{"id":52981,"date":"2025-06-13T08:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T22:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/?p=52981"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:23:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T00:23:38","slug":"appetiser-corned-beef-convert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/blog\/appetiser-corned-beef-convert\/","title":{"rendered":"Meat the expert: corned beef convert"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I\u2019m a corned beef convert. I\u2019m in love with the cut. I love its flavour, its salty tang, its versatility, its retro vibes. But this wasn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n

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As an apprentice in a boutique butcher\u2019s shop on Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches, it was my job to pull the corned beef from a freezing pickle tub of icy brine. I also had to inject the meat with that brine \u2013 a cold task that would\u2019ve been thankless if not for the pleasant aroma of spice. Back then, I thought corned beef was just for oldies. I couldn\u2019t have been more wrong.<\/p>\n

It took a few years for the scales to fall from my eyes \u2013 a revelation that came one day when I sank my teeth into a crunchy, luscious Reuben sandwich at a trendy inner-city sandwich bar. Made with toasted sourdough, tart sauerkraut, nutty Swiss cheese and layers upon layers of finely sliced corned beef, it was salty yet slightly sweet, lightly spiced, moist and super tender. The craftsperson behind the sandwich, with their piercings and tattoo sleeves, could see my delight. \u201cGood, hey? It\u2019s our number-one seller.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, it was a quick progression to embracing traditional silverside \u2013 a cut with a fine layer of fat, brined in sugar and spices, then simmered with cloves and bay leaves until beautifully pink and tender. I still vividly remember the first time I had it like that, slathered in mustard sauce. Unforgettable.<\/p>\n

Traditional corned beef with white sauce \u2013 served with mash and a bit of cabbage or veg \u2013 is also making a comeback. Gastropub chefs are pimping the recipe, adding spices like cardamom or star anise, even finishing it with a little ras el hanout. Just remember \u2013 the mash should be almost more butter than potato.<\/p>\n

Corned beef is also blitzing it in the best caf\u00e9s and bars, where quality matters just as much as cost. It\u2019s a value ingredient \u2013 and with a bit of imagination, it can be transformed into something really elegant.<\/p>\n

A lightly pickled option that\u2019s juicy and tender is Naturalaz pre-cooked sous vide corned beef. I\u2019ve noticed it\u2019s a go-to for young chefs. They open the bag, slather the beef in pepper and spices and give it a gentle smoke. The result is as good as \u2013 if not better than \u2013 pastrami. At a fraction of the price.<\/p>\n

Being pre-cooked, the sous vide corned beef doesn\u2019t lose moisture. It slices cleanly with no waste, giving a great yield. It\u2019s also a favourite in those iconic old bakeries \u2013 the ones with a chalkboard menu behind the counter and a cabinet full of sandwiches. Buttered white bread, thinly sliced corned beef, fresh tomato, a slather of mustard pickles \u2013 and another layer of corned beef to protect the bread from the tomato juice. The classic bakery sandwich. Worth a country road trip.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s the thing with corned beef \u2013 the nostalgia it evokes. The joy of remembering old food memories. You see it in the way corned beef sparks conversations in pubs, clubs and residential care homes. \u201cThis is as good as Mum\u2019s,\u201d someone will say \u2013 before adding, \u201cbut of course she did it differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the beauty of corned beef. There\u2019s no one way to cook it. It\u2019s so versatile, so easy \u2013 and in the hands of someone with a bit of skill and imagination, it can be the cornerstone of a great, memorable meal. I highly recommend rethinking your own perception of the classic cut. I\u2019m certainly glad I did. Or maybe I just got old.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Find the recipe <\/span>here.<\/span><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As seen in winter 2025<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Often overlooked, corned beef silverside is making a comeback in restaurants across the country. Tom Cooper explains why this humble cut is winning over chefs with its flavour, value and timeless Aussie appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":52982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-52981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-trends","tag-appetiser"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52981"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53443,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52981\/revisions\/53443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}