By Christine Salins.
Mark Best is an accidental chef – he started his working life as an electrician in the gold mines of Western Australia. By the age of 25, he had discovered a love of cooking and switched careers, something for which Australians can be eternally grateful.
Since embarking on an apprenticeship in 1990 at the Macleay Street Bistro, in Sydney’s Potts Point, Best has enjoyed a stellar career.
In 1995, he opened his own restaurant, Peninsula Bistro, in Balmain, and in the same year won the annual award for Sydney’s best young chef, the Josephine Pignolet Award. He furthered his horizons at L’Arpége in Paris and Le Manoir Aux Quatre Saisons in England.
In 1999, he opened Marque, which went on to become one of Sydney’s leading restaurants, repeatedly featuring in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list and earning three hats in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. Marque closed in 2016 while he was still at the peak of his game.
Last year, Best came to international attention when he appeared with fellow chef, Shane Osborn, on the Netflix reality TV cooking show, The Final Table. The duo reached the final but were pipped at the post by an American duo (many commentators declared they should have won).
For the last couple of years, Best has been collaborating with Dream Cruises, a cruise line with a strong focus on food, wine and enriching experiences. The fleet’s three ships – Genting Dream, World Dream and Explorer Dream – feature signature steak and seafood restaurants by Best, and Best sometimes travels on board, providing guests with immersive culinary experiences such as market tours and cooking classes.
Best has brought fine Australian produce to Dream Cruises’ culinary offerings, with Murray cod, Blackmore wagyu beef, oysters from the NSW South Coast, lamb and fresh Australian seafood featuring regularly on the menus. His recipe for Murray cod, Australia’s iconic native freshwater fish, is featured here; it’s one of his signature dishes.
Explorer Dream came to Australia for the first time in October. It is spending the summer cruising in Australian and New Zealand waters, and by all accounts is proving incredibly popular. No doubt Best’s remarkable culinary skills have played a big part in that.
Mark Best’s recipe for Steamed Murray Cod
Serves 4
4 x 180g Murray Cod fillets, skin on
200g waxy potatoes (eg. Desiree)
25ml sesame oil
5g Szechuan pepper
4 whole dried red chillies
20ml black vinegar
Salt
Butter sauce:
30g shallot
60ml dry white wine
200g salted butter, chopped into cubes
Freshly ground white pepper
Peel and cut the potatoes into matchsticks, then soak in cold water till needed.
Season the cod and steam for 8 to 10 minutes at 85 degrees C.
Drain the potatoes and pat dry, then stir-fry with sesame oil, Szechuan pepper and chillies until half cooked. Add the vinegar and season with salt.
To make the butter sauce: Chop the shallot finely. Put in a saucepan with the white wine and cook till reduced by half. Whisk in the cold cubed butter to form a thick emulsion. Season with pepper to taste.
To serve, place a piece of fish on each plate and spoon over some of the butter sauce. Serve the potatoes on the side, with the dried chilli as a garnish.
