Persimmon is a relatively difficult fruit to use fresh. The Western palate prefers it, with its fairly savoury and vegetal flavour, “blet”. Bletting is the process of letting the fruit overripen and ferment in its own skin, therefore transforming …

Delicate steamed savoury egg custard (chawanmushi) is a common start to a meal in Japan. It is generally served as part of a set with rice, broth, pickles and grilled meats. It’s a huge contrast to my early culinary experiences with custard. As a young …

Traditional Cullen skink is a Gaelic mariners’ dish served more as a soup than a bake, and using haddock as opposed to a smoked river fish. These humble ingredients form a decadent dish. I recently served a version of Cullen skink at a dinner celebrating …

Over the years, I have witnessed some heinous treatment of abalone to try to make it tender. From rocks to meat mincers, it all seems fairly mediaeval. Personally, I find a little bit of “bite” – a more flattering description of tough – pleasing. …

Poor old turkey. The bird has been the packhorse of nondescript protein for generations. But years of genetic selection for maximum return and fast growth has rendered the turkey of the wild into what is more akin to a cephalopod. Debeaked and with breasts …

Flowers are commonly used the world over in cooking and not just for their aesthetic beauty. Lavender, rose, chrysanthemum, dandelion, borage and marigold have been used to give aroma to sweet and savoury dishes and have also played a major role in medicine. Borage …

As a youngster, I always had an aversion to rockmelon, or cantaloupe as we call it in Tasmania and Victoria. To my younger nose, it had a pungent odour, akin to old socks. It wasn’t until I travelled to Japan, where melons are coveted and a single one …

Greater knowledge and understanding of food production has definitely influenced people’s dietary decisions in the past few years. But even so, when it comes to thinking about how certain foods are produced and the effects that has on our bodies and …

What is more fitting for summer lunch on an island continent than fresh seafood? Because my chef brother-in-law is also a keen diver, our family meals are often brimming with whole fish, abalone, clams and crayfish. How lucky are we? The beauty of working …