Narooma’s Alan Newbold of Mr Bold Catering Co. will be one of the chefs in the Narooma Betta Living Cooking Demonstration at the Narooma Oyster Festival on 3 May. Photo: Supplied.
Narooma’s Alan Newbold is living a chef’s dream with the quality and range of local seafood on his doorstep.
He will be showcasing it when he takes to the stage at the hugely popular Narooma Betta Home Living Cooking Demonstration at the Narooma Oyster Festival on Saturday 3 May.
He will also be presenting some specially created oyster tastings during Rock Oyster Week which runs from 26 April to 4 May.
Mr Newbold has some 30 years’ experience as a chef, combining classical techniques with a world of flavours. He has a reputation for keeping up with food trends and modern styles and crafting exceptional food to impress.
Since it opened in December 2014, his business Mr Bold Catering Co. has been the go-to for events ranging from weddings to birthday breakfasts on the beach and staff Christmas parties.
He is a passionate supporter of the Narooma Oyster Festival and has been involved in it since the get-go, back in 2007.
At the festival he will be demonstrating how to cook abalone and mushroom dumplings, served in a mushroom broth. He suspects many people are hesitant about cooking abalone.
“I have created it specifically for the event,” Mr Newbold said. “It is something I can show people and demystify the ingredients, make it user-friendly and show how to stretch that expensive product.”
Mr Bold Next Door stocks takeaway home meals, sauces, pickles, chutneys and spice rubs made by Alan Newbold, as well as other local produce. Photo: Supplied.
The abalone are local, harvested by local professional diver Stephen Bunney, while Bermagui is the source of the mushrooms, shiitake and oyster, of course.
He has extensive culinary knowledge, including about abalone.
It turns out abalone can be cooked low and slow, or sliced wafer-thin and cooked very quickly. In some Asian countries abalone are cooked over coals and in China they are braised with mushrooms. They can be tenderised by freezing or mincing which makes the meat easy to use and versatile.
He opened Mr Bold Next Door eight months ago. It serves delicious small bites, and stocks a range of takeaway ready-made meals, chutneys, pickles, and sauces, plus local products including Tilba Cheese, Mystery Bay Kelp, and nuts from South Coast Blends.
For Rock Oyster Week Mr Newbold will be cooking an empanada-like chicken and oyster pastry, an oyster chowder, and an oyster po’ boy.
Mr Newbold raves about the quality of local produce, including that from his neighbours in the Narooma industrial estate, Montague Oysters, Narooma Seafood Direct and Breakwall Brewing. Another of his favourite suppliers is Bridge Seafoods, which is responsible for catching local lobsters.
The hero of the festival, the oyster, is perhaps best seen in Oyster Farmers Alley at the festival with tastings from South Coast estuaries and growers as far south as Pambula. There you will meet farmers bursting with pride about their harvest and eager to tell you the story behind their oysters’ particular brine, sweetness, creaminess, mineralisation and umami.
As you would expect at the largest food and drink festival in southern NSW, there will be more than 25 food vendors and 25-plus brewers, winemakers, and distillers.
One of the art classes on offer during Rock Oyster Week is Paint in the Dark. It combines an art class using florescent paint under UV lighting, with oysters and wine. Photo: Supplied.
Starting on 26 April, Rock Oyster Week has an eclectic range of events spanning estuaries and eateries from Shoalhaven River to Pambula Lake.
They include aerial and kayak adventures, pairings, master classes, a schuck school and art classes.
Narooma art teacher Luke Kelly will get your creative juices flowing with his Paint in the Dark event.
He opened his gallery The Art Room a year ago. He holds weekly art classes and has done several Paint and Sip events in the past.
“This is using florescent paint and UV lighting so as we paint, the paint will be glowing,” Mr Kelly said. “It is going to be a very colourful event.”
The theme of the painting is an abstract painting of oyster shells. Mr Kelly will be there to walk everyone through the process, so it is open to adults of any skill level.
The event includes Wagonga Inlet Rock Oysters by Anoma and the team at Oyster Pro, paired with a highly acclaimed local drop, the Borrowed Cuttings Picpoul Blanc.
Paint in the Dark will be held on 26 April from 6 to 8 pm. You need to buy tickets and spaces to this fun event are limited.
For more information about all the Narooma Oyster Festival has to offer, and to buy tickets, head to the festival website.
