Mount Gambier’s Barn Steakhouse is a regional dining institution offering a genuine paddock-to-plate experience.
Story Gretel Sneath Photos Adrian Gale
After 27 years working at The Barn Steakhouse, head chef Alfons Couldrey can cook a steak – make no bones about it. His key to a perfect meal? “Good steak and a good grill.”
A whopping 65,000 serves of eye fillet, rump, porterhouse and rib-eye have passed through the loyal head chef’s kitchen since he arrived at the South Australian dining institution as a 20 year-old-apprentice. Alfons has certainly mastered the balance between flame and flavour intensity, but he’s hesitant to hand over grilling tips.
“You need to give it a generous seasoning with salt and pepper, and I guess a general rule is to cook a medium-rare steak for five minutes each side, but there’s so many variables; it depends how thick the steak is and how hot your grill is,” he explains, adding that meat quality is also a major factor. “Some people swear by rare, but if your meat has high fat content, you need to heat it enough to get those fats to melt; a rare steak isn’t necessarily tender.”
This story excerpt is from Issue #136
Outback Magazine: Apr/May 2021
