Overview
We don't know what you got out of your last road trip, but odds are it wasn't a 432-page cookbook profiling 100 food heroes and shot through with gush-worthy photography. Acclaimed food writers Helen Greenwood and Melissa Leong are different that way. After six months on the road with a production crew, they've emerged with The Great Australian Cookbook, a document that features recipes from leading chefs like Neil Perry, Dan Hong, Kylie Kwong and Anna Polyviou but also from farmers and producers such as Tathra Oysters, Bruny Island Food and the Pyengana Dairy Company — as well as Australia's original cookbook queen, Margaret Fulton.
And how do you visually communicate this breadth of Australiana so the book might be judged by its cover? With a specially commissioned illustration from Mambo artist Reg Mombassa, of course. Topping off this love fest, royalties from the book will go to OzHarvest, the Australian charity distributing unwanted food to people in need.
It's a pretty special project, one that meant figuring out what constituted Aussie cuisine in the first place — the modern version, not just sausage rolls and prawns on the barbie. For Greenwood and Leong, former collaborators on The Good Food Shopping Guide, it was a natural progression of their work in recent years. After the success of The Great New Zealand Cookbook, the pair were approached to do the same for Australia. They jumped at the chance. "We loved the idea of a cookbook that reaches into many regions of Australia, showcases many different kinds of cooks and presents a snapshot of how Australians eat today," says Helen.
It was also an opportunity to present a contemporary and inclusive picture of Australian cuisine. "Australia has a great reputation overseas for its food," she says. "If we have any problem representing Australian cuisine, it’s that we struggle to define it."
The pair set out to speak with foodies both familiar and lesser known. Considering the successes of Australia's produce and cooking on the international food scene, whittling down the 100 contributors to include was not easy. "We had to cover a lot of ground [in the road trip] ... and had to ask ourselves a lot of questions," says Helen. "Have we represented the regions and the cities? Have we covered the country and the coast? Do we have classic Aussie dishes? Do we have people who reflect our Indigenous and migrant heritage? Do we have the legends and emerging talents of food? When we’d answered these questions, we’d check and check again, and fine-tune it some more."
The end result marries the recipes with personal reflections from each chef and photos taken in their private homes and gardens. While the co-editors are reluctant to name an all-out favourite recipe in the book, their personal highlights include superstar Aussie chefs like David Moyle (Tasmania's Franklin and Peppermint Bay), Nick Holloway (far north Queensland's Nu Nu Restaurant) and Scott Huggins and Emma McCaskill (South Australia's Magill Estate, the home of Penfolds).
But Helen is quick to point out The Great Australian Cookbook is not just about chefs. "This book is about Australians who grow, harvest, cook and eat food for a living — chefs, cooks, bakers, fishers, farmers and more," she says. "It’s a snapshot of Australian food culture today."
It's also a personal document in some ways, reflecting Helen and Melissa's years of gustatory discovery. "A lot of my first-time experiences as a food writer are in this book. The first time I tasted Jim Mendolia’s sardines and was transported back to a glorious holiday on a beach in Portugal," evokes Helen. "My first visit to Darwin when I ate at Jimmy Shu’s Hanuman restaurant and experienced his fusion Asian cooking ... My experience of being on the receiving end of a fork loaded with great food, and meeting the people who’ve grown or cooked or sold that great food, has shaped The Great Australian Cookbook."
The Great Australian Cookbook is published by PQ Blackwell and distributed by The Five Mile Press. It's in bookstores now for RRP$49.95. Get a taste of what's inside by trying out this spring roll recipe from Angie and Dan Hong.
ANGIE AND DAN HONG'S VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS
Makes: 60 | Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 20–30 mins | Skill Level: 2 (Moderate)
FILLING INGREDIENTS
500g minced pork neck
1/2 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup of each of the following, all shredded:
-wood ear mushrooms
-shiitake mushrooms
-carrot?
-onion
-mung bean thread ?(1cm lengths, softened in cold water)
METHOD
In a mixing bowl, combine the filling ingredients with the seasonings and mix thoroughly.
Carefully pour hot water into a shallow, wide dish along with the soy sauce. Stir to combine. Take a rice paper wrapper and quickly immerse it in the hot water, then place on a clean, dry plate. Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture into the centre of the rice paper in a sausage shape. Fold the top and bottom ends in, then roll the rice paper up like a cigar. Set aside and repeat until all of the mixture has been used up.
Heat the oil in a heavy-based pot until it reaches 180°C. In small batches, fry the spring rolls for 7–10 minutes or until the outside is crisp and golden. Drain onto paper towel and serve hot with your favourite dipping sauce.
Images by Lottie Hedley Photography.