Series 3: Episode 5

Australia is the largest producer of Spanner Crabs in the world and this week we’re offshore from the northern New South Wales coast at Coffs Harbour to see how they’re caught. We’re the guests of third generation fishing pro Trevor Hargreaves aboard his plucky little fishing boat which he uses to lay several lines of strangely flat crab “pots” on the sandy sea floor. Then we see how the Spanner Crabs’ spiny legs catch on the mesh of the traps. We also see the millions of eggs which are the reason why female crabs are quickly returned to the sea in this sustainable fishery. Executive Chef Colin Barker from the famous Boathouse Restaurant in Sydney’s Blackwattle Bay is with us for the challenge of untangling crabs from the traps. He cooks a quick dockside lunch of Spanner Crab and Avocado Toastie in Coffs Harbour; followed in the Boathouse kitchen by a Spanner Crab Bouillabaisse with Rouille which shows why his cuisine is hailed by critics around the world.

COLIN BARKER
EXECUTIVE CHEF, THE BOATHOUSE ON BLACKWATTLE BAY

Our kitchen is in the very capable of hands of award-winning chef Colin Barker, who first joined The Boathouse in 2007 as Senior Sous Chef. Early in his career, Colin worked with Liam Tomlin at Banc before winning the NSW Lexus Young Chef of the Year Award in 2005. He then worked alongside Warren Turnbull of Assiette, then spent time in the UK as Senior Chef de Partie under the guidance of Brett Grahame at The Ledbury, a one-Michelin Star restaurant in London’s Notting Hill. A keen fisherman, Colin has a passion for seafood and enjoys seeking out the more unusual species of fish, preparing them in unique combinations with seasonal ingredients.