Who’d have thought the simple act of standing round a barbeque would feel like the epitome of freedom? After a year of lockdowns and occasional (or interminable, for some) forced seclusion, this summer has been something of a celebration. And with it the Aussie barbie is again a gathering place for friends and family (and a good excuse to share a bottle of champagne).
For Doug Keyte, head chef at Italian restaurant Baby in Richmond, cooking food and enjoying a drink with people close to you is the essence of such togetherness.
“I love to cook for my friends and family,” says Keyte. “There’s a certain satisfaction that comes from watching people you care about enjoying something you’ve created.”
One of Keyte’s go-tos for such occasions is gamberi salmoriglio, a traditional Italian dish with a modern (and iconic) Aussie translation: prawn on the barbie.
Salmoriglio is a sauce or marinade made from olive oil and lemon, while gamberi is Italian for prawn. You might otherwise recognise the dish as butterflied prawns, where king prawns are sliced down the middle, splayed open and grilled. Keyte says salmoriglio is an “ode to the simplicity of Italian dishes – it allows the protein of the dish to sing.”
The easy yet punchy flavour of salmoriglio makes it a versatile addition to any cook’s armoury.
“You can use salmoriglio for almost any seafood accompaniment, even on a whole fish,” says Keyte. “But my favourite is passing around a plate of fresh-off-the-barbeque prawns and having everyone dip in. It’s just better together.”
With seafood as central dish motif, Keyte says his recipe lends itself to pairing with a harmonious crisp dry sparkling, such as Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut. “Gamberi salmoriglio is a fragrant dish that’s perfect to share with friends over a glass of champagne,” Keyte says. “[For example] the complementary flavours of fresh seafood pair well with a cuvéee brut. It’s all about simple, quality ingredients. That’s our philosophy at Baby. It’s what I learned from a young age: use fresh seasonal produce and hand-sourced ingredients … and make sure you have fun.”
Here’s how to make gamberi salmoriglio for your next backyard barbeque.
Doug Keyte’s recipe for Gamberi Salmoriglio
Serves 2 as an entree
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Ingredients
8 king prawns
2 garlic cloves
½ tbsp flat leaf parsley
1 lemon
75ml extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to season
Method
Preheat barbeque and remove legs and antennae from prawns. Butterfly the prawns by running a sharp knife along the underside of each prawn until the knife touches the shell (but don’t cut through shell). Use scissors to cut the prawns’ heads in half.
Slice garlic cloves as finely as possible and finely chop the parsley. Mix well in a bowl with lemon juice and olive oil until mixture starts to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Rub olive oil and a little salt into the flesh of each prawn and drain off any excess oil. Place prawns on barbeque flesh down with a tray on top to stop them curling. Cook briefly then flip onto their shells and put the tray back on top.
Once prawns are only just cooked, transfer from grill to plate. Give the salmoriglio another good mix to emulsify, then distribute evenly over the prawns making sure every prawn gets an equal amount of love. Pair with Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut.
This recipe is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Piper-Heidsieck. Find a bottle of Piper-Heidsieck to share here.
