Statewide prize for pear and pork dish

Chefs at Andiamo Restaurant are praising pears after being crowned Australian Pear Month Restaurant of the Year for WA.

Their porchetta arrosto alla pera dish — roast pork with a spiced chilli, pear and fennel chutney — won over Rockingham residents, receiving the most votes for a pear dish from restaurant-goers in the State.

Restaurant owner Andrea De Luca said the win caught him and the chefs by surprise.

“We entered the competition and then we just got on with our day-to-day routine,” he said.

“What we discovered was the pork was selling more than normal, but we didn’t think much of it.

“We normally sell anything between 35 to 40 portions of pork a week, and in March one week we nearly reached 100 portions of pork.”

Mr De Luca said for such a simple recipe, he was “over the moon” with the win.

“It is another little medal to put in our collection, so it is good, we are very happy,” he said.

“We want to thank a lot of people who have supported us by coming here and choosing the pork dish and the local farmers who supply us with fruit.”

Mr De Luca said the dish originated in Turin, but chef Daniel Calister had added a spicy twist.

“Where I come from in Turin, it is an area where there are a lot of vines, a lot of wine, but there are also a lot of orchards with pears and apples and that is where the recipe started,” he said.

“Daniel decided to put a little bit of spice into it and created a beautiful chutney.”

The Rockingham restaurant was one of 100 across the nation creating dishes with pears to help support the pear industry during Pear month in March.

Mr De Luca said the pork would stay on the menu for a little while longer.