Yabby cakes join the dinner list
Imogen Payne has been promising yabby cakes for a year. They are finally on the list, and the staff have eaten more than their fair share of the test batches.
Yabbies are the little freshwater crayfish that live in dams and creeks across the district, and anyone who grew up out here has a story about catching them with a piece of meat on a string. Imogen wanted to bring that memory to the plate without making it a novelty, and the answer turned out to be a simple cake, fried until the outside crackles and the inside stays tender and sweet.
Getting the texture right
The first batch was gluey, the second was dry, and the third was close enough that Noel Saunders asked for seconds. The cake now holds together with a little mashed potato and egg yolk, with a coating of fine breadcrumbs that crisps in the pan. The yabby meat is the star, and nothing is allowed to bury it.
A word on sourcing
Imogen buys from a local supplier who brings the meat in on ice, already picked. When the supply is short, the cakes come off the list that night rather than being padded out. A sign on the chalkboard says so, and nobody has complained.
How to eat them
Hot, with a squeeze of lemon and a spoonful of the house mayonnaise. They are a small plate, so two cakes are enough to start dinner without spoiling the pie that follows. Louise Georgiou recommends a pot of tea on the side.
What comes next
A yabby pasta has been on the Thursday list for months, and the cakes now sit beside it. The next experiment is a cold plate for the hottest weeks, with sliced cucumber and a very light dressing. We will report back when it survives a tasting.
What the regulars said
Marg wanted more lemon, Trevor wanted less, and a visiting farmer asked whether the cakes were available by the dozen. They are not. Imogen says the point of a small plate is that it is small, and that anyone who wants a dozen should order the fisherman's pie instead and be done with it.