Beefing up WA's signature dish

A Narrikup woman’s family beef recipe took top honours at a cook-off in Denmark last Tuesday and will represent the Great Southern in the hunt for WA’s Signature Dish.

Clare King beat three other hopefuls — Emma Donnelly, Pamela Lincoln and April Kopf — to be crowned victorious after her ‘a celebration of beef’ dish impressed judge Silas Masih.

Mrs King said the contest at Masih’s Pepper and Salt restaurant in Denmark was “a lot of pressure” but a great learning experience and she was thrilled to win.

Having never entered a cooking contest before, Mrs King said she was inspired to showcase a family recipe used by mother Kim Pugh, sister Alexandra Riggall and herself to celebrate special family occasions.

“It is the most popular dish to celebrate birthdays and other occasions so they were all behind me,” she said.

The Pugh family run a cattle stud in Narrikup and Mrs King said she was passionate about promoting beef with her winning dish — a fillet of beef with a Thai-style ginger, garlic, lemongrass and lime sauce.

“I have never done anything like this before … but we are beef producers and passionate about our cows,” she said.

“Silas will mentor me to tweak the recipe here and there to make sure it is perfect, which will be great because he is a terrific food ambassador for the region.”

Mrs King will battle it out against contestants from three other food-producing regions — Perth and surrounds, Gascoyne and South West.

The event will culminate in a grand finale in Perth on June 2 as part of WA Day.

One amateur cook’s recipe will be named WA’s Signature Dish.

The competition is on a mission to find the dish that best represents the State on a plate.

It is sponsored by West Australian Regional Newspapers.