Neil Perry
Neil Perry dives into his childhood memories to uncover how fishing trips with his dad shaped his passion for sustainable seafood.
The chef lists his transformative seafood experiences
My real appreciation of seafood started very young; I was blessed to have a father who was a mad keen fisherman. Weekends and holidays were spent on the water – fishing for garfish in a lake, whiting on a beach or snapper from a boat, or prawning with lights and nets at night. We caught fresh fish that were cleaned and washed with seawater and from there they went straight into a pan or steamer or onto the barbecue. It was those memories and experiences that shaped me as a chef.
I guess that’s why seafood has been such an important part of my life ever since. From opening Bondi’s Blue Water Grill in 1986 – my version of a seafood brasserie, where I combined Asian flavours with beautifully cooked fish – to introducing Rockpool in 1989 as a seafood restaurant, the quality of fish and the way we treat it and harvest it in a sustainable manner has been my major focus.
I have always sought to work directly with the best fishermen in the country. At the moment Ben Collison from Bowen in Queensland supplies our reef fish and Bruce Collis from Corner Inlet in Victoria provides the most amazing King George whiting, flathead, garfish, squid and other mixed-bag seafood. These guys employ sustainable methods and aim to not only look after the fish but also the environment they come from. Ben catches coral trout and puts them in a tank on board to keep them alive. Back at port, he kills the trout humanely with an iki jime spike and places them in ice slurry before packing them for delivery. Bruce uses purse seine nets and hand-picks the fish, releasing any bycatch of smaller or unwanted species. Both Ben and Bruce send us perfect fish. Then it’s our job to treat them right. Dry-scaling and filleting is done to produce the best quality fillets, which are then simply cooked in our charcoal oven or on a woodfired grill.
Best international seafood restaurant
My favourite seafood restaurant in the world is Kaia-Kaipe in Getaria, Spain (kaia-kaipe. com). The fish is brought in daily from local fishermen and the shellfish is alive in tanks. It has a cracking wine list and cooks the seafood over a charcoal grill. The grilled turbot and lobster are extraordinary.
Best Australian seafood restaurant
Some of my most memorable seafood dining experiences at home have been at Josh Niland’s Saint Peter eatery in Sydney (saintpeter.com.au). Josh looks at what you can do with meat and applies the same techniques to seafood: he uses a dry-ageing process for fish; makes sausages and terrines; cuts tuna into cutlets like lamb; and even melds strong stocks in sauces.
Josh also runs the takeaway fish and chips at the Fish Butchery a few doors away so that’s worth a visit when you feel like something more casual.
Favourite seafood experience
I love feasting on a seafood platter at any of the large brasseries in Paris. Oysters are shucked and opened in front of you and served with mussels, clams, snails and lots of other raw seafood. Paired with a glass of white burgundy, it’s a meal that’s pretty hard to beat.
But it’s impossible to outdo sitting on the beach at any of the fish co-ops on the east coast of Australia with a kilogram of cooked school prawns, some white bread and butter and brown vinegar for sprinkling. If that isn’t Australian seafood heaven, I don’t know what is.