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Six cooks, six countries, six incredible journeys. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:07 | |
SHE CHEERS | 0:00:07 | 0:00:08 | |
HE SCREAMS | 0:00:08 | 0:00:10 | |
Stepping outside their comfort zones... | 0:00:10 | 0:00:12 | |
It's not for the faint-hearted, for sure. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:17 | |
..our cooks will travel far and wide... | 0:00:17 | 0:00:19 | |
Route 7, all the way. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:23 | |
..to find some of the most exciting food on the planet. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
If you're back in the UK you get tandoori chicken nothing like this. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:31 | |
It's beautiful. The best food I've had in Egypt. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
It's pure, it's got heritage. It's got love in it, you know? | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
They'll go off the beaten track... | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
Crocodile sausages. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:44 | |
..meeting extraordinary people... | 0:00:44 | 0:00:46 | |
..exploring ways of life unchanged for centuries. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
No electric blenders in the jungle. Have to do everything by hand. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:55 | |
Take your life into your own hands, we're on the road now. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:00 | |
As they travel they'll see how the language of food transcends | 0:01:00 | 0:01:04 | |
cultural differences... | 0:01:04 | 0:01:05 | |
I've never huffed on a cheese before. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:07 | |
..and a world away from home. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:09 | |
This is why I love Australia. | 0:01:09 | 0:01:11 | |
There's no excuse for a bad pie in Australia. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:14 | |
This is the beginning, where do we end? | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
They'll learn lessons that will change the way we cook forever. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
I've been cooking a barbecue wrongly all my life. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
Wow! | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
This time it's Rick Stein down under. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
I'm in love with abalone. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
-Still prawns on the barbie... -Bit of Pernod, olive oil, garlic. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:42 | |
..but Australian tastes are shifting. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
I sense there's a seismic change happening. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
-Rick's going south... -You know where you have to go? -Where? | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
..to Tasmania. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:53 | |
It's the wild foodie frontier. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
-That's gorgeous. Wow! -An island of new ideas... | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
This is in a class of its own. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:02 | |
..and old-fashioned hospitality. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
"If you choose to steal my produce I hope you choke." | 0:02:04 | 0:02:08 | |
In 1966 I was 19 years old, and in a bad place. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:26 | |
I wanted to be in a good one, somewhere sunny, optimistic, | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
somewhere nobody could have the blues. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
And this was it, Australia. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
I love this beach. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:41 | |
When I first came to Australia when my father died, | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
tragically, he committed suicide, | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
and I was completely sort of pent up and not sure what I wanted to do. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:53 | |
And I thought, "I know, I'll run away to Australia." | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
And when I came here, one of the things is people associate me | 0:02:57 | 0:03:02 | |
with the Atlantic and the fish and all that. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
But when I came here I was just amazed about the variety | 0:03:06 | 0:03:10 | |
of fish, the quantity of fish. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
How you could go fishing anywhere and just catch fish, big ones, | 0:03:12 | 0:03:16 | |
colourful ones, the sort of fish I'd never seen before. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
And I think it was that and cooking fish that almost kick-started me | 0:03:20 | 0:03:25 | |
off to opening a restaurant back in Britain. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:27 | |
50 years on I have a home in a small town called Mollymook, | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
south of Sydney. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
Mollymook is a sleepy, salty place, home to people who love to be near | 0:03:37 | 0:03:42 | |
the water and a resort for families who want a bucket and spade holiday. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
It's a bit like Padstow without the advantages of rain and gales | 0:03:47 | 0:03:52 | |
and fog, but with the splendid advantage of having a fish | 0:03:52 | 0:03:56 | |
restaurant in it, owned by me. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
Morning. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:00 | |
'This is my Australian home from home. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
'The number one topic of conversation is fish. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
'What's fresh and what's trending out in the dining room. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
'Knowing what people are asking for is how | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
'you monitor changing tastes. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
'Over the years I've seen Aussie food fashions come and go. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
'Old French, slow food, fast food, Pacific Rim, Asian fusion | 0:04:20 | 0:04:25 | |
'and of course nouvelle cuisine.' | 0:04:25 | 0:04:27 | |
I've been coming here for 50 years. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:32 | |
Wow! But in that time it's just been amazing how it's changed | 0:04:32 | 0:04:35 | |
because when I first came here the food was what I'd | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
describe as pies and pints. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
Or more correctly pies and schooners. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:43 | |
It was really simple sort of British-based food. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
But everything's changed and it keeps changing. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:49 | |
And you've just got to keep up with it. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:51 | |
As a restaurateur you have to, otherwise people don't come | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
to your restaurant. So I've got to know what's happening. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
And I sense there's another seismic change happening again. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
My house. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
Sundown. A little party - because I've just had another birthday. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:08 | |
My guests are foodie friends and neighbours. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:13 | |
Everybody needs good neighbours. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:15 | |
They've always looked to the rest of the world for culinary | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
inspiration, but I think the feeding habits of Homo Australis | 0:05:21 | 0:05:25 | |
are changing. Going local, that's my instinct. | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
I think I've got everything right. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
I think I know what Aussies like at a good barbecue, but you can | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
never be too sure because things are moving all the time. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
And that's part of why I want to do this barbecue. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:41 | |
Just to ask a few people who I know | 0:05:41 | 0:05:44 | |
know a lot about food in Australia, where we're going next. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:48 | |
'The humble Australian barbie is a good example of how things change. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:54 | |
'Blokes used to stand about talking sport and incinerating sausages. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:59 | |
'Now they want to know what's in your marinade.' | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
It's just a little bit of fennel, bit of Pernod, olive oil, garlic. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:07 | |
'Here's another change. | 0:06:09 | 0:06:11 | |
'Almost all this food came from within 100 miles. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:14 | |
'Even ten years ago lots of it would have been imported.' | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
Ding-ding! Can we just start eating cos it's getting cold. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
I gave it a few minutes for the food and | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
the wine to take effect, and then I began by talking to Helen Patience. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:31 | |
She grew up on tinned spaghetti. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
These days she's all sun-dried tomato. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
-We're so lucky here. -I know. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
I think our appetite is becoming more sophisticated. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
We used to be more like steak and sausages | 0:06:42 | 0:06:46 | |
and all that basic food but now the Australian food's fantastic. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
We spent the last 15 years searching for an Australian cuisine | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
and there isn't one and we're happy with that now. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
All there is now is the best produce where we can add all those | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
flavours from around the world and make it work. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
You are so right, Simon. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:06 | |
We can grow everything from Mediterranean to cold climate | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
to tropical. We've got everything. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:12 | |
Why would you want to cook anywhere else? | 0:07:12 | 0:07:14 | |
To look at Australia as a whole the climate makes all | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
the difference, doesn't it? | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
You've got to get down to Tasmania. Apparently that's where it's at. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
'I've heard this before. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
'The island of Tasmania is the new go-to place for wonderful produce.' | 0:07:23 | 0:07:28 | |
-You know where you have to go? -Where? -Tassie. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
Everybody keeps telling me that. Why, what's so special about it? | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
There's no pollution. So you've got a pristine environment. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:41 | |
Some of the best-tasting apricots are coming out of Tassie right now. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
Fishing, beautiful. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:47 | |
Listening to those people, they're really into local produce. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:52 | |
I'm so interested in what they had to say about Tasmania | 0:07:52 | 0:07:57 | |
because I think they see Tasmania as being this almost mystical island | 0:07:57 | 0:08:02 | |
with the best produce anywhere in Australia. | 0:08:02 | 0:08:05 | |
# And if I should become a stranger | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
# You know that it would make me more than sad. # | 0:08:08 | 0:08:12 | |
'So, I'm going to have to go to Tasmania. | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
'I've only been there once before, which is possibly | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
'once more than most Australians. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:20 | |
'It's always been a backwater, until now.' | 0:08:20 | 0:08:24 | |
But my culinary journey has to start in Sydney where all foodie fads | 0:08:32 | 0:08:36 | |
and fashions kick off. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
If there are seismic changes due, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
Sydney's where I'll feel the earth move. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:44 | |
From Mollymook it takes about 3.5 hours to get to Sydney, | 0:08:47 | 0:08:51 | |
a drive of 200 miles. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:54 | |
It's also a 50-year step back in my own story, | 0:08:54 | 0:08:57 | |
the place where I first got off the boat, in 1966. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:02 | |
In the '60s I was incredibly influenced by rock'n'roll. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
And rather more American rock'n'roll than British. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
Obviously, the Beatles and the Stones I was really keen on. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
But in the mid-'60s I started to get into surfing music. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:20 | |
And particularly the Beach Boys. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:22 | |
And about that time the local council in Cornwall started | 0:09:22 | 0:09:27 | |
employing Australian lifeguards. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:30 | |
And I was very taken with those Australians. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:35 | |
They were so lean and tanned. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:38 | |
And they spoke of the Beach Boys. | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
And they spoke of beautiful Australian, sun-tanned girls. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:46 | |
So I didn't head for California. I headed for Australia. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
Back then, Australia seemed to be a place where anything was possible, | 0:09:52 | 0:09:56 | |
and that was partly because of the attitude of the people. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
They were extremely friendly. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:01 | |
'An hour into my journey, a chance to see | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
'if what Australians call mate-ship is still as strong today. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
'In the '80s this all-in-it-together attitude | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
'led to the creation of the Driver Reviver, | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
'saving lives with free tea and biscuits. | 0:10:17 | 0:10:20 | |
'It's also a bastion | 0:10:20 | 0:10:22 | |
'of unreconstructed, but possibly reconstituted, Aussie tucker.' | 0:10:22 | 0:10:28 | |
The great contribution to world cuisine, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:31 | |
the Australian meat pie. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:32 | |
-Hello. -Hello. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:35 | |
-What can I get you? -I'd quite like a cup of tea, if it's possible. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Cup of tea. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:43 | |
-You haven't got any pies, have you? -Meat pie? -Yeah, I'd love one. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:48 | |
I'm very impressed with this. Do you do this every day? | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
Only during the summer we do it at the weekends. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
This is a government-sponsored idea to get people to rest. | 0:10:57 | 0:11:03 | |
I'm getting on a bit. I sometimes get a bit sleepy when I'm driving. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:08 | |
That's a safety thing. You should stop every couple of hours. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:12 | |
-Want some sauce? -I'd love to... Oh, God! Brilliant. | 0:11:12 | 0:11:17 | |
You can wear that. Good Aussie sauce. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
I've always slightly wondered what's in them, though. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
-You don't think about it. -You don't. -Don't ask questions. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:28 | |
Roadkill, kangaroo, all that sort of thing. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
I'd call this Aussie meat pie calibration. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:36 | |
Cos I can remember these when I first arrived in the '60s. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
So this is one end. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:40 | |
This is a way of saying this is where we start with Aussie food | 0:11:40 | 0:11:44 | |
and where do we end? | 0:11:44 | 0:11:45 | |
This is the beginning, where do we end? | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
This is the primeval Aussie food. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:50 | |
So... | 0:11:52 | 0:11:54 | |
Sydney's changed a lot in my time. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:02 | |
Today it feels comfortably middle-aged, but back in 1967 | 0:12:02 | 0:12:07 | |
it seemed very young - even the Opera House was under ten. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:11 | |
The ship I arrived on docked at a wharf that's now a trendy | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
boardwalk full of restaurants. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:18 | |
Food wasn't fashion, it was fuel. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:22 | |
And the local food culture was an import - like me. | 0:12:22 | 0:12:26 | |
After that initial visit I then started coming here again and again. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
I couldn't stay away. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:32 | |
And what I did notice right back from the early '80s was | 0:12:32 | 0:12:37 | |
the growth of, first of all Italian, Greek, but then... | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
There was | 0:12:41 | 0:12:42 | |
always Chinese, but Vietnamese, really good Thai restaurants. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
And the great thing was they were all easy to get at. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:49 | |
You could walk to really good food. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:51 | |
Today I'm a pillar of the community, but at 19, | 0:12:54 | 0:12:58 | |
when I first arrived here in Sydney, I was all bum-fluff and backpack. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
I'd had a bit of catering training in London, | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
but I wasn't here to cook - I wanted adventure. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
'I took off for the interior of Australia, looking for work | 0:13:16 | 0:13:20 | |
'as a labourer and looking for love with sun-tanned girls. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:24 | |
'It was when I came back here, to Sydney's Kirribilli neighbourhood, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:29 | |
'that I started cooking in a student flat in a grotty back street.' | 0:13:29 | 0:13:34 | |
I don't think students can afford to live round here now. | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
This is it. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
This is the flat. Ground floor, that was my room. | 0:13:47 | 0:13:51 | |
There's the door. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:52 | |
We used to have fantastic parties in there, just unbelievable. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:57 | |
I remember once I managed to get this nurse from the | 0:13:57 | 0:13:59 | |
Royal North Shore Hospital into bed but I was so drunk I fell asleep. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:04 | |
And I woke up in the morning and one of my friends was banging | 0:14:04 | 0:14:08 | |
on this door and I told him what had happened, | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
how I'd just fallen asleep and he said, "You're a true Aussie now." | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
It's not much of a view but it's pretty iconic, the view. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:24 | |
See the old ship passing by. | 0:14:24 | 0:14:25 | |
I mean, it's sure bringing back some memories for me, I must say. | 0:14:28 | 0:14:32 | |
Very happy to be back here. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
There's a really good fishmonger up in Kirribilli. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
And I started cooking for my flatmates and it was sort of that. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
They said, "You really can cook." I only used to do grilled fish | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
and things like pasta and bolognese sauce and that. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
But it was in this flat, 97 Kirribilli Avenue, that I began to | 0:14:52 | 0:14:58 | |
realise I could cook and have people enthused about what I was doing. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:03 | |
Back then, | 0:15:06 | 0:15:07 | |
despite being surrounded by bounteous seas with gorgeous fish, | 0:15:07 | 0:15:11 | |
most Australians just wanted meat and two veg. | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
The Sydney fish market was a bunch of sheds | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
full of blokes off the boats haggling with dealers. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
Now, it's a magnet for Sydney's foodies. | 0:15:21 | 0:15:24 | |
And what is great about this market is it's absolutely packed | 0:15:26 | 0:15:30 | |
with people who can see how wonderful Australian fish is and | 0:15:30 | 0:15:34 | |
when I first came here and saw fish like this I was just blown away. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
Because fish is so theatrical anyway. I love fish. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:43 | |
Incredibly, 70% of the fish eaten in Australia is imported. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:52 | |
But most of these fish are from native waters. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:55 | |
They're costlier, but look at the crowds they draw - | 0:15:55 | 0:15:59 | |
exactly the evidence I'm looking for, | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
for a growing interest in eating Australian. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
-Hi. -Hey, mate. How are you? -Very well. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
Could I have a small trevalla? Blue-eye, they're normally called. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:15 | |
-Certainly. Just one side? -Yeah, that would be great. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
And I'd like a garfish. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:20 | |
Maybe I'll have a small sand whiting. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:23 | |
A little bit of a fillet of a scorpionfish. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
-Just one side of that? -That would be lovely. -No problem. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
I will have a flounder, as well. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
I think that for me is the best flatfish over here. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:35 | |
I'm like they say in Aussie, a kid in the lolly shop. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
Understandably, a lot of people can't wait to get eating. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:48 | |
So they'll cook your fish for you on the spot, from net to pan | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
to plate. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:53 | |
I'm looking forward to this. | 0:16:57 | 0:16:58 | |
I must say, I've probably ordered a bit too much | 0:16:58 | 0:17:00 | |
but I just wanted to try it and... Oh, my gosh. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:04 | |
I certainly have ordered... And a bit on the side too. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
Oh, good lord! I think I'll start with the garfish. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
Fish is wonderful. Next, my favourite fish. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:19 | |
And this is sand whiting. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
Not a bit like our own whiting. | 0:17:23 | 0:17:25 | |
Really, really good flavour. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:28 | |
And this is the blue-eye. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
That is good flavour. Now then... | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
..I often say that in Australia you don't get really good flatfish. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:44 | |
But I would make an exception for this which is called | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
the yellowbelly flounder. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
'This may look like gluttony, | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
'but the crew will devour what I leave like gannets.' | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
Ah! | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
The Aussie seas are a fishmonger's delight, | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
and the land is one big meat department. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
Overrun by kangaroos, infested with rabbits, | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
and besieged by wild camels. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
'Might a nation that's now discovering its fish | 0:18:15 | 0:18:19 | |
'be persuaded to try these challenging meats as well?' | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
Have you got any Australian meat like kangaroo or anything? | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
-It's over there. -Over there. Thank you very much. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
'Seems they might.' | 0:18:31 | 0:18:33 | |
Here we are. So you've got kangaroo mince, kangaroo burgers. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:39 | |
Wow, that is really amazing, camel burgers. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
Crocodile sausages. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:44 | |
Tail steak. "Unleash your wild side," it says. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:48 | |
Oh, my God. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
'Heston's got his sausage in first.' | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
Look at this. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:53 | |
'But of course he's ahead of the game with wild fruits and berries.' | 0:18:54 | 0:19:00 | |
He's got bush tomato in there, which are very tasty, I must say. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
And there he's got pepperberry. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:07 | |
'Heston's offering his services | 0:19:07 | 0:19:09 | |
'at the supermarket, but what about other top chefs? | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
'Is there bush tucker on Sydney's poshest menus? | 0:19:12 | 0:19:15 | |
'Rockpool is the creation of one of Australia's greatest chefs, | 0:19:15 | 0:19:19 | |
Neil Perry. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
'When the food press started writing | 0:19:21 | 0:19:24 | |
'about food found or foraged in the wild, | 0:19:24 | 0:19:26 | |
'like me, Neil's head chef Phil Wood took notice. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
'When I called him up, he said | 0:19:32 | 0:19:34 | |
'native plants weren't as easy as your common or garden veg.' | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
If anybody's doing cutting-edge cooking it would be you | 0:19:38 | 0:19:42 | |
and are you using any of these ingredients? | 0:19:42 | 0:19:44 | |
It's quite challenging to use them, to be honest. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:46 | |
The biggest thing is the seasons are so short. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
With these little fruits and vegetables maybe I'll get | 0:19:49 | 0:19:51 | |
it for three weeks or two weeks and then you'll never see it again, | 0:19:51 | 0:19:54 | |
until the next year. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:55 | |
So by the time you've worked out what to do with it, it's gone. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
And you've got to wait a whole another year | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
and you may have moved on. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:02 | |
So, you know, they're hard to use. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
What's this one? | 0:20:05 | 0:20:06 | |
That's actually got quite a pretty name, lemon aspen. So... | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
Oh, that is really nice. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:10 | |
It is, it's really bright, acidic, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
and it's got this lovely sort of fresh lemon flavour. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:16 | |
But cooked, just absolutely terrible. Horrible. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
And this one, then... | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
Yeah, it's a riberry. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:22 | |
-So... -Not quite so good. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
Not quite so good, yeah. Sort of a little bit eucalyptus. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
-Yeah, yeah. -Yeah, and quite acidic. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:30 | |
And these, then? | 0:20:30 | 0:20:31 | |
These are my favourite, actually. They're muntrees. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
-Muntrees? -Muntrees, yeah. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:35 | |
So they're a little berry and they kind of taste like a bruised apple. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:39 | |
A definite apple flavour. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:40 | |
Yeah, so to market them, they call them a native apple. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
This looks like a plum. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:44 | |
And it is, yeah, it's a Davidson plum. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
-So... -Crikey! | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
-What sort of plum is it? -Davidson plum. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:51 | |
These are the ones that have sort of make it out of the country. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
You see them on trendier menus around the world. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:57 | |
-Finger limes. -Finger limes. | 0:20:57 | 0:20:59 | |
So you just open it up and then you can just squeeze out | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
all these little caviar-like citrus. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:04 | |
Not only do they taste like a lovely, fragrant lime... | 0:21:04 | 0:21:08 | |
Yeah, but they've got a beautiful texture. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
Do you think people like you can make these things happen? | 0:21:10 | 0:21:15 | |
I hope so, yeah. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:16 | |
It would be nice if we could start using things that actually grow | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
and are indigenous to Australia. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:21 | |
And give us a bit more of a voice. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:24 | |
You know, it'd be good to base a little bit more | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
around the stuff that we have here. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
Almost 90% of Australia's plants are found nowhere else. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
A lot of them are edible, | 0:21:34 | 0:21:36 | |
but until Delia finishes How To Boil A Muntree, | 0:21:36 | 0:21:39 | |
cooking with them is a matter of trial and error. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:43 | |
But the knowledge I need isn't found in cookbooks. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
The first Australians didn't write their recipes down. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
For 40,000 years, they didn't just survive - | 0:21:51 | 0:21:54 | |
they thrived on wild foods. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
It was really interesting talking to Phil about native fruit, | 0:21:58 | 0:22:02 | |
vegetables and herbs, | 0:22:02 | 0:22:04 | |
but I'm on the beach now | 0:22:04 | 0:22:05 | |
and I'm going to meet a local Aboriginal chef | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
and I think she's going to teach me a whole lot more. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
This is Botany Bay, where Captain Cook first landed. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:21 | |
It's also where today's visitors | 0:22:23 | 0:22:25 | |
are constantly coming in to land overhead. | 0:22:25 | 0:22:27 | |
My guide is Jo Walles - | 0:22:31 | 0:22:32 | |
she's a chef trained in the classical French tradition, | 0:22:32 | 0:22:36 | |
who first learned to cook at the knee of her Aboriginal mum, Donna. | 0:22:36 | 0:22:41 | |
So her food is a bit of a fusion of ancient and modern. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
Well, I didn't know I was going to be taken on as a sort of sous-chef, | 0:22:45 | 0:22:48 | |
but Jo's got me making pesto. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
I've got some garlic in here, a bit of olive oil. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
It doesn't sound that Aboriginal, but we'll see. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
Some macadamia nuts. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
Yes, they're very Aboriginal. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
'But this is what makes it really authentic. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
'In place of basil, warrigal greens - | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
'straight from the bush. Literally.' | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
So are these more of the warrigals? | 0:23:11 | 0:23:13 | |
Yeah, these are the warrigal greens, Australia's native spinach. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:17 | |
They're found around Botany Bay here, which is where Captain Cook landed. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
Would Captain Cook have known about warrigal greens? | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
Yes, he did, he fed it to the crew | 0:23:23 | 0:23:25 | |
so they wouldn't pick up scurvy along their travels. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
Can I taste a bit? | 0:23:28 | 0:23:29 | |
I mean, I'm only asking you, they're not poisonous | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
-when you eat them, like...? -You can eat a little bit raw, | 0:23:32 | 0:23:34 | |
but you're not allowed to eat too much of it | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
because it does have a bit of a poisonous... | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
Excuse me. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:40 | |
But once we blanch it, we can use it for pesto, | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
we can use it like normal European spinach, | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
and this is one of the local area's staples. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:49 | |
So, which first? | 0:23:49 | 0:23:50 | |
Jo had told me we'd be able to forage for all the vegetables | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
for our meal within 50ft of her fire. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
This saltbush, you can add it to fish. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
It's salty but it's quite bitter. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:03 | |
-Not poisonous? -No. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:05 | |
Phew. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:06 | |
Once you've got your eye in, | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
turns out the beach is a super market garden. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:11 | |
-So this is...? -This is the sea mustard. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
I reckon I could use this in my fish cooking. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:17 | |
We would have used it to flavour our seafood, our shellfish, | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
it brings the fish to life. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:22 | |
This I like. I mean, I've liked the other stuff, | 0:24:22 | 0:24:24 | |
-don't get me wrong, but... -This is the best you like so far. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
Back at the kitchen, dinner's still roasting at 200 degrees, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:31 | |
about gas mark 6. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:33 | |
Not that Jo's told me what it is we're cooking. | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
Be gentle, it's one long piece right there. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
So we'll just shake all of that off. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:44 | |
'It's a sort of fish-shaped package.' | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
-Oh, you've got some roo in there. -I've got some roo for you to try. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
Kangaroo in a paper pouch. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
So it's a bit charcoaly but we'll just slide the paper bark off. | 0:24:54 | 0:25:00 | |
This is flathead. | 0:25:00 | 0:25:01 | |
And so I've already stuffed it | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
with some lemon myrtle and some native limes. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:08 | |
-Now is the time to try. -Warrigal green pesto with your fish. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:11 | |
That's very good. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:17 | |
Sometimes I think, actually, a bit of well-cooked fish is no bad thing. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
But I love this. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:23 | |
The next course is that roast kangaroo. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
I've actually used a Davidson plum with the kangaroo here. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:31 | |
-Can I try a bit while you're carving? -You sure can. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:34 | |
I didn't think it was going to be terribly good, | 0:25:38 | 0:25:40 | |
but it's very nice. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:41 | |
They're the limes that I used inside the flathead. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:45 | |
They pack a punch. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:46 | |
They pack a punch, wow! | 0:25:46 | 0:25:48 | |
And these are our native limes. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:50 | |
Got to try everything. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:51 | |
I love using that as a lemon curd tart. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
That's got tang. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
I think that Australians are starting to become aware | 0:25:56 | 0:26:00 | |
of how great their local produce is. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:02 | |
And this is only the tip of the iceberg that we have here today. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
There's one final treat left in the embers. It's crocodile. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:10 | |
-There is the croc. -So this would be one portion. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:13 | |
This is what they could do in restaurants | 0:26:13 | 0:26:15 | |
for chefs that say it's too hard. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:16 | |
-Yeah. -As a cartouche, with the paper bark and the banana leaf. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:20 | |
So we just chop that up. It's gonna be hot. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
If you didn't tell me what it was, | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
I'd say it was some sort of fish. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:26 | |
I like it. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:27 | |
There's a lot you could do with Aboriginal food, | 0:26:27 | 0:26:29 | |
I think we've tended to... Not we, Australians have tended to | 0:26:29 | 0:26:32 | |
sort of look towards Europe, look towards Asia. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:35 | |
I would be glad to see a lot more of this produce widely used. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:39 | |
It is fresh, it's vibrant. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
It's seasonal and it's local, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
and it's 100% Australian own, | 0:26:44 | 0:26:45 | |
Aboriginal cultivated and looked after. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:49 | |
Why can't the rest of the world enjoy what we've been enjoying | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
for thousands and thousands of years? | 0:26:52 | 0:26:54 | |
Well, I think it's up to you Aussies to make more of it. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:56 | |
I'm hoping in the next five, ten years | 0:26:56 | 0:26:58 | |
that this is the forefront on a lot of main menus. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
Beating about the Australian bush offers tantalizing possibilities | 0:27:02 | 0:27:06 | |
and extraordinary taste sensations. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:10 | |
After seeing two great chefs trying their hand with foraged ingredients, | 0:27:10 | 0:27:15 | |
I know wild is the next big thing. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
And the wildest place of all is nestled in a silver sea | 0:27:18 | 0:27:22 | |
a thousand miles to the south. | 0:27:22 | 0:27:24 | |
Tasmania used to be seen as a bit of a joke, | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
"rustic" and "wild" - meaning backward. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
But wild is suddenly hot, meaning Tassie's newly cool, | 0:27:31 | 0:27:36 | |
the future of Aussie cuisine. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:38 | |
So who's laughing now? | 0:27:38 | 0:27:40 | |
In a country where popping down to the shops can mean a 100-mile | 0:27:44 | 0:27:47 | |
round trip, the flight south is only a short hop. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:51 | |
But it's not so much about distance as time, and travelling back in it. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:56 | |
Tasmania's old-fashioned - as in charming, innocent and unspoilt. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:05 | |
I did once visit the capital, Hobart. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:16 | |
But this Eden is new to me. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:23 | |
It doesn't feel like Australia... | 0:28:27 | 0:28:29 | |
..but you never realise how truly wonderful something is | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
until you experience it itself. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
As well as beauty, I can already see that there is bounty here too. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:43 | |
They're everywhere, signs for fresh fruit. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:45 | |
Apricots, raspberries, cherries. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:51 | |
Pink-eyes. I think that's some sort of potato, not a fish. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
And there's fruit farms everywhere. | 0:28:54 | 0:28:57 | |
A lot of these are small scale operations, | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
sort of second-job farming. | 0:29:00 | 0:29:03 | |
There's not a combine harvester in sight. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:06 | |
I keep thinking shall I stop or shan't I? | 0:29:09 | 0:29:12 | |
Maybe around the next corner. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:14 | |
Eventually, it got to me. | 0:29:14 | 0:29:17 | |
Time for the driver reviver, Tassie style. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
I couldn't carry on without stopping. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:23 | |
Blueberries. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:25 | |
I just can't resist blueberries. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:27 | |
And apricots. We don't get enough apricots back home. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:33 | |
Delicious. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:38 | |
I mean, this is heaven for me. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:40 | |
I love my fruit | 0:29:40 | 0:29:42 | |
and just being able to stop and get it on the roadside... | 0:29:42 | 0:29:45 | |
..perfection. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:48 | |
I'm feeding the meter. | 0:29:49 | 0:29:51 | |
I'm not sure if you're actually supposed to | 0:29:52 | 0:29:54 | |
eat out of one of these stalls, | 0:29:54 | 0:29:56 | |
but I do like that. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:57 | |
"If you choose to steal my produce, I hope you choke!" | 0:29:57 | 0:30:02 | |
Dollars lighter and pounds heavier, | 0:30:07 | 0:30:09 | |
back on the road, | 0:30:09 | 0:30:11 | |
now able to pass signs for fruits that can stay forbidden. | 0:30:11 | 0:30:16 | |
But amongst them, | 0:30:16 | 0:30:17 | |
a sign for something that's just too intriguing to pass by. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:21 | |
Now, as I've said, I reckon bush meat is the future, | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
but the wallaby must be a mammal too far. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:29 | |
Most Aussies think of it as vermin. | 0:30:29 | 0:30:31 | |
This bloke thinks of it as gourmet food. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:35 | |
OK. And the farm is just near there. Brilliant. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:39 | |
OK, see you later, Ross. | 0:30:39 | 0:30:41 | |
That was Ross O'Meira, he's a pig farmer by day | 0:30:45 | 0:30:49 | |
but a wallaby hunter by night! | 0:30:49 | 0:30:51 | |
Tasmania is about as remote as you can get, | 0:30:54 | 0:30:57 | |
but to see Ross means taking a ferry to somewhere | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
even more out of the way, the tiny island of Bruny - | 0:31:00 | 0:31:04 | |
only accessible by ferry, a kind of marsupial Jurassic Park. | 0:31:04 | 0:31:09 | |
He farms somewhere in the woods, and tells me that alongside | 0:31:12 | 0:31:16 | |
his pig business he's set up a wallaby operation that's thriving. | 0:31:16 | 0:31:21 | |
Apparently, there are 500,000 Tasmanians | 0:31:21 | 0:31:25 | |
and ten million wallabies. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:28 | |
That's bad for the animals and for the environment, which they destroy. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:33 | |
Ross O'Meira has a solution. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:36 | |
-Hi. Ross. -Hi, Rick, nice to meet you. | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
You're a pig farmer | 0:31:41 | 0:31:43 | |
but this is hardly what I'm sort of imagining when you say pig farming. | 0:31:43 | 0:31:46 | |
-I imagine, you know, big pig stalls. -Concrete, yes, yes. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:50 | |
That stuff. | 0:31:50 | 0:31:51 | |
I would love to say you sort of slip under the net in a way. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
-Yes, completely. -Look at that! -He's just having a crawl. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
This is what everybody dreams about free-range pork, isn't it? | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
He's beautiful, with the young ones. | 0:32:01 | 0:32:03 | |
And as you can tell, they like hanging out with the big fella. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
Don't they just?! | 0:32:05 | 0:32:06 | |
One thing I'll say in Tasmania, | 0:32:14 | 0:32:16 | |
wallaby is the main source of the diet. | 0:32:16 | 0:32:18 | |
There's a lot of Tasmanians that have always eaten it. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
I've got a few Tasmanian friends that will make a roo-strone or | 0:32:21 | 0:32:23 | |
they'll make wallaby bolognese. It's a beautiful meat. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:26 | |
I'm looking forward to trying it. I've never tried it. | 0:32:26 | 0:32:29 | |
The best part about it, it's organic, | 0:32:29 | 0:32:30 | |
grass fed, free-range meat, so it's a fantastic product. | 0:32:30 | 0:32:33 | |
To get hold of wallaby meat we need to hunt - by night. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:39 | |
The population's exploded | 0:32:39 | 0:32:41 | |
because there are so many delicious crops on Bruny, | 0:32:41 | 0:32:44 | |
and no natural predators - | 0:32:44 | 0:32:47 | |
except hunters like Ross. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:49 | |
We are just off to a neighbouring property that have asked | 0:32:50 | 0:32:54 | |
Ross to come in and cull the wallabies. | 0:32:54 | 0:32:56 | |
I get the impression that when they took the property over | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
they thought that wallabies were really cute | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
and now they've realised how the wallabies devastate | 0:33:02 | 0:33:05 | |
the habitat, they've asked him to come in all the time. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:08 | |
Tasmania is the only place in Australia | 0:33:13 | 0:33:16 | |
where you can legally kill wallabies for food. | 0:33:16 | 0:33:19 | |
Much of it goes to feed pets. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:21 | |
Ross is out to harvest meat destined for discerning diners. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:25 | |
So, what we'll do is, if you can see down there on the fence line, | 0:33:26 | 0:33:29 | |
they'll sit there in the bushes | 0:33:29 | 0:33:31 | |
and they'll slowly work their way out and we will sit | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
until it gets a little bit dark, they'll come out and start feeding. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:36 | |
Then, once you put the spotlight on them, it kind of stuns them and they just kind of stop. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:40 | |
-And that is when you pick them off? -That's it, yes. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:43 | |
Sure enough, it's not long before the wallabies make an appearance. | 0:33:48 | 0:33:52 | |
There's one there on that side of the fence. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:55 | |
If it's for human consumption, Ross must get a clean head shot. | 0:34:01 | 0:34:06 | |
GUNSHOT | 0:34:09 | 0:34:11 | |
Gosh! Wow! | 0:34:11 | 0:34:12 | |
Always good to get it straight off the bat. | 0:34:12 | 0:34:14 | |
And you got it in the head? | 0:34:14 | 0:34:16 | |
-Yeah, he just dropped straightaway. -He just went down like that. -Yeah. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:20 | |
I'm very impressed with that. It must be a very small target | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
and it's a clean shot right in the head. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:27 | |
Thanks to Ross's skill, the kill was instantaneous. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:31 | |
Next morning, the wallaby's roasting in an anchovy stock. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:44 | |
Being fresh it needs slow-cooking to tenderize it. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:48 | |
This second one's been hanging for a few days and can be simply fried. | 0:34:50 | 0:34:54 | |
So, I will take the shanks off now. | 0:34:55 | 0:34:57 | |
You can cook them like you would any other shank, like a lamb shank. | 0:34:57 | 0:35:01 | |
They braise up really well. There's the two shanks there. | 0:35:01 | 0:35:04 | |
Ross has carved out two prime wallaby cuts - | 0:35:04 | 0:35:07 | |
topside, and one from close to the spine, known as the backstrap. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
I've just got a bit of salt and pepper. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:15 | |
I'll just drop a bit of olive oil on it. | 0:35:15 | 0:35:17 | |
There we go. I'll get these ones in the pan. | 0:35:17 | 0:35:19 | |
Put the other one on the other side, | 0:35:21 | 0:35:24 | |
and I'll get the backstraps in. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:26 | |
A bit more salt and pepper on this side. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:29 | |
I like the fact you are cooking it just with salt and pepper because | 0:35:29 | 0:35:32 | |
I just have a feeling that there would be a lot of people out there | 0:35:32 | 0:35:36 | |
who would be marinating it for three weeks in all kinds of rubbish | 0:35:36 | 0:35:39 | |
-and basically all I want is to taste what it's like. -Probably put a bit | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
of a teaspoon of bacon fat in there, just to get a little bit of | 0:35:42 | 0:35:45 | |
crackling going and a little bit of moisture. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:48 | |
I love bacon fat. Do you cook with a lot of bacon fat? | 0:35:48 | 0:35:50 | |
I do because I tend to have a lot of bacon around the house! | 0:35:50 | 0:35:54 | |
-Drop that fat in there now. -Can I taste a bit? | 0:35:54 | 0:35:57 | |
Oh! That is lovely! | 0:35:58 | 0:36:00 | |
It's good, clean fat, isn't it? | 0:36:00 | 0:36:02 | |
A slight bit of smokiness, | 0:36:02 | 0:36:04 | |
a lovely savoury taste to it. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:06 | |
Take it off to the side to rest. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:08 | |
A delicious smell has started to permeate the air. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
Kiki! | 0:36:13 | 0:36:15 | |
The family pooch is as fit as any butcher's dog I've ever met. | 0:36:17 | 0:36:21 | |
Time for me to try the slow-roast meat from last night. | 0:36:22 | 0:36:25 | |
My first taste of wallaby. | 0:36:25 | 0:36:28 | |
-See the way it... -Oh, yes, it's peeling off. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:31 | |
-Can I try a bit? -Oh, yeah, go for that. | 0:36:31 | 0:36:33 | |
It's like a little drumette. | 0:36:33 | 0:36:35 | |
That's gorgeous! | 0:36:38 | 0:36:40 | |
That is really lovely. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:41 | |
That's sort of like a lamb shank only much lighter in flavour. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
Fabulous! | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
'Delicious and fragrant. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:49 | |
'Now to see if the older, hung meat is gamier.' | 0:36:49 | 0:36:52 | |
Have a little bit of a taste. | 0:36:52 | 0:36:54 | |
I must say it looks very appetising. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:56 | |
Go for that bit there. | 0:36:56 | 0:36:58 | |
I'll give you this one first, the topside. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:00 | |
I reckon it's got a bit better flavour. | 0:37:00 | 0:37:03 | |
Fabulous. | 0:37:06 | 0:37:07 | |
A little bit chewy, but... | 0:37:08 | 0:37:10 | |
do you know, that is really lovely. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:13 | |
So there's the backstrap there. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
Fab! I'd say it's a bit like bavette, you know, | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
like a slightly less than totally tender beef cut, | 0:37:21 | 0:37:25 | |
but it's got a better flavour to me. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:26 | |
Yeah. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:28 | |
And I'm just amazed that it's held in such sort of low esteem. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:32 | |
I mean, this is like gourmet food to me. | 0:37:32 | 0:37:34 | |
Yeah, it's great meat that's just there, you know? | 0:37:34 | 0:37:36 | |
-So basically we're having something nice to eat... -Yeah. | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
..and you are doing good for the environment. | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
-Correct. -And everyone's a winner, | 0:37:43 | 0:37:45 | |
-even the wallabies. -True. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
-Not this wallaby! -No. | 0:37:47 | 0:37:49 | |
Wallaby meat is nothing short of a revelation. | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
I really do think we're on to something here. | 0:37:56 | 0:37:58 | |
I think something like that will be the next big thing. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:02 | |
And, of course, wallaby meat is wild meat, | 0:38:02 | 0:38:04 | |
so Ross and others like him will always be small-scale producers. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:09 | |
In a place seemingly unsullied by the modern world | 0:38:10 | 0:38:13 | |
this is farming far removed from the almost industrialised | 0:38:13 | 0:38:18 | |
food production I'm used to on the mainland. | 0:38:18 | 0:38:21 | |
And on the evidence so far, the result is superb quality. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:26 | |
It does have this wonderful image of purity, clean air, clean water, | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
and I think that is what it means to the rest of Australia, | 0:38:31 | 0:38:35 | |
so the products from Tasmania seem to be top quality. | 0:38:35 | 0:38:39 | |
The search for emerging Tasmanian products | 0:38:40 | 0:38:43 | |
leads just a little north to the island's capital, Hobart. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:47 | |
This is the only bit of Tasmania I'd visited before. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
On the mainland, things have moved on, | 0:38:56 | 0:38:58 | |
but Hobart is just as I remembered it. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:01 | |
Gosh, I've been coming to Australia for a long time! | 0:39:01 | 0:39:04 | |
When I first arrived in Sydney, it looked a bit like this. | 0:39:04 | 0:39:08 | |
I can remember the first shopping malls being built. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:10 | |
But now, Sydney... | 0:39:12 | 0:39:14 | |
..just like that. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:16 | |
And this...is the capital of Tasmania. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
That's rush hour over there. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:23 | |
I mean, it's hard to believe, | 0:39:25 | 0:39:27 | |
but it just reminds me so much of when I first came to Australia, | 0:39:27 | 0:39:32 | |
and it's wonderful. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:34 | |
But it's patronising to think of this place as a twee backwater. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:39 | |
I'm here to find out what the future holds. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
What's drawn me to Hobart is a brochure for a product | 0:39:42 | 0:39:46 | |
I wouldn't have associated with Tasmania | 0:39:46 | 0:39:48 | |
and, even more surprising, seems they do it better than anyone else. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:53 | |
Did you know that the world's best single malt whisky comes from here in Tasmania? | 0:39:53 | 0:39:59 | |
I sort of did, mate, but I didn't know whereabouts from. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
-You didn't? -No. -So you've never tasted it? | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
No, I haven't, mate, I'm not a whisky drinker. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
Fair enough! Maybe when you drop me off I could get them to give you a taste. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:12 | |
Er, yeah, once I knock off from work, mate, yeah. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:16 | |
Seems Tasmania's quiet food revolution really is quiet! | 0:40:16 | 0:40:21 | |
Even the locals haven't heard about it. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
In my day, Aussies mostly drank beer, and so did I - | 0:40:26 | 0:40:29 | |
like a beery fish. | 0:40:29 | 0:40:31 | |
Later, their wines emerged. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:34 | |
But now this distillery has conquered the whisky world. | 0:40:34 | 0:40:39 | |
In 2014, theirs was voted the best single malt anywhere. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:45 | |
It's even more amazing when you consider that Patrick McGuire | 0:40:45 | 0:40:49 | |
and his team only started making whisky 15 years ago. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:53 | |
What's so special about your Tasmanian whisky, do you think? | 0:40:53 | 0:40:58 | |
We're lucky to be small, | 0:40:58 | 0:41:01 | |
unknown, with no demands on what we're doing. | 0:41:01 | 0:41:04 | |
We didn't have demands. | 0:41:04 | 0:41:06 | |
So we've got the luxury of time. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:08 | |
So we do things in a very old-fashioned way - | 0:41:08 | 0:41:10 | |
we take months to dilute and | 0:41:10 | 0:41:13 | |
allow whiskies to settle so it's an old-fashioned, raw style of whisky. | 0:41:13 | 0:41:19 | |
It's a natural for Tasmania - | 0:41:19 | 0:41:22 | |
we've got a nice cool climate, | 0:41:22 | 0:41:24 | |
we've got a lot of high quality barley grown here, | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
our water is fantastic, | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
so all the ingredients are there. We're a long way away | 0:41:29 | 0:41:32 | |
from anywhere else in the world | 0:41:32 | 0:41:35 | |
so if we're going to compete, we have to produce a very | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
high quality product. It doesn't matter what it is, | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
it'll be small quantities but high value. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:43 | |
Now, I'm not a big whisky drinker, but this is work. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:49 | |
I have to steel myself. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:51 | |
There you are, Rick. | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
Have a little glass of... | 0:41:54 | 0:41:56 | |
-It smells a bit strong. -..our matured whisky. | 0:41:56 | 0:41:58 | |
This one's around 14 years old now | 0:41:58 | 0:42:01 | |
-and will be - be careful - up around 70% alcohol. -Wow! | 0:42:01 | 0:42:05 | |
I can smell it from here. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
Is this the one that won the prize, then? | 0:42:07 | 0:42:09 | |
That barrel was bottled out in its entirety. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:11 | |
-Is there any left? -We've got three bottles. | 0:42:11 | 0:42:15 | |
Are you going to sell them or keep them? | 0:42:15 | 0:42:17 | |
What would they be offering? | 0:42:17 | 0:42:18 | |
We've been offered some very serious money for those. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
-Like how serious? -Up to 20,000 a bottle. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:24 | |
20,000 a bottle. Blinking hell! | 0:42:24 | 0:42:26 | |
Yeah, I know, that's what we said! | 0:42:26 | 0:42:29 | |
Let me just tell you what I think of this! | 0:42:29 | 0:42:31 | |
Being poetic, this tastes like some trout stream somewhere in Tasmania. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:36 | |
I always find good whisky | 0:42:36 | 0:42:38 | |
and water have a sort of affinity. | 0:42:38 | 0:42:41 | |
I think it's slightly sort of brackish, | 0:42:41 | 0:42:43 | |
up a mountain, water, trouts... | 0:42:43 | 0:42:46 | |
-Sounds good, doesn't it? -It does. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:48 | |
Perhaps we should get the rods out! | 0:42:48 | 0:42:50 | |
It's about quality not quantity. | 0:42:56 | 0:42:59 | |
I think the secret of Tasmanian success | 0:43:01 | 0:43:03 | |
is keeping it small and artisanal... | 0:43:03 | 0:43:06 | |
..and trading on the purity of products | 0:43:08 | 0:43:11 | |
from the sort of environment that's a copywriter's dream. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:15 | |
Looking out of my window, whisky seems more and more at home here. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:31 | |
But for the gum trees, Tasmania could be Scotland. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:36 | |
I mean, when you look out of the window and you see all this water | 0:43:36 | 0:43:40 | |
and the hills and mountains behind. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:43 | |
Here in the south, the valley floors are full of sea lochs, | 0:43:43 | 0:43:47 | |
and they're home to an industry that's familiar in Scotland | 0:43:47 | 0:43:50 | |
but a bit of an innovation here. | 0:43:50 | 0:43:53 | |
These big inland areas of seawater are covered with fish farms. | 0:43:58 | 0:44:02 | |
I've been passing them all day. | 0:44:02 | 0:44:03 | |
30 years ago, nothing! | 0:44:03 | 0:44:06 | |
It's a well-known story in the Aussie food business - | 0:44:06 | 0:44:09 | |
in just three decades the Tasmanian salmon industry | 0:44:09 | 0:44:13 | |
has gone from literally nothing to world-beating. | 0:44:13 | 0:44:17 | |
Pristine waters and careful attention to welfare | 0:44:17 | 0:44:21 | |
have produced fish that fetch the highest prices in Japan. | 0:44:21 | 0:44:25 | |
And now one of Japan's best sushi chefs has come over here | 0:44:27 | 0:44:31 | |
and caused his own mini culinary revolution... | 0:44:31 | 0:44:35 | |
..which is how I come to have a Tasmanian salmon | 0:44:35 | 0:44:38 | |
on the back seat and a bit of a deadline. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:42 | |
30 years ago when I started doing TV, you wanted to do something, | 0:44:42 | 0:44:46 | |
you said, "I'm going to take this from A to B," and you did it. | 0:44:46 | 0:44:50 | |
But these days you have got to sort of jazz it up a bit. | 0:44:50 | 0:44:54 | |
They call it jeopardy, I call it melodrama. | 0:44:54 | 0:44:57 | |
It goes a bit like this... | 0:44:57 | 0:44:59 | |
I've got a monster salmon in the back, but I've got to get it | 0:44:59 | 0:45:02 | |
to a sushi chef in time for lunch, but there's a problem. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:06 | |
I've got directions and a sat nav and I don't really know how to | 0:45:06 | 0:45:09 | |
read the map or work the sat nav, and worse still, it's getting warm. | 0:45:09 | 0:45:14 | |
The salmon's beginning to heat up. | 0:45:14 | 0:45:17 | |
Well, there's air conditioning but it's not working very well. | 0:45:17 | 0:45:20 | |
It's 90 degrees outside and I can only go at 55mph. | 0:45:20 | 0:45:24 | |
Will I make it in time for lunch? | 0:45:24 | 0:45:27 | |
Will I...? | 0:45:27 | 0:45:28 | |
HORN TOOTS | 0:45:28 | 0:45:29 | |
Bit more of that and I could be on Top Gear! | 0:45:29 | 0:45:33 | |
The master chef I'm seeking is Masaaki Koyama, | 0:45:35 | 0:45:38 | |
formerly of Osaka, | 0:45:38 | 0:45:40 | |
but now living in the bijou town of Geeveston. | 0:45:40 | 0:45:44 | |
I've heard of tiny towns, but this one, | 0:45:46 | 0:45:48 | |
it's supposed to be just off the main drag. Where IS the main drag? | 0:45:48 | 0:45:52 | |
Is this the main drag? | 0:45:52 | 0:45:54 | |
There's the swearing chemist. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:56 | |
Supposed to have colourful language. I love his trousers! | 0:45:56 | 0:46:00 | |
There we are. Sushi. Fab. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:04 | |
In just six years Masaaki has transformed local tastes, | 0:46:05 | 0:46:10 | |
just as all those immigrant chefs did in Sydney. | 0:46:10 | 0:46:13 | |
The neighbours can't get enough of his sushi. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
He's already setting about my salmon with aplomb. | 0:46:19 | 0:46:22 | |
This is good for sashimi. | 0:46:26 | 0:46:28 | |
I love salmon sashimi! | 0:46:28 | 0:46:30 | |
I just love watching the way really well-trained sushi chefs work. | 0:46:31 | 0:46:35 | |
There's such a delicacy about the way they cut everything. | 0:46:35 | 0:46:39 | |
It's like a form of massage to me, it's just so peaceful. | 0:46:39 | 0:46:42 | |
I'm just cutting off the fatty part, | 0:46:46 | 0:46:48 | |
leaving the fishy flavour. | 0:46:48 | 0:46:50 | |
When he first arrived, | 0:46:50 | 0:46:51 | |
Masaaki opened seven days a week to put himself on the map. | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
Today his sushi is so popular, he opens just twice a week, | 0:46:55 | 0:47:00 | |
and then only for lunch! | 0:47:00 | 0:47:02 | |
His few tables and tiny takeaway counter pull in locals | 0:47:02 | 0:47:06 | |
and enthusiasts from all over the island. | 0:47:06 | 0:47:09 | |
Wow, look at that! You must think you've died and gone to heaven! | 0:47:09 | 0:47:14 | |
Actually, I was Masaaki's very first customer. | 0:47:14 | 0:47:17 | |
I was waiting outside the door when I heard there was a sushi place | 0:47:17 | 0:47:20 | |
-opening in town. -The ex-premier came three times before she could get in! | 0:47:20 | 0:47:24 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:47:24 | 0:47:26 | |
People come and it's sold out within an hour. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:30 | |
Geeveston is a town in love with sushi. | 0:47:33 | 0:47:36 | |
But local tastes weren't always so sophisticated. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:40 | |
It was very interesting for me to start at first. | 0:47:40 | 0:47:43 | |
-I never met people who never eat rice before. -They had never eaten rice! | 0:47:43 | 0:47:48 | |
I was a sushi virgin! | 0:47:48 | 0:47:51 | |
I just wanted to introduce my food | 0:47:51 | 0:47:53 | |
and then, people started coming back again and again. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:58 | |
The locals have embraced Masaaki's sushi, | 0:48:00 | 0:48:02 | |
and Masaaki has done the same with the outstanding local ingredients. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:07 | |
I thought the best way is using local produce. | 0:48:07 | 0:48:10 | |
For example, beetroot, we don't have beetroot in Japan. | 0:48:10 | 0:48:14 | |
But I just love it. Very tasty. | 0:48:14 | 0:48:17 | |
What about the salmon, how did you find that, the quality? | 0:48:17 | 0:48:20 | |
Salmon quality is very good. | 0:48:20 | 0:48:22 | |
Never seen this fresh before in Japan. | 0:48:22 | 0:48:25 | |
I was very lucky, I could do a lot of experimenting all the time. | 0:48:25 | 0:48:30 | |
Using the finest Tasmanian produce seems to have freed Masaaki up | 0:48:30 | 0:48:34 | |
to take sushi to the next level. | 0:48:34 | 0:48:37 | |
This one's a yellowfin tuna and snow pea. | 0:48:38 | 0:48:40 | |
This is a cooked tuna, this is a cold smoked ocean trout. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
We have prawn and avocado here | 0:48:44 | 0:48:46 | |
and this one is the Japanese egg omelette. | 0:48:46 | 0:48:48 | |
And Masaaki's inari is a beancurd pouch | 0:48:48 | 0:48:51 | |
with rice, honey brown mushrooms, beetroot, | 0:48:51 | 0:48:54 | |
sesame seeds and carrot. | 0:48:54 | 0:48:56 | |
As a chef, it's just a privilege to see someone like Masaaki at work. | 0:48:56 | 0:49:01 | |
I often go on about how I like watching people | 0:49:03 | 0:49:06 | |
do things they do well, but this is in a class of its own. | 0:49:06 | 0:49:09 | |
Masaaki trained for three years, much of it spent in A&E, | 0:49:11 | 0:49:15 | |
then honed his craft for another 22. | 0:49:15 | 0:49:18 | |
So what is the perfect way to treat the perfect salmon? | 0:49:19 | 0:49:23 | |
Nice size - not too big, not too small. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:26 | |
Just harvested the right way, rest about one day or two days. | 0:49:26 | 0:49:32 | |
Of course you have to have good skill to fillet. | 0:49:32 | 0:49:34 | |
Eat with friends - that is best, I think. | 0:49:34 | 0:49:39 | |
When I look at that, I virtually can't keep my chopsticks off it. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:44 | |
It looks so beautiful. | 0:49:44 | 0:49:45 | |
'For me, when a product of this quality meets a chef this skilled, | 0:49:47 | 0:49:52 | |
'the result is - well, it's a kind of poetry.' | 0:49:52 | 0:49:56 | |
That's it, they're closed now, for five days. | 0:50:00 | 0:50:03 | |
They need to get on with the more serious things in life, | 0:50:03 | 0:50:05 | |
surfing, fishing, maybe gardening. | 0:50:05 | 0:50:08 | |
And for me it's a great business model, it's called less is more. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:12 | |
Because this is some of the best sushi I've ever had in my life, | 0:50:12 | 0:50:16 | |
in this tiny town - it's unbelievable. | 0:50:16 | 0:50:19 | |
On the mainland, Australian industry shouts a lot about its success, | 0:50:21 | 0:50:26 | |
but these islanders seem happy to whisper | 0:50:26 | 0:50:29 | |
and wait for people to notice their genius. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:32 | |
Which isn't always a good thing. | 0:50:34 | 0:50:36 | |
One of the most famous Tasmanian foodstuffs is virtually unknown | 0:50:36 | 0:50:40 | |
on the mainland. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:41 | |
Getting to the point of production is a bit tricky. | 0:50:45 | 0:50:48 | |
Getting there is half the fun! | 0:50:52 | 0:50:54 | |
Got to roll up my trousers! | 0:50:54 | 0:50:56 | |
What I'm after seeing is abalone, a large sea snail. | 0:51:04 | 0:51:08 | |
They're found all around the island in bays and inlets, | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
many of them are known only to the fishermen who go after them. | 0:51:14 | 0:51:18 | |
Abalone and crayfish is one of the main specialities | 0:51:28 | 0:51:31 | |
of the local fishing bay. | 0:51:31 | 0:51:33 | |
We see those guys come in and out in remote spots around the coast. | 0:51:33 | 0:51:37 | |
Abalone are sub-sea fat cats. | 0:51:38 | 0:51:41 | |
They lead a jet-set life, gliding about on sunlit rocks, | 0:51:41 | 0:51:45 | |
sucking in the rich nutrients that drift by on the currents. | 0:51:45 | 0:51:48 | |
Who needs runways when you've got a seaplane? | 0:52:02 | 0:52:04 | |
Abalone grow very slowly. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
Scott Palmer and his fellow fishermen don't moan | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
about fishing quotas - they've asked the government to impose them. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:16 | |
Nobody wants to upset this trade. 25% of all the wild abalone | 0:52:16 | 0:52:21 | |
eaten on earth comes from Tasmania. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:25 | |
To make a fishing trip worthwhile, Scott and his divers stay out | 0:52:25 | 0:52:29 | |
harvesting for days, but to get a sample catch, one dive is enough. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:34 | |
This is what we're looking for, Rick. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:39 | |
-You trust me? -Yep. | 0:52:39 | 0:52:40 | |
So, this is them. | 0:52:43 | 0:52:46 | |
This is our Tasmanian black lip abalone, Rick. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:49 | |
And how do they rate, Tasmanian abalone, in the scheme of abalone? | 0:52:49 | 0:52:53 | |
-World's best. -Of course! | 0:52:53 | 0:52:57 | |
-And where's your biggest market? -It's in China. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:01 | |
We have about 70% going live into China now. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:05 | |
Do Aussies eat this? | 0:53:05 | 0:53:07 | |
Um... Melbourne, Sydney in Chinatown you see abalone | 0:53:07 | 0:53:11 | |
but you don't see a lot of abalone in the rest of the restaurants, no. | 0:53:11 | 0:53:16 | |
-And why is that, do you think? -I think just... | 0:53:16 | 0:53:19 | |
People haven't tasted it. | 0:53:19 | 0:53:20 | |
If it's not cooked properly, it comes out like boot leather. | 0:53:20 | 0:53:23 | |
People kill each other in other parts of the world for abalone! | 0:53:23 | 0:53:27 | |
'It's big business - they fetch around 100 a kilo | 0:53:27 | 0:53:31 | |
'or even more - that's 25 bucks each!' | 0:53:31 | 0:53:35 | |
So how much you come home with? | 0:53:35 | 0:53:36 | |
When these tanks are full, we have got three live tanks on board. | 0:53:36 | 0:53:41 | |
When these are all full of abalone, | 0:53:41 | 0:53:43 | |
she's got six tonne of abalone on board. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:45 | |
-Six tonne? -Six tonne. -Well, that's nearly 300,000! | 0:53:45 | 0:53:49 | |
It's getting close to it. | 0:53:49 | 0:53:50 | |
-How often do you go to sea? -About 80 to 90 days a year. | 0:53:50 | 0:53:54 | |
Ah, I see! | 0:53:54 | 0:53:56 | |
-No wonder you're smiling! -Diesel's very dear, Rick! | 0:53:56 | 0:54:00 | |
Oh, come on! That's what fishermen always say! | 0:54:00 | 0:54:05 | |
Scott's sitting pretty as long as the Chinese market remains steady, | 0:54:05 | 0:54:09 | |
but the trick will surely be to alert Australia to what they've got | 0:54:09 | 0:54:13 | |
just off their own coast. | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
First the meat gets a good bashing to tenderize it. | 0:54:19 | 0:54:23 | |
OK. | 0:54:26 | 0:54:27 | |
There you are. | 0:54:31 | 0:54:33 | |
'Scott's a man after my own heart - keeping seafood simple.' | 0:54:33 | 0:54:36 | |
I'm liking the look of this, I must say. | 0:54:38 | 0:54:40 | |
They've got quite a lot of flavour. | 0:54:40 | 0:54:43 | |
So I don't think you need to do a great deal with them. | 0:54:43 | 0:54:46 | |
We're just about ready to start frying these. | 0:54:46 | 0:54:49 | |
-What do you fry them in? -In ghee. | 0:54:49 | 0:54:51 | |
-Ghee! Indian ghee? -Yes. -Great. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:54 | |
I like seafood fried in ghee, I picked it up in India. | 0:54:54 | 0:54:57 | |
I thought I could smell ghee. That's very unusual. | 0:54:57 | 0:55:00 | |
I don't cook it really hot. | 0:55:01 | 0:55:03 | |
No, I never do either. You just burn stuff. | 0:55:03 | 0:55:06 | |
-They're not far from done. -That's quick. | 0:55:06 | 0:55:09 | |
Smells great! | 0:55:09 | 0:55:11 | |
Look at that! | 0:55:11 | 0:55:12 | |
Now, would you like a little bit of salt on that or not? | 0:55:12 | 0:55:16 | |
Yeah, I'll have a bit of salt. | 0:55:16 | 0:55:18 | |
Here, I've got a very good Chardonnay from Tasmania. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:22 | |
Wow! Now you're talking! | 0:55:22 | 0:55:24 | |
-Abalone, Chardonnay. -We've got the fine china! | 0:55:24 | 0:55:28 | |
-Let's go for it. -A premium Tasmanian wine. | 0:55:28 | 0:55:32 | |
-Good health. -Good health. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:35 | |
Oh, that's nice! Really good! | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
Full of fruit, bit of oak, lovely. And now for this. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:43 | |
Oh! | 0:55:46 | 0:55:47 | |
-Tender. -You're a seafood cook! | 0:55:47 | 0:55:49 | |
I can't tell you how good that is. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:53 | |
Really, seriously. | 0:55:53 | 0:55:55 | |
If the average Aussie could taste that, they would be converted | 0:55:55 | 0:55:59 | |
instantly. Because it's like a prawn fritter, it's almost as sweet | 0:55:59 | 0:56:04 | |
and as tasty as a prawn. And it's as tender. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:06 | |
You tenderized it so well. That is absolutely delicious. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:12 | |
I love abalone! I'm in love with abalone! | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
Abalone has got to be the best seafood Australia isn't eating. | 0:56:17 | 0:56:22 | |
And I reckon the Tasmanians should be shouting about them | 0:56:22 | 0:56:26 | |
from the rooftops. | 0:56:26 | 0:56:27 | |
I started this journey with an inkling | 0:56:33 | 0:56:35 | |
that what I call the Australian national palate is changing - | 0:56:35 | 0:56:39 | |
that they're starting to look to what they grow and harvest | 0:56:39 | 0:56:43 | |
in their own backyard. | 0:56:43 | 0:56:45 | |
And I think the Aussies are on the right track. | 0:56:45 | 0:56:47 | |
The foods I've tasted here have been as good as anything, anywhere. | 0:56:47 | 0:56:53 | |
Australia's tended to look towards the rest of the world | 0:56:54 | 0:56:58 | |
for ideas, for materials, for food - | 0:56:58 | 0:57:01 | |
they've tended to import all the best stuff and only now | 0:57:01 | 0:57:05 | |
are they beginning to realise they don't need to do that, | 0:57:05 | 0:57:07 | |
that if they work hard enough at what they're producing here, | 0:57:07 | 0:57:12 | |
the world will look at them. | 0:57:12 | 0:57:14 | |
I came here trying to find my place in the world, and so were they. | 0:57:15 | 0:57:19 | |
We were both very young - | 0:57:20 | 0:57:22 | |
modern, federal Oz was only about 200 years old. | 0:57:22 | 0:57:26 | |
And I've been coming here for a considerable chunk of its existence, | 0:57:26 | 0:57:31 | |
and in that time, it's made me the happier man I am. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:35 | |
There's this optimism about this country | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
and it's about being a new world and having boundless opportunities | 0:57:39 | 0:57:44 | |
but it always lifts me up whenever I come here. | 0:57:44 | 0:57:48 | |
I think Aussie cuisine is about to take a great leap forward - | 0:57:49 | 0:57:54 | |
well, backwards if you like, | 0:57:54 | 0:57:56 | |
to where it all began, with local. | 0:57:56 | 0:57:58 | |
And with around 2,900,000 square miles of local | 0:57:58 | 0:58:04 | |
to leap into, watch this rather large space. | 0:58:04 | 0:58:09 | |
Next time, in Malaysia, cook and food writer Rachel Khoo | 0:58:11 | 0:58:15 | |
journeys to the heart of her own family history. | 0:58:15 | 0:58:18 | |
Oh! That's my dad! | 0:58:18 | 0:58:20 | |
She goes off the beaten track to find out | 0:58:20 | 0:58:23 | |
whether food can unite a multicultural society. | 0:58:23 | 0:58:26 | |
This is at another level. | 0:58:26 | 0:58:28 |