“One of my recent discoveries has been the joy of soft sea urchin on crisp, oily, grilled bread; everything is good on grilled bread, but sea urchin especially,” says Analiese Gregory of restaurant Franklin. “I’ve started travelling with a half-proved dough when I go diving just so I can enjoy this.” At Franklin, Gregory uses house-made chickpea miso, but good-quality miso with a nice sweet-salt balance works perfectly.
Ingredients
Flatbread
Method
1.For flatbread, combine ingredients, 2½ tsp salt and 400ml water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead until smooth. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel, and leave in a warm place to prove, turning occasionally, until doubled in size (3 hours at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight). Portion dough into 8 balls, dusting hands with flour to prevent sticking, transfer to a tray, and leave to prove until doubled in size (1-2 hours).
2.Preheat a woodfired barbecue until it burns down to hot, white-ashed coals. Grill eggplant on a wire rack directly over coals, turning occasionally until soft and blackened (45 minutes to 1 hour). Cool, peel (discard skin), and mix flesh with miso in a bowl to combine.
3.Stretch out dough balls by hand to thin flatbreads, dusting with extra flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Heat a cast-iron pan directly over hot coals. Add 2-3 tbsp oil, then fry flatbreads in batches, turning frequently, until golden and cooked through (2-3 minutes; it’s important to turn the breads regularly, adding enough oil, to prevent burning). Alternatively, grill flatbread in a char-grill pan. Keep bread warm on the side of the barbecue while you cook remaining breads, then serve with eggplant and sea urchin.
Sea urchins and sea urchin roe are available from select fishmongers. You may need to order ahead. Kamut flour is available from select health-food shops.
Wine suggestions NV Alessandro Viola “Blanc de Blancs” catarratto, Alcamo, Sicily and 2017 Momento Mori “Give Up the Ghost” greco di tufo, Heathcote, Victoria. Wine suggestion by Forbes Appleby.
Adam Gibson
