Ōra King salmon has announced Joachim Lim (MPD Steak Kitchen, Melbourne) as Best Dish winner for Australia in the 2019 Ōra King Awards, demonstrating a unique connection to this year’s theme Sustain with his dish The Sustainable Ōra King Salmon Terrarium.
In its seventh year, The Ōras (The Ōra King Awards) were established by the premium best-of-breed King salmon brand as a tool to engage with its global community of chefs, and to offer them an international platform to share their passion, knowledge and creativity with like-minded industry leaders.
Joachim Lim, along with the other finalists from Australia, North America, Japan and New Zealand set off to Ōra King’s heartland of Nelson/Marlborough New Zealand to discover the stunning region and pure isolated waters of Marlborough Sound for themselves.
The four-day-long adventure included sea farm visits to see how Ōra King is harvested, a foraging tour to uncover the region’s exceptional produce, a fishing trip and many more events to celebrate the best of New Zealand.
Winning the coveted title of 2019 Ōra King Awards Australia Winner at a formal dinner at Spy Valley Winery on 16 October, Lim said: “I never expected to win the 2019 Australian title and am just so grateful that I was able to be a part of such an amazing awards program. I entered the awards because the theme of sustainability really interests me and it was also a great excuse to get creative with the amazing product that is Ōra King salmon.
“These awards allowed me to push my creative boundaries and really focus on the concept of sustainability. It’s also offered me the chance to learn and experience new innovative ideas to bring back to the restaurant and I can’t wait to show my team what I’ve discovered.”
In awarding Lim the title, Australian judges of the 2019 Awards, Jason Roberts and Ian Curley, said how impressed they were by Lim’s connection to the theme of Sustain, as well as the physical representation and quality of the dish.
Ian Curley said, “I was genuinely over impressed with the balance of flavours and textures in the dish, from the sand in the base of the dish to the salmon ice cream – wow! The message of sustain tied in perfectly and the level of technique that Joachim showed to put this dish together showed great talent and maturity.”
While Jason Roberts said, “The judging got harder with each chef digging deeper into technical, spiritual, mindful and flavourful approaches, with each of the finalists portraying ‘sustainability’ in their own view. Ultimately, I felt that Joachim’s dish had several components together which ignited the senses. His approach to sustainability was very unique.”
Developed specifically for the food service industry, Ōra King salmon offers a premium choice for discerning chefs and diners around the world. With consumers now including more seafood in their diet than ever before, and with sustainability a key focus, the 2019 theme of the Ōra King Awards challenged chefs to consider environmental stewardship, as well as the sustainability of the industry itself with the theme Sustain.
The Ōra King Awards recognise the outstanding creations of chefs around the world who love and work with Ōra King salmon with coveted ‘Best Dish’ titles from each of the four countries; New Zealand, Japan, North America and, of course, Australia.
The winners of the 2019 Ōra King Best Dish Awards are:
- Best Ōra King Dish Australia, Joachim Lim
- Best Ōra King Dish New Zealand, Phil Clark
- Best Ōra King Dish North America, Vincenzo Loseto
- Best Ōra King Dish, Japan Yasuhiro Tsuji
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