Page 18 - Foodservice magazine may 2019

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TPRAODFEILTEALK
TALK
BAKING WITH THE BOUNTY OF OUR LAND
AS AUSTRALIAN NATIVE INGREDIENTS PERMEATE EVER DEEPER INTO THE COUNTRY’S CULINARY ETHER, THE TEAM AT MELBOURNE’S CHARCOAL LANE IS SET ON EDUCATING NEW CHEFS ON THE VALUE OF THEM. ALEKSANDRA BLISZCZYK FINDS OUT HOW INDIGENOUS FRUITS, HERBS AND SEEDS ARE INCORPORATED SEAMLESSLY INTO THE RESTAURANT’S EUROPEAN-TECHNIQUE DRIVEN DESSERTS.
The cool room shelves at Melbourne’s Charcoal Lane are laden with buckets of leaves and branches from native Australian plants. “Cinnamon myrtle, lemon tea tree, lemon myrtle, native pepper, strawberry gum,” executive chef Greg Hampton lists as he points to each overhead bunch. Back in the kitchen, the fridges in the dessert section are stacked with containers of native fruits and herbs.
The menu here stars roughly 30 different indigenous ingredients across every dish, from a bunya nut hummus to start, to the rainbow aspen dressing on the leafy side salad.
Charcoal Lane’s food is grounded in European elements and techniques. Familiars like ratatouille, galettes and beignets make appearances, with native herbs, meats, fruits and vegetables replacing introduced species as much as possible.
Bush tucker, the term used by First Nations people to describe edible native plants and animals, has found its way onto menus all over the country. It’s no longer just chefs like Attica’s Ben Shewry who champion native, sustainable foods; lemon myrtle in granola, kangaroo fillets in place of steak, and finger lime on oysters are all common fare nowadays. But at Charcoal Lane, this is not a passing fad; it’s the past, present and future.
As a trained horticulturalist and chef of more than two decades, Hampton has been putting native ingredients to the front since Charcoal Lane opened 10 years ago. What drives him now is not just plating fine food, but also educating diners and chefs about the flora and fauna of their land.
TRADE