Temporada’s Dave Young shares his fave throwback dishes as he prepares to say Adios!
Posted on
Temporada is saying Adios after 10 years of operation, and to send it off in style owner Dave Young is dishing up some of his fave throwbacks.
Back in early 2014, I published what was HerCanberra’s first real foodie scoop – the first look at Temporada. Launched as a partnership between Aubergine’s Ben Willis and sous chef Chris Darragh as a more casual affair, Dave Young took over in 2020 as owner and head chef – now, after notching up 10 years of operation, he’s calling it a day.
It’s somewhat bittersweet that we’re bookending the Temporada journey with opening and closing articles, but let’s go out in the most delicious way possible.
Ahead of his last service on 18 May, Dave is pulling out some throwback moments and serving up some of his customers’ favourite dishes from the last decade. We asked him to share them.
Temporada cheeseburger, maple smoked bacon, zucchini pickles (2018)
On the menu from day dot, current incarnation since 2018.
What can I say – when you put the best possible ingredients between a Three Mills’ milk bun, you end up with the best burger in town. Hand-ground mince, homemade pickles, house burger sauce…the only thing missing is some crispy onion rings and a beer.
Citrus marinated chicken skewer, furikake, charred lime (2020)
When you’re blessed with a charcoal grill, you have to make the most of it.
These aren’t your ordinary skewers – we baste them in a sauce called mojo de ajo – a citrus and garlic glaze that elevates them to another level. Sprinkled with furikake (a Japanese rice seasoning) and served with a charred lime.
Cured hiramasa kingfish, charred mandarin, togarashi, yuzu kosho dressing (2023)
A relative newcomer to the menu but so delicious and seasonal we couldn’t leave it off!
We lightly cure the kingfish with lime and lemon zest before slicing it. The dressing is made from yuzu kosho ( fermented yuzu and chilli) which gives it a great balanced kick. We top the dish with house togarashi and some warm charred mandarin segments, giving it a real light and shade.
Charcoal grilled ocean trout, hazelnut saor, radicchio, saba (2020)
This dish came from an idea one of our chefs had. He was super talented and had plenty of ideas – mostly good ones!
We serve the trout with a hazelnut saor – a riff on the traditional Italian dish sardines en saor. It’s a sweet/sour sauce made with roasted hazelnuts, confit garlic, olive oil and cider vinegar, giving the dish great richness. A little raddichio braised in saba (grape must) gives it a slight bitterness rounding off the dish.
Charcoal grilled fremantle octopus, aioli, black vinegar dressing (2018)
Probably our most iconic dish.
The octopus is cooked slowly before being charred over the charcoal giving it a unique smokiness. We serve with a dressing inspired by a dumpling dish I made ages ago – Chinese black vinegar, chilli oil and soy.
Add some aioli for creaminess, sichuan pepper for spice, and pickled fennel to give the dish balance.
Sweet, spicy, smokey – what’s better??
Charcoal grilled scallop, black bean vinaigrette (2020)
These guys are hard to stop at one.
The black bean vinaigrette give the scallops great umami and depth. One of our favourite snacks.
Charcoal grilled wagyu intercostal, nashi, sesame leaves, hot bean paste (2019)
Probably our ‘other’ iconic dish.
I love things cooked slowly then grilled over coals – it’s the best of both worlds.
We take wagyu intercostals (the part between the ribs on short ribs), braise them slowly in a Chinese master stock, then grill them til smokey. We then glaze them with the stock, wrap them in sesame leaf and grill them again. The flavour is so unique.
Served with a spicy Korean hot bean paste dressing and some nashi pear for contrast. So good.
Four cheese tapioca fritter, green harissa (2018)
These are sooooo delicious.
We make a pretty unique fritter with tapioca pearls and a four cheese mix we make in house (parmesan, mozzarella, taleggio, gruyere).
We fry them until crispy and serve them with a south american inspired green harissa that’s spicy and zippy – a great contrast. I’ll miss these ones!
