Taste our State on a plate

The search has begun to find WA’s signature dish.

Buy West Eat Best has partnered with Celebrate WA to go on a Statewide hunt called WA’s Signature Dish and the competition will crown the recipe that puts our State on a plate.

The competition asks for dishes to use a WA grown, farmed, fished, produced or processed food product as its main ingredient.

And it will have some star power, with renowned French-born chef Guillaume Brahimi joining a panel of judges to choose the winning dish.

Brahimi is one of Australia’s most acclaimed chefs.

He trained under Michelin-starred Joel Robuchon in Paris and moved to Sydney in the 1990s, where he took over the flagship restaurant at the Sydney Opera House, Bennelong.

Since then, Brahimi has opened Bistro Guillaume in Crown Melbourne and a second in Crown Perth.

He said the decision will be carefully thought out, as tough as it may be.

“It will be a hard decision. I’m hoping it will be a hard decision,” he said.

“It’s about finding out what the person thought about, why it should be the West Australian signature dish and the philosophy behind it before you taste it.”

To be in the running to win WA’s Signature Dish, amateur cooks need to submit their recipe online and then battle it out in one of four regional finals held in the Great Southern, Southern Forests, Gascoyne and “Perth and surrounds”.

The winner of each regional final will work with a high-profile mentor chef to get them ready for the grand finale set to be held in Perth on June 2, as part of the State’s WA Day celebrations.

The judging panel will include Brahimi, Crown Perth executive chef Ralf Vogt and The West Australian’s food critic Rob Broadfield.

Brahimi said the winning dish would successfully highlight one hero WA ingredient, like marron, coral trout or Margaret River wagyu beef. With more than 100 food businesses offering up foodstuffs on the Buy West Eat Best program, there are plenty of products to choose from.

Brahimi said he was looking forward to discovering some fresh and new about WA produce.