Chef vs Public BBQ: Eddie Noble
Eddie Noble, owner of Noble Food and chef at Louca’s Seafood Restaurant in Adelaide, puts his cooking skills to the test to grill up some tasty South Australian seafood.
The first sign that today’s Public BBQ challenge is going to go well is when the grey skies and rain give way to a glorious sunny spring day when we meet chef Eddie Noble at the Quentin Kenihan Inclusive Playspace in Rymill Park.
The second sign is that the public BBQ actually works.
“I’m not a regular user of public BBQs – they’re a great amenity to have but there’s always the risk you might get there and it hasn’t been looked after, or it might not be functioning,” Eddie says.
“It’s fantastic this one that works and is clean and well set up, with enough space around it to work properly.
“I like to barbecue. I think the thing about a barbecue is it’s very ritualistic. You’ve got family together, you’ve got friends together, and it’s a gateway to a celebration or a fun afternoon out in the sun.”
Eddie is here with CityMag today to grill up some South Australian seafood. On the menu are King George whiting and prawns.
“King George whiting is an iconic fish for South Australia,” he says. “Everyone loves it. And prawns, obviously, are synonymous with a barbecue.”
Seafood has always been a big part of Eddie’s life and career.
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“When I was a kid, I would often go up to places like Port Broughton Wallaroo with my grandfather, and go crabbing and squiding,” he says. “I think it’s a big part of South Australian culture, obviously, because we’ve got such a beautiful coastline, and a lot of kids here grow up with the ocean in their life in one way or another.”
It’s why, like thousands of other South Australians, what’s happening with the algal bloom is hitting him hard.
“It’s pretty tough,” he says. “The guys who supply the seafood are facing struggles for a couple of reasons. People are nervous about eating it, so they’re not buying it at all.”
It’s the question that’s on everyone’s lips. So, should we be nervous about eating it?
“There’s a couple of things to keep in mind,” he says. “First and foremost, we’ve got really extensive food safety testing in South Australia.
“The main thing to keep in mind is that people like fishmongers and fish wholesalers aren’t going to be selling it if it’s infected.”
As a chef, building strong ties with local suppliers is key to keeping his business running,
“One of the suppliers ones I work really closely with is Jimmy Elias & Sons down in Port Adelaide,” he says. “You build relationships where you’re on the phone with each other each day because the market, especially at the moment with the algal bloom, is changing every day.
“Every day the suppliers go to the Adelaide fish market and basically bid for the fish. Some days there might not be any flathead, so you’re asking them, OK, what have you got? What’s in the market? What’s good? You always try to work closely with them, just to see what’s out there and see what’s coming in.
“South Australian seafood is some of the best in the world. We’ve got a long list of species available, and we’ve got people who are passionate about doing it the right way and not cutting corners.
“We export so much seafood because it’s because of its quality. It’s fantastic. So get behind your local seafood supplier and help them out and buy some seafood.”
Eddie’s love of cooking started young. “I worked in a commercial kitchen at age 11 as a kitchen hand,” he says. “Four years later, I began my apprenticeship at Assaggio in Hyde Park, which, at the time, was a really famous restaurant in Adelaide.
“I then moved over to Melbourne for about 10 years, and worked a lot of different places, including at Noisy Ritual. I recently moved back to Adelaide, and after a couple of jobs, started up with the guys who own HNLY and Louca’s.”
Eddie now runs his own business, Noble Food, creating menus for private events and collaborations. “I’m still managing the kitchen at Louca’s, as well as doing a plethora of other things, which is really exciting,” he says.
As we’re chatting, the smell of cooking seafood is filling the air. “The BBQ plates have got hot enough to get a nice caramelisation on the prawns, surprisingly,” Eddie says.
“I’ve been caught out a couple of times because the BBQ has a self-timer on it which turned off. Luckily, I realised what’s happening.”
Eddie’s tips for cooking the perfect seafood?
“Seafood doesn’t need to be cooked as much as people think” he says. “For me, the thing when cooking a piece of fish, get the grill or pan a bit hotter than you think it needs to be, because as soon as you put that fish in there, it’s going to cool the pan down.
“The second thing is, because fish is so delicate, don’t fiddle with it too much – let it kind of get a crust on it and then check it and just wiggle it a smidge and eventually it’ll just lift off.
“The third one is, for me, cooking a piece of skin on fishes, I always like to cook it 75-80% of the way on the skin, so it gets that golden skin, and the skin protects the flesh, and then flip it over and just kiss it and finish it a little bit on the actual flesh, and then let it rest like you would a steak. It doesn’t need to be eaten straight away.”
Sides are also important. “I always like to keep it really simple, like a simple vinaigrette,” he says. “And when I say vinaigrette, not necessarily just like the dressing. For the prawns today I did a coarsely chopped roasted red capsicum with coriander seed and a load of really good olive oil and lemon juice.
“If you’ve got beautiful tomatoes in season, you can chop those up with some fresh basil and diced shallot through some olive oil with some nice white wine vinegar dressed over the top of the prawns. With fish, classics are classics for a reason, so lemon butter, capers, bit of herbs dressed over the top as well. It’s delicious.”
Download the collectable Chef vs Public BBQ recipe card here.
