Tess Gibney speaks with TV chef, Darren Robertson about his television series, Recipes to Riches.
For an Englishman, chef Darren Robertson sure seems to have the contemporary Australian palette down pat. Coming to cooking via a brief detour in the art scene, it wasn’t until Robertson’s arrival in Australia that his culinary celebrity status started to sky-rocket. Host and judge on innovative cooking show Recipes to Riches, Robertson began his Australian career at acclaimed Sydney establishment Tetsuya’s, before moving to collaborate with influential friends on the wildly successful ”Three Blue Ducks” restaurant and cafe in Bronte. Now relocating North to expand the ”Three Blue Ducks” brand on a farm in bohemian Byron Bay, Robertson’s food ethos marries perfectly with the quintessential spirit of an Aussie summer. Sydney Observer spoke to him about his favourite summer dishes, what’s on the menu for Christmas and what he predicts will be the next big thing in food for 2015.
[chat question= “What vision did you have in mind when you came on board ‘The Three Blue Ducks’?”]
‘Ducks’ had been open for a year before I started, and at that stage it was a little cafe. Then I came on board, along with a guy named Jeff Bennett, making 5 of us, and we expanded next door and started to do dinners. We always wanted to keep things casual – for the restaurant to be a creative place, where people could relax; unwind. We wanted to do casual food, and at the time, we really wanted to separate ourselves from fine dining. [At ‘Ducks’] we’ve got a tiny kitchen garden, chickens and bees. [In terms of] the way we cooked, we wanted to do less to the ingredients themselves – for things to be natural and fresh. With the atmosphere and presentation, there’s no tablecloths, and things like that. I really love fine dining, don’t get me wrong, but I’d had enough, and I wanted to just simplify everything and have the focus on a relaxed food environment.
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[chat question= “What to you defines summer food, and what are some of your favourite ingredients to cook with in the warmer months?”]
When I think of summer I think salads, I think fresh fruit; particularly berries. Basically just really light, healthy, nurturing food. A barbecue is also always a winner – especially fresh seafood on the barbecue outdoors. I really like using shellfish, such as muscles and clams – all those ‘one pot wonders’ you can just throw in a pan with coconut milk, lemon grass, chilli and ginger. Also salads with shaved pear, roasted hazelnuts, vinaigrette and radicchio.
[chat question=”Tell us about your experience on ‘Recipes to Riches’.”]
It has been really interesting. The weekly winner’s product goes into shops for a week, and then the overall winner is determined by who has sold the most units of food. It’s a lot of fun – the other two judges are brilliant; super passionate. It’s also great to see what people bring on board; their stories, why they chose to create what they did.
[chat question=”Do you have a personal ‘go to’ summer meal and dessert?”]
My girlfriend’s parents are Russian and Polish, so at the moment we’ve been fermenting lots of stuff, like pickles and kimchi. So we’ve been enjoying lots of smoked meats with pickles and fresh sour dough; just really light, tasty stuff you can throw together with little effort.
For dessert I always love chocolate – I really like chocolate ganache with roasted macadamias and any seasonal fruit; [such as] smoked marmalade, roasted peaches and blueberries.
[chat question=”What’s on the Robertson menu this Christmas?”]
We’ll be in Byron, so I suspect lots of seafood, probably cooked on the barbecue. Oysters, champagne, salads. Maybe a turkey, to be traditional.
[chat question=”Favourite item on the menu at ‘Three Blue Ducks’?”]
It changes all the time. At the moment, it’s dessert, a sable biscuit with poached rhubarb and a honey custard. We get the honey from the garden, the honeycomb, and we make a traditional custard with it.
[chat question=”Any idea what the next big thing in Australian food will be for next year?”]
It’s a bit of a weird one but I think seaweed; I think we’ll start eating more of it. It’s super nutritious and tasty, it’s easy to grow and has lots of awesome positive qualities.
