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The Masters of Australian Food & Wine
New Asia Cuisine Scene - Issue 20 Nov/Dec 99
Another successful Masters of Australian Food and Wine took place at Darling Harbour Convention and Exhibition Centre in the 2000 Olympic City - Sydney - the culinary capital of Australia from 29 August to 1 September 1999. It was again run in conjunction with Fine Food 99 - Australia's premier exhibition for the food industry and the Australian Food Conference.
The aim of the Masters of Australian Food and Wine is to showcase the great produce now available in this fine country, to raise the profile of Australian produce as excellent food for families and gourmets. This can only be done with the support of all those whose livelihood depends upon the successful promotion of their product. This support comes from individual producers, marketing groups and food service companies such as Meat and Livestock Australia, Ansett Australia, Rosemount Estate, Australian Exhibition Services, The Centre, The Westin Sydney, Lactos Tasmania, Prestige Foods International and Chef Revival.
The focus for the 1999 Masters was "New Style Cuisines of the Pacific Rim" and various leading culinary professionals from the pacific region prepared, cooked and demonstrated their unique style Pacific Rim cuisine. The chefs who generously gave of their time to come 'downunder' were:-
Goran Streng - Executive Chef - Hawaii Prince Hotel Honolulu
Grant MacPherson - Executive Chef - Bellagio Las Vegas
Heinz von Holzen - Executive Chef - Bambu Bali Indonesia
and Michael James - Chef de Cuisine - Essence, Auckland New Zealand
The talented home grown chefs who displayed their culinary skills
were:-
Scott Webster - Chef de Cuisine - Restaurant Mosaic - No 1 Martin Place Sydney
Randal St Clair - Executive Chef - The Observatory Sydney
Detlef Haupt - Executive Chef - gm2000 Sydney
and Gary Tennet - Executive Chef & Host - The Centre
The chefs all took part in 3 lunches along with various culinary demonstrations and seminars during the event. Naturally, they used Australia's premier food products and then match this cuisine with fine Rosemount Estate wines to create the 'New Style Cuisine from the Pacific Rim'.
The very nature of the cooking from the Pacific Rim is such that the many diverse influences spill over into one another, taking in culinary ideas from other cuisines, resulting in new and innovative creations. This, together with the wealth of seafood and the fresh produce that is abundant in all regions, means that there is no end to the fresh and exotic delights on offer.
The regional cuisines are linked by their use of the fruits from the Pacific area, the wealth of shellfish and seafood that are fished from the Pacific Ocean and the abundance of beef and lamb which is produced in the lush green pastures of Australia. In Pacific Rim cooking seafood, beef and lamb may be seasoned with chillies, lime juice, sun-dried tomatoes, basil vinaigrette, mango salsa, wild fruit chutney or roasted macadamia nuts.
Australian cuisine is distinctive because of the enormous variety of fresh produce grown here. From the tropical north to the temperate south, the geography, climate and local expertise all combine to produce the widest range of meat, seafood, wine, dairy produce, fruit and vegetables imaginable. The one joy of Pacific Rim cooking is that it is always changing, finding new ingredients and new ways to use old standards.
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