By Leigh O’Connor.
Christopher Thé is an everyday Australian. He was born here, but lke many of us, his recent ancestors are from another land.
His parents came from Indonesia with a wish for their children to grow up Australian and within his exterior resides a typical Australian psyche.
"I have no indigenous ancestry. I cannot claim to understand the connection indigenous Australians feel to their land, or the hardships they have endured and continue to endure,” he explains.
"However, as my own connection to the land I live on deepens, I have become aware that the ‘modern’ idea of oneself as a separate entity from the land, ‘the master of all I survey’, is a dated one.”
Once we begin to accept our place within – not separate – from our environment, what we eat takes on a different significance.
"Does it not make sense to nourish yourself from the land that you are part of? It is easy to forget that food even comes from the ground when we are surrounded by convenience items wrapped in plastic,” Christopher says.
In his new book, ‘Modern Australian Baking’, Christopher delivers a masterclass in using native ingredients to create scrumptious pastries, bread and cakes.
This celebrated Pastry Chef, founder of Blackstar Bakery and creator of the ‘world’s most Instagrammable cake’, dishes up a highly anticipated cookbook with the Australian climate and ingredients in mind.
"This book is for the everyday Australian. My aim is to show you how native ingredients can become a valuable part of your everyday baking and bring you closer to the food this land has to offer.”
Expect creative recipes paired with thoughtful anecdotes and reminiscences. Baking basics are covered at the start of the book, with suggested utensils and descriptions of the native ingredients used throughout.
Follow the turn of the seasons with Christopher’s vibrant and delectable recipes – from seasonal suggestions in Autumn to dishes best served at Christmas.
We have three recipes for you to recreate at home:
"I find green ants delicious – they have a nutty, lemony flavour that reminds me of coconut. What better way to introduce people to insects than by combining them with one of our national comfort foods, lamingtons?
"You can leave out the ants if you wish, but I’m hoping you will take the opportunity to give them a go and experience a new flavour.”
A Chef needs a dependable use for all the various greens and interesting odds and ends that come their way through the year and a turnover is a great way to produce something delicious with little effort.
If you can make a tasty filling, then you can put it in a turnover. It doesn’t have to be pretty; the native seed mix used to decorate the puff pastry takes care of that.
Fresh truffles require careful coaxing to bring out their full potential and infusing them into dairy can help turn up the volume. In this recipe, fresh truffle is infused into crème pâtissière and piped into tarts made with stone shell pastry.
It is tempting to add a truffle oil to boost the flavour, but try to resist and instead enjoy the delicate flavour of fresh truffle.
‘Modern Australian Baking’ is a future classic, destined to be on every enthusiastic home cook’s shelf or coffee table.
