thE Nt’S BESt PARmY
tributes to a pub legend
THE crunch of the chip, the crumb of the bird, the tenderness of the breast.
Love it or hate it – but you probably love it – the chicken parmy is a ubiquitous dish in the NT.
If one of the major parties anointed a chicken parmy to leadership prior to the federal election, the bird would likely, nay almost certainly, win in a landslide.
But woah there, put down your knife and fork – because one local food critic’s chicken parmy review has become a bone of contention in the Top End.
Qantas Travel Insider magazine’s Sam McCue recently declared the parmy at the Berry Springs Tavern as the Territory’s finest, citing the “rich, thick sauce” that “tastes like it was made by someone’s loving nonna”.
Territorians have since come out clucking to get behind their favourite chicken parmies. Like a parmy’s enigmatic side-salad, where you never really know what you’re going to get, Territorians were varied in their response to the question: who makes the Territory’s best parmy?
A straw-poll of Territorians in the CBD revealed the Casuarina Club and Humpty Doo Tavern to be of high parmy repute. The Precinct hotel, however, emerged as a clear favourite.
The Sunday Territorian subsequently stormed the Waterfront Precinct to verify the claims, where journalists were met by chef Charlie Engelhardt dealing parmies off the arm.
What we found was a parmy Picasso; a plate full of freshness and colour, consist- ing of a pistachio nut crumbed bird, freshly chopped tomato salsa and smoked cheddar, flanked by shoestring fries and a salad that, overall, was a net positive.
Chef Engelhardt said freshness was the key to the perfect parmy.
“The most critical thing is the freshness of the product and a crispy crumb,” he said.
“If it’s done right, you couldn’t do better for a pub meal.”
At the Berry Springs Tavern, the Qantas magazine champs told the Sunday Territorian its parmy is so popular it had to create a bird three times the normal size to appease demand. “Our ‘Parmageddon’ is actually 1.5 kilo,” said the tavern’s general manager Liz Lamb. “Parmy enthusiasts can take on the Parmageddon for the challenge or simply for the experience. You get 45 minutes to eat it, and if you suc- ceed, it’s on the house.”
The inaptly named Ms Lamb said the dish was a delicate balance of flavours and textures.
“It’s got to be perfect – the ratio has to be right, the cheese golden brown, the sauce can’t be to tomato-ey or not tomatoey enough,” she said.
“And obviously a nice, moist chicken breast …”
What Ms Lamb said next could be inscribed in Aussie pub lore. “Every pub has a parmy on the menu, but not every pub does a great parmy.”
President of the Northern Territory Culinary Federation Martin Bouchier said Aussie parmies have been refined over centuries.
“It’s a staple of the Aussie diet, derived from the settlers on the First Fleet,” he said.
“When they couldn’t get aubergines, they decided to butcher up a chicken.”
Mr Bouchier said he believed the dish was here to stay for “good or ill”, and, after serving up parmy tacos at Hot Tamale on Australia Day, hailed the dish’s unceasing ability to reinvent itself.
“It’s a dish that truly transgresses all normalities of cuisine,” he said.
“It’s a staple of the Aussie diet, derived from the settlers on the First Fleet” MARTIN BOUCHIER NT CULINARY FEDERATION PRESIDENT