For this instalment of The Edibles we documented the full-blood wagyu tri tip dish at Gerard’s Bistro, Fortitude Valley.

Gracing the lunch and dinner menu, the full-blood wagyu tri tip comes crusted in black cardamom and accompanied by egg yolk, shallots, licorice and yeast. The full-blood pure wagyu is sourced from Mayura Station on the Limestone Coast in South Australia, where the cattle have been bred, born, raised and grain-fed on the family-owned property – offering complete traceability. For this dish, head chef Ben Williamson has used tri tip, which is a secondary cut sourced from the bottom of the rump cut. This piece maintains the rich flavour of rump and has a fatty marbling that texturally contrasts the dense meat. The wagyu has been crusted in a salt made from dehydrated eggplant skins and black cardamom, adding a crusty layer of texture and a smoky flavour. A sous vide duck egg yolk sits alongside, offering a sticky mess to roll the wagyu in once broken, while a licorice gel carries the flavours. Shallots have been smoked over coals, resulting in a blackened edge, while the soft inner onion adds sweetness. Using the whey leftover over from making the restaurant’s own cows-milk curd, Ben creates a culture by adding yeast and turning it into foam – which is then spooned onto the dish, adding an earthy yet tangy layer. This dish exemplifies Gerard’s Bistro’s use of underutilised or less popular cuts of meat through highlighting their flavour and texture. Textural counterplay is another signature of the restaurant, standing apparent in this tri tip through the crunch of the onions, the smooth soft beef and fatty duck yolk.