Josh Niland: Can you spot what’s unusual about this meatball sub?

One of Australia’s top seafood chefs has offered his unique twist on the classic meatball sub by using minced Yellowfin tuna instead of beef. 

Josh Niland, the 33-year-old owner and head chef behind Saint Peter and the Fish Butchery in Paddington, New South Wales, is known for his inventive menu items including tuna hot dogs and cheeseburgers made with swordfish ‘bacon’.

The mouthwatering sub is part of the chef’s ‘Josh Niland at Home’ series and is served with seasoned potato wedges, cabbage and Reggiano salad, green leaves and herbs.

Josh Niland (pictured), the 33-year-old owner and head chef behind Saint Peter and the Fish Butchery in Paddington, New South Wales, is known for his inventive menu items including tuna hot dogs and cheeseburgers made with swordfish ‘bacon’ 

And while the dish isn’t a permanent menu item at any of the chef’s restaurants, it is one of the quirky offerings he’s created during lockdown that fans hope will soon be part of the store’s ongoing takeaway selection.  

The sub follows Niland’s hugely popular $20 cheeseburger made with charcoal grilled Mooloolaba Yellowfin tuna fillets, cheddar cheese, ‘lacto-fermented’ cucumber, trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves and optional ‘swordfish bacon’ for $8. 

The masterful young chef also released an epic gourmet sandwich – complete with ocean trout ‘salami’, kingfish ‘mortadella’ and swordfish ‘belly bacon’.

The mouthwatering sub is part of the chef’s ‘Josh Niland at Home’ series and is served with seasoned potato wedges, cabbage and Reggiano salad, green leaves and herbs

He also launched this $20 takeaway cheeseburger made with charcoal grilled Mooloolaba Yellowfin tuna fillets, cheddar cheese, ‘lacto-fermented’ cucumber, trimmed iceberg lettuce leaves and optional ‘swordfish bacon’ for $8.

His ‘Muffuletta’ looks remarkably similar to a deli-style sandwich, but the ‘sliced meats’ are made from different types of fish

Niland, who’s known for cooking with every part of a fish, unveiled the ‘Muffuletta’, which looks remarkably similar to a deli-style sandwich, except the ‘sliced meats’ are made entirely from different types of fish. 

Italian muffuletta sandwiches are usually made with layers of thin-sliced cured meats such as salami, capocollo, soppressata and mortadella.

His deli-inspired sandwich consists of an ocean trout salami, kingfish mortadella, albacore tuna nduja, swordfish belly bacon and pickled tommy ruff, topped with dried tomatoes, olives, sorrell and pesto and provolone.

Niland said his sandwich was inspired by top chef Clayton Wells, who created the A1 Canteen’s muffaletta press sandwich, which comes with sourdough, Italian provolone, ham, mortadella, salami, olives, sun-dried tomatoes.