LITTLE LUXURIES
A Balancing Act
As Eureka 89’s reputation for beautifully curated degustation grows, executive chef Renee Martillano shares the secret to balancing disparate flavours.
WORDS Lucy E Cousins
Growing up on a farm in the Philippines, Renee Martillano spent her childhood surrounded by rice paddies and cultivated crops that pocketed the land. Yet, it wasn’t until years later when she was fortunate to study under a renowned Western Australian chef that she understood how important food was to her.
“When I came to Australia and I met my mentor, Adrian Tobin, I realised that food was actually my passion,” she recalls with a smile.
It wasn’t just her unwavering passion that helped her win a gold medal at the prestigious International Salon Culinaire competition – and land the coveted executive chef title at Eureka 89. It was also Martillano’s finely honed culinary skills, her much-lauded creativity, and her no-nonsense kitchen management skills.
“I’ve always admired creative chefs,” she says. “To be competitive these days, you need that creativity, as Australians are much more well-travelled.”
Having worked at Eureka 89 for over a decade, Martillano loves bringing her trans-cultural creativity to the dishes served sky-high on the 89th floor of Eureka Tower. An example is mixing Japanese flavours with a classical French dish by using miso, for added depth and complexity.
It's this creativity that Martillano and her team at Eureka 89 draw on for their special events. The most popular of these has traditionally been a whisky-paired four-course degustation, and their sold-out tequila-paired dinners, which feature a pairing of complex flavours.
“Whenever we have a special event, my team and I get excited. My mind starts thinking and my creativity starts working…” says Martillano.
The first step, she adds, for a successful food and spirit pairing is to assess the flavours of the spirits, whether that be tequila from Central America, or whisky from around the world. Then, you can start to think about the food. “Always ask yourself where the spirit has come from when you’re trying to pair the food,” she says. With tequila from Mexico, Martillano’s mind starts to think of citrus flavours and raw fish or shellfish. For American whisky, she tends to go for richer foods, such as heavy steaks and cheese-based dishes. For Scottish whisky, which tends to be smokier or peatier, she might go for ham or seafood, and for Japanese whisky, which is light and fragrant, she’ll pair it with lightly cooked meat or seafood.
Her sage advice is that while you can add the spirit to the dish itself, try to do so sparingly – using a ‘light touch’.
“So, if it’s fish or shellfish, put a little bit in the curing – just a hint – but don’t overdo it because otherwise, it will affect the flavours when you drink the spirit with dinner,” she explains carefully.
As an example, Martillano references a dish she made for the last tequila dinner at Eureka 89, where she served cured scallops with a little tequila in the curing mixture, then she refrained in the main dish as it was smoked short rib, then added tequila again to the syrup in the dessert.
“Make sure that the spirit flavours are not very strong in your cuisine, just enough that it’s at the back of your palette, so you think, ‘Oh, what’s that flavour?’ as you finish it.”