From the Editor, Leigh O’Connor.
Smoke and flame are the elemental forces shaping Australia’s most primal flavours. Across rugged coastlines and outback plains, Chefs and home cooks alike gather around glowing embers, coaxing the wild spirit of fire into their food.
Charred eucalyptus smoke drifts through the air, wrapping around juicy cuts of beef, crisp-skinned barramundi and flame-licked vegetables until they sing with depth and soul. Every spark, every hiss, tells a story — of patience, of respect for the ingredients and of the ancient connection between fire and nourishment.
From wood-fired kitchens in Melbourne laneways to campfire feasts beneath desert stars, Australians celebrate the beauty of imperfection: a blistered crust, a smoky edge, a kiss of flame that transforms the ordinary into the unforgettable.
Smoke and fire aren’t just cooking methods here — they’re the art and heart of a nation that loves to taste its landscape. This week we explore the ethos of flame-kissed cuisine from fine dining to home smoking…
There’s a moment when smoke hits the air - a curl of cedar, a lick of charcoal, the perfume of singed rosemary - that instantly awakens the senses. It’s nostalgic, primal, yet endlessly modern.
Once the mark of rustic barbeques and backyard fire pits, smoke has returned to fine dining in Australia with sophistication, subtlety and a renewed reverence for craft. Today, Chefs across the country are reclaiming fire as the oldest, yet most innovative, tool in their kitchens.
There’s a heat that creeps across the tongue - slow at first, then insistent, like the dry whisper of a Summer wind through spinifex. It’s not the volcanic burn of imported chillies, nor the aggressive blaze of peppercorns shipped across oceans.
This is a distinctly Australian fire, ancient and alive, born from bushland, harvested under harsh skies and carried into kitchens where old meets new. Australia’s obsession with native spice is more than a culinary trend - it’s a rekindling of something deep and enduring.
There is something almost primal about the sight of blackened edges curling on a steak, the blistered skin of a red pepper, or the smouldering tips of charred broccoli crowns. It goes against instinct - burning food, after all, was once the sign of a ruined meal.
Yet today, Chefs and home cooks alike deliberately lean into that bitter-sweet edge of fire. Char has become the new umami, a layer of flavour we chase not in spite of its darkness, but because of it.
We also deliver the modern man’s guide to home smoking without going full caveman, debate the reverse sear versus open flame – which cooking method reigns supreme – and deliver essential campfire cooking tips.
Let’s get your flame on!
