The year's most longed-for gastronomic event, the Bangkok Chefs Charity Fundraising Gala Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok will take place five days from now. And as Life has, over the past weeks, shared with you the previews of eight courses, now it's time to introduce to you the main dish of the evening: carved whole roast fillet of Wagyu beef with cabernet sauvignon red wine and smoked marrow sauce, wild summer chanterelles and palette of fresh market vegetables.
Created by three of the city's most respected five-star chefs _ Norbert Kostner of the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, Erwin Eberharter of the Dusit Thani Bangkok and Nicolas Schneller of the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok _ the meticulously prepared roast steak promises to indulge the tastebuds of all red meat connoisseurs.
It is said to represent the classic constituent of the 2013 affair's culinary concept: classic meets modernity.
"All the cooking techniques we use are very traditional. The beef is roasted slowly in the oven, the vegetables are steamed, and the sauce is done the old style.
The only thing that's modern on the plate is the presentation," revealed Schneller.
Light, clean and honest is how the dish is presented.
The top-grade Wagyu beef from Australia will be gorgeously accompanied by the finest mushrooms from France and vegetables from Thailand's Royal Project.
"For the steak, we use pure-blood Wagyu beef, which has a perfect amount of marbling fat _ not too much fat that the steak would melt in your mouth and offer you no pleasant chew," added Kostner.
"Especially for this multi-course dinner, you don't want the food to be too fat. And as the beef will be slowly cooked to give a perfect thoroughly pink meat, it is guaranteed to be very flavourful and tender," Kostner explained.
According to him, because the original taste of top-quality beef should never be altered or overwhelmed, it's important to serve it with excellent of sauce and fine selection of relishes.
"The sauce is made in French Beaujolais style with a very good cabernet sauvignon and smoked bone marrow. And as July is the season for summer chanterelle in France, it's ideal for us to present the French-style steak with some of the best seasonal produce from the same region, alongside very nice garden peas and cherry tomatoes from the Royal Project," Kostner concluded.
Accompanying this main dish is the majestic wine from South Australia's Coonawarra region, Tempus Two, Pewter Cabernet Sauvignon 2010. The Pewter range is the flag bearer of Tempus Two with grape varieties sourced from a single vineyard to ensure that each wine is a benchmark of its style. Featuring distinctive bottles and pewter labels, the wine displays delightful traces of blackcurrant, mint and spice on both the nose and palate, with a lingering flavour and velvety tannin that Coonawarra is renowned for.
Carved whole roasted fillet of Wagyu beef with cabernet sauvignon and smoked marrow sauce, wild summer chanterelles and palette of fresh market vegetables.
Ingredients:
Preparation of the sauce:
1. Heat 150g of oil in a thick-bottom roasting pot, then add the bones. Stir-fry for a little while to coat the bones with oil and then roast them in a pre-heated oven until very dark brown, but not burned.
2. Add the cut-up vegetables, the bouquet garni, tomatoes, tomato paste and cracked peppercorns and continue roasting until caramelised and fragrant.
3. Remove from the oven and deglaze with the red wine. Reduce the wine on an open flame until almost dry. Dust with the flour and give it a few stirs. Then add cold water just to cover the bone-vegetable mixture.
4. Bring to the boil and then boil very gently for no less than 2 hours. Remove any scum that appears on the surface of the simmering sauce.
5. After 2 hours you should have a nice shiny light velvety sauce in the pot. Strain it through a very fine mesh sieve and press with the back of a ladle to extract all the good flavours and juices and then strain the sauce once more to remove any impurities.
6. Rectify the seasoning with salt and more pepper if necessary, and then keep warm or store chilled until needed. This sauce can be made well in advance and kept chilled for up to a week.
7. To roast the fillet, season it with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in a thick-bottom roasting pan and sear the prepared fillet on all sides and then roast it in a pre-heated oven at 190-200C until the core temperature is about 54-55C so it's rare. If you need it cooked more, increase the roasting time. Remove from the oven and from the pan and keep warm. The beef should rest for at least 20-25 minutes before being served.
To assemble:
Saute the prepared vegetables and the chanterelle mushrooms with a small amount of butter and season with salt and pepper. Reheat the sauce and rectify the seasoning if needed and add to the sauce the parboiled diced smoked marrow. Put the potato slices in the centre of six preheated plates, then add artistically the chanterelles and the vegetables, cut up the roast beef fillet and line it on the plates. Add the red-wine sauce and serve at once.
