In the storeroom at the Melbourne fine dine restaurant, Lûmé, is a vat full of a dark brown liquid. It doesn’t have a strong aroma but its flavours are pronounced – a double umami hit from mushroom and miso, and a nuttiness of chestnuts. This liquid, a dressing, has been fermenting there for two years.
Last month, this dressing found its way to India where it was used at a masterclass conducted by chef and founder of the restaurant, Shaun Quade. There, it was paired with plum-size juicy and tart tomatoes from the Yarra Valley in a dish he called Tomatoes and Plums seasoned with Chestnut Miso. The dish, like the chef’s masterclass, was meant to highlight Australian produce and it did a stellar job of representing just how much the country loves fresh food.
“There’s so much good produce available. Everything comes straight from the farm or from the sea to the plate. It gives us chefs a lot of good stuff to experiment with. And people these days want to know where their food is coming from,” says Quade. The chef, on his maiden visit to India, carried his own box of goodies to give Indians an idea of the variety of ingredients the country has to offer. There were reddish-green tomatoes, the tart roe-like green finger lime, scampi roe in shades of blue, blood plums and seaweed. “Four hours before my flight, I was at the beach selecting the seaweed,” says Quade, displaying little boxes filled to the brim with greens of different textures and shapes.
“The seaweed is a bit salty and tastes like arugula. It doesn’t look too appealing, which is why they have names like old man’s saltbush and dead man’s finger. But, it makes for a good addition to some dishes,” shares Quade.
Through the class, the chef spoke about the importance of using fresh food and eating seasonal, something he follows at the restaurant. “It’s an exciting time to be a chef in Melbourne,” he says. “People love eating out and have become more knowledgeable about their food. I will never be out of a job at this rate!”
It is not for nothing that Melbourne is considered the food epicentre of Australia.
Victoria becomes the food bowl, producing a quarter of Australia’s food exports and home to over 50 farmers markets.
Over in the south west, Australia’s capital Perth also is home to a thriving food scene. At Perth’s Wildflower, a fine dining restaurant, executive chef Jed Gerrard’s cooking, too, focuses on ingredients native to that region. “Our food is contemporary but seeks inspiration from indigenous ingredients and the six seasons of the local Aboriginal tribe, the Nyoongar of south-western Australia,” says Gerrard, who also visited India for the first time, last month, for a masterclass, and a dinner.
The formal five course meal, paired with wines (some Australian, chosen by All Things Nice) had many native ingredients, which Gerrard brought with him. There were tomatoes, finger lime, peppermint tree leaf used in a dressing, salt bush, and Davidson plum. The star of the meal was wattleseed, that edible seed from the acacia plant and found in native Australian cooking. The chef used it in two ways, traditional – baked into bread, and experimental – as a cream to cut through the sweetness of the dessert.
Both Gerrard and Quade came with seasonal ingredients, proceeding to treat them differently in their dishes. But the focus was on respect for produce from the land. They were, in essence, showcasing Australia on a plate.
