My go-to lazy sweet thing
Food and recipes
With fresh fish landed just 200m down the road and a philosophy to buy local, Gisborne’s USSCO restaurant is making the most of bouncing back from its tough Covid year. Georgia-May Gilbertson takes the taste test and discovers the secret behind their sweetcorn risotto.
It’s 5.30pm on Wednesday and USSCO bar and bistro is just over a quarter full, but by 7pm there’s not one spare table. The rustic restaurant with its sea foam walls, stained-glass windows, polished wooden floors and white-washed fireplace is tucked down Childers Rd in the heart of Gisborne.
Owned and operated by award-winning head chef Thomas Boyce for the past 13 years, the space boasts a taste of local in a historical, yet relaxed atmosphere.
A chef all his life, Boyce has done his dash – from restaurants on Auckland’s waterfront, to restaurants across Australia, down to a popular cafe called The Bach in Taupo and then back home to Gisborne.
The 39-year-old father-of-three describes himself as a veteran chef who has taken a step back from the cooking side, but still designs dishes and works in the kitchen two days a week.
‘‘Not many of us carry on after a certain point,’’ he laughs.
Boyce spends the rest of his time training and mentoring staff, meal planning and organising the chefs.
‘‘I’m lucky to have a great team behind me, they are mainly local and there’s a heavy female presence in the kitchen, which is something that’s happened over the last year.’’
One is from Bangladesh, and although USSCO’s menu has your classic eye-fillet steak, roast lamb and fish, there’s an element of Indian cuisine which locals have taken a shine to.
A visiting couple from Napier spent up to 15 minutes trying to select something from the menu and resorted to asking others what they were eating, as it was too difficult to make a choice.
One of the most popular dishes is a Vietnamese pancake with cashew aioli, as well as the fried chicken tacos with aioli slaw.
The cocktail menu is notable, and its drinks list pays homage to brews and wines from the region’s famous vineyards.
The restaurant occupies, and is named after, the historical shipping company building, The Union Steam Ship Company (USSCo). ‘‘Some people have trouble pronouncing the name, but it’s an acronym. You can say it anyway you like.’’
Boyce sources most of his ingredients locally to support the Gisborne community – most notably its fresh fish. ‘‘Gisborne Fisheries is literally just down the street, so the fish comes off the wharf 200m away, to the fisheries and then into here. We’re so lucky.’’
Boyce also loves to cook with steak and venison, but is also experimenting with vegan dishes. ‘‘I’m challenged by them, but I enjoy putting them together. I love looking at other ideas and not turning them into my own, but putting them through the USSCO filter.’’ The same goes for the staff, if they want to experiment with a new dish, Boyce is open to suggestions, but it has to go through the filter. ‘‘It’ll pop out the other side with a bit of this and that and it might end up staying on the menu for a year.’’
Like the rest of the hospitality sector, USSCO was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, only to bounce back with staff taking on a new mentality.
‘‘We learned a lot of valuable lessons throughout the whole thing. We carry less stock, and we came out with quite a survival mentality, which we’ve still kept. We don’t waste staff time, and we don’t waste product.’’
Since Covid-19, USSCO has taken advantage of the government’s apprenticeship scheme, with one apprentice already rolling through the programme and two more starting in the New Year.
‘‘It’s so important to be able to retain staff in this business and it’s a business where professional development is a bit missed in this country, so we’re enjoying the fact that staff who work here are gaining a qualification while they’re with us and it keeps them with us too.’’
USSCO SWEET CORN RISOTTO WITH ROCKET, CREME FRAICHE Ingredients
400g of arborio rice washed 150g of finely chopped onion Garlic to your liking 125ml riesling
3 corn cob
1.25 litre stock
20g turmeric
5 litre ice water
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
100g butter
60g creme fraiche
15ml extra virgin olive oil 50g grated parmesan Rocket leaves
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the turmeric. Blanch your perfectly cleaned corn cobs and refresh immediately in ice water.
Dry the corn and slice the kernels off the cob from end to end. The perfect result is when the kernels stay together.
Prepare the stock of your liking. Saute onions in 50 grams of butter, being careful not to brown the butter or the onions. Add garlic. Add the washed arborio rice, stir with a wooden spoon until the rice has soaked up the butter. When you see early signs of caramelisation, add the riesling.
Once the wine has been soaked in, add 75 ml of stock, stir until absorbed and repeat the process until the rice is creamy with starch and soft to the bite.
Lower the heat and add 50g butter, creme fraiche, lemon zest, salt and pepper
Presentation
Season the corn kernels with olive oil, salt and pepper and either grill or BBQ. Spoon the risotto into the middle of your plate, put the grilled corn on top and finish with parmesan, olive oil and rocket leaves.