Aside from Jakarta, Taste and Create with Australia will make its way through Bali and Surabaya at the beginning of 2023. Highlights will include the Chef’s Challenge event, where a select number of Indonesian chefs will be invited to visit Australian farms and other movers in the country’s food industry to see their practices firsthand.

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