It’s not unusual to be told a person has succeeded by being in the right place at the right time. But how often can this be said of a nation or, for that matter, a continent?
Yet so it is with Australia when it comes to food and wine. Located many time zones from the constraints of Old World tradition, and having belatedly welcomed people, products and methods of food preparation from other Pacific nations, Australians now revel in flavors that have brought their country to the forefront in food and wine innovation. (Today marks Australia Day, commemorating its founding in 1788.)
Americans coming to “Oz,” as it is often called to celebrate Australia Day (in honor of the founding of Australia 200 years ago today) or for the Olympics (the Summer Games in Sydney start in September) will appreciate the innovation and freshness of Australian cooking.
What inspires Japanese-born Tetsuya Wakunda, Sydney’s most celebrated chef, to combine kingfish with grapefruit and julienned shiso (Japanese basil) leaves, or barely cooked tuna with grated apple and sesame seeds at his restaurant, Tetsuya?
Why does Chris Jackman, a daring young chef who is trying to light the fire of new culinary concepts in reluctant Hobart, capital of Tasmania, offer a sea urchin shell filled with chopped eggplant, asparagus, egg, herbs and sea urchin roe on the same menu with tea-smoked quail with bok choy, noodles, quick-fried pork, soy and chili sauces?
Of whom is Christine Manfield thinking, in her stark, streamlined Sydney restaurant, Paramount, when she combines East and West, hot and cold in a great combination of highly spiced Peking duck, sensual scallop coins, asparagus, eggplant, peppery arugula and sherry vinaigrette?
In all three cases the chefs are expressing themselves without restraint because no one in Australia is saying they shouldn’t. Instead there is encouragement from chefs, critics and consumers.
But to put things in perspective, listen to cab driver Gunter Mauch, who immigrated from Germany in the late 1960s. As he navigated the streets of downtown Sydney, Mauch recalled his own introduction to Australian food and drink.
“It was a disaster,” he said. “Everything was simple and overcooked. A mixed grill was the highlight of a dinner party, even though the lamb would be well done and dry and the sausage tasted like a mix of fat and sawdust. Mashed potatoes equaled potatoes, mashed. No butter. No salt. The other vegetables were always carrots and peas. There was no wine, only beer, and the hours you could drink alcohol were strictly regulated.”
But the new Australian cooking has been accepted quickly, says winery chef Andrew Davies, who has developed dishes such as deep-fried dory fillets with sardine puree and tapenade croutons to go with the powerhouse McLaren Vale wines of d’Arenberg.
“There was not an existing cuisine to modernize,” he said, “and it avoids things we don’t like to eat, like fish with bones.”
The momentum is there, and it reaches the grass roots.
That’s why ordinary folks crowd the stalls and shops of the weekly market in Hobart’s Salamanca Square each Saturday. On a recent pristine, cloudless day they chose from at least eight types of potatoes and five varieties of local apples. They claimed the first silver beets of the season, bought organic vegetables from the Asian families who grew them, and sampled rich blue or creamy Cheddar cheeses made in Tasmania-examples of a new but already exciting cottage industry.
Visiting chefs, including Chicago’s Charlie Trotter, come away praising the originality of Australian cooks. This originality is on display at Feast for the Senses in Adelaide, a classier (and smaller) two-day Taste of Chicago, with first-rate products from various regions of the country, including succulent fresh shrimp, scallops on the half-shell and wonderfully salty oysters (well matched with a light sauvignon blanc-semillon blend), tender lamb and venison, spicy Thai and Indian fare, cheese and desserts presented in tents with wines or other beverages. The Feast was part of Tasting Australia 1999, held in October. This is the blanket title for 16 seminars, tastings and events including an international Food and Wine Writers Festival.
“This event has the feeling of a good U.S. state fair,” said Anne Willan, the English cooking teacher and author. “With the food and wine there’s a strong sense of place and of product integrity. There’s open enthusiasm for the food. It’s very un-British.”
Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, the center of the country’s wine trade. Ten important vineyard regions, including the Barossa and Clare Valleys and Coonawarra, are nearby. The Universal Wine Bar, a spacious two-level room with an art deco feel, is mecca to the wine trade and perpetually abuzz with conversation. The draw is a museum selection of local wines and great bottles from elsewhere, plus well-made bistro-style food.
Another popular dining choice is The Grange restaurant in the Hilton Adelaide Hotel. Consultant Cheong Liew, a chef credited with launching the fusion cooking movement in Australia, provides original creations (including his signature “The Four Dances,” a seafood and pasta creation with 21 elements), while executive chef Bethany Finn, the first woman to run a major hotel kitchen here, deals with the rest of the menu.
“I favor a fusion menu,” she said, “but I do not like to do fusion on a single plate. I prefer each dish be true to a single cuisine.”
There is a fascinating example of this type of fusion only a few steps from the Hilton. The Central Markets, a covered series of arcades, are home to about 250 food shops. The ethnic tilt here is to the Old World: Greek oregano and olives and coffee on the left, Italian pizza and spaghetti across the aisle. There are nods to contemporary trends: organic cheeses, for example, and wood-oven breads. One shop offers kangaroo meat, another South Australia oysters and blue swimmer crabs. Spice shops provide beguiling aromas, but the vegetable stalls and a “House of Mushrooms” have no exotics on display. The chic look and imported fancy foods of Sydney boutiques are not here, but ordinary folks are, lots of them.
Even in Melbourne, people are “besotted with food and wine,” said Sylvia Johnson. She is director of the 8-year-old Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, which drew 350,000 to more than 100 events in late March last year. The city will host a brand-new National Wine Festival in November.
She whisks a visitor to the Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder in a Wicker Park-like area of town. It is the creation of Stephanie Alexander, who, for Australians, is Julia Child and Alice Waters in a single person. Here boutique food products, most notably superb cheeses aged on premise, show up on the menu, which includes old-fashioned macaroni cheese with ham, Provencal beef daube, a spicy chickpea and coriander soup, and a few “sweet things.”
“We’re slowly but surely developing a cheese culture,” said Sophie Heath, who oversees the humidity-controlled cheese aging room. “There are about 30 specialty cheesemakers now who are really dedicated to their work.”
At Ezard, 32-year-old chef Teage Ezard dazzles a mixed audience of young and mature diners with such fusion creations as tangy Japanese oyster “shooters” bathed in mirin, tamari and wasabi, and sensuous creme brulee flavored with roasted Jerusalem artichoke and truffle oil.
Connecticut-born Kevin Donovan has fashioned an airy, charming restaurant from a 1928 bathers’ pavilion beside the water in the hip suburb of St. Kilda. Called Donovan’s, it specializes in seafood prepared with an Italian accent. He presents a lunch composed of barely seared scallops with their roe and roasted Mediterranean vegetables, locally cured salmon, blue-eye cod with a bright green sauce made from spinach and lettuce, and lamb smoked on a barbecue. The wines were sauvignon blanc and pinot noir.
“I really believe I couldn’t do this as well in the States,” he said. “The ingredients and wines are so good here and people are very supportive.”
Home cooks do not lack resources, either. There are eight public markets in the city, the most famous being the historic Queen Victoria Market, a 19th Century facility that showcases what Johnson calls the “incredible fecundity” of Australia.
“We love our markets,” she said. “Everything grows somewhere in this country and people favor seasonal food over cold storage.”
On Brunswick Street, lined with ethnic markets, bakeries and pub-restaurants, there is a sign that reads, “Eat late, eat long.” And in Melbourne they do.
There are good markets in Sydney too. Early risers can catch a great piece of theater by heading to the Sydney Fish Markets at 5 a.m. weekdays for the exciting, lightning-fast auction of fresh fish, a good many of which will be on airplanes within hours destined for Tokyo, Los Angeles, London and other gastronomic capitals.
Scattered about town are boutique food markets bearing the name Simon Johnson, which offer luxury foods at luxury prices.
Johnson also is involved in a remarkable super food fair in the GPO (former General Post Office) in the heart of the business section. Operatic in scale, boldly clothed in glass and stainless steel, it offers theatrical displays of vegetables, meats and fish, prepared foods, a steak restaurant and bars dedicated to sushi, wine, shellfish and coffee.
In sum, Sydney is a restaurant town. The sun shines brightly these days on young chefs such as Manfield, Luke Mangan (Salt), fusion guru Neil Perry (Rockpool and Wockpool) and exotic settings (MG Garage, the Bathers’ Pavilion, bel mondo). On a simpler yet sensational plane are a pair of informal spots called Bill’s that prepare remarkably airy, buttery, never-to-be-forgotten scrambled eggs as well as luscious ricotta hot cakes.
But inevitably, conversations return to the fusion question.
“We’ve passed through the chili and coriander stage,” said Genevieve Harris, chef-owner of Nediz Tu restaurant in Adelaide. “Now we are defusing fusion by showing respect for the distinctiveness of various Asian cuisines.”
There is, she said, a “relaxedness” toward food and wine in Australia today, “a willingness to support experimentation.”
FISH FILLETS WITH SCALLOPS AND LETTUCE SAUCE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Kevin Donovan uses Australian blue-eyed cod for this recipe at his restaurant, Donovan’s, near Melbourne. In the States, a good substitute would be sea bass or grouper. The scallop and Jerusalem artichoke garnishes can be eliminated to save time.
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
4 or 5 sprigs parsley
5 or 6 peppercorns
1 quart chicken broth
1 pound potatoes, peeled, cut into chunks
1/4 cup olive oil, extra-virgin preferred
3 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
2 large Jerusalem artichokes or 1 medium celery root, peeled, sliced in thirds, optional
1 pound fresh spinach, trimmed
8 ounces romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
18 sea scallops, optional
3 fillets sea bass or grouper, skin on, about 8 ounces each
1. Tie bay leaves, thyme, parsley and peppercorns in cheesecloth bag. Place in saucepan; add broth. Heat to boil; boil until reduced to 22/3 cups, about 15 minutes. Discard cheesecloth.
2. Fill two large saucepans with water; heat to boil. Add potatoes to one pan; cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain hot potatoes; add 1 tablespoon of the oil, butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash until smooth. Keep warm. Meanwhile, add artichokes to other pan; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Drain; pat dry. Set aside.
3. Heat water to boil in one of the saucepans. Add spinach and lettuce; cook until soft, 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Drain; squeeze out as much water as possible. Puree greens in food processor or blender with 1/4 cup of the broth; blend in remaining broth. Spoon puree back into saucepan; season with salt and pepper. Add up to 1 tablespoon lemon juice to taste. Heat over low heat; keep warm.
4. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sear artichoke pieces and scallops in batches until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes. Remove; keep warm. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil in same skillet over medium heat; cook fish fillets, skin side down, until skin is crispy, about 3 minutes. Turn skin side up; transfer to oven. Cook until fish almost flakes when tested with fork, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Cut each fillet in half. Make mound of potatoes in center of six plates; place fish on each mound. Spoon sauce around potatoes. Place 1 artichoke piece and 3 scallops on each plate as garnish.
Nutrition information per serving (without scallops):
Calories ………… 345 Fat ………… 18 g Saturated fat .. 6 g
% calories from fat .. 46 Cholesterol … 55 mg Sodium …… 710 mg
Carbohydrates …… 21 g Protein …….. 26 g Fiber …….. 4.2 g
SPICED PINEAPPLE
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 10 servings as a topping
Serve this sauce over poundcake or ice cream or substitute in recipes calling for diced or crushed pineapple. Adapted from a recipe in “Spice,” by Christine Manfield of Paramount Restaurant in Sydney. Look for star anise in the Asian section of the supermarket.
3 tablespoons clarified or regular butter
1 1/4 pounds diced fresh pineapple
1 vanilla bean, split
2 star anise
2 tablespoons each: dark rum, brown sugar, honey
1. Melt butter in skillet. Cook pineapple, vanilla bean and star anise over medium heat until pineapple is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in rum, sugar and honey; cook 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Discard vanilla bean and star anise.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …………. 85 Fat ………. 3.7 g Saturated fat .. 3.7 g
% calories from fat .. 36 Cholesterol … 9 mg Sodium ……… 35 mg
Carbohydrates …… 13 g Protein …… 0.3 g Fiber ………. 0.7 g
SEARED CALAMARI WITH GREENS, CHILI SALT AND LIME DRESSING
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 minutes per batch
Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from a recipe by Teage Ezard of Ezard restaurant, who uses palm sugar, also known as jaggery, in the dressing. Look for it in Indian and Asian markets. Light brown sugar can be substituted.
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon each: dried red chili flakes, Chinese five-spice powder, onion powder, garlic powder
2 1/2 cups mixed baby greens (mesclun)
1 small bunch watercress
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, stemmed, chopped
1 small cucumber, peeled, diced
1/2 medium red onion, quartered, finely sliced
3 tablespoons each: lemon juice, lime juice
2 tablespoons jaggery or light brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 pounds fresh squid (calamari) cleaned, tentacles removed, sliced into bite-size pieces, refrigerated
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1. Combine salt, chili flakes and five-spice, onion and garlic powders in small bowl; set aside. Combine mesclun, watercress, cilantro, mint, cucumber and onion in large bowl.
2. Combine lemon and lime juices and jaggery sugar in small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Pour over greens.
3. Add chili salt to squid; toss. Heat wok or large skillet over high heat; add peanut oil. Add squid in batches; stir-fry until tender, about 11/2 minutes. Add to greens. Gently toss; serve while squid is warm.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 325 Fat ………… 20 g Saturated fat .. 3.2 g
% calories from fat .. 54 Cholesterol .. 320 mg Sodium …… 1,380 mg
Carbohydrates …… 15 g Protein …….. 23 g Fiber ………. 1.8 g
