A chef-musician duo from Australia stop by in the city to rustle up a contemporary presentation of Aboriginal cuisine
Darren Middleton (left) with Clayton Donovan. Pics/Shadab Khan
It all started with a jaaning tree for chef Clayton Donovan, who grew up on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, home to the Australian Aboriginal tribes of Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung. "I would climb the tree and forage for its fruit as a child," says the Nambucca Valley-based chef, who grew up watching his aunt cook native Aboriginal food. "But my mom would make me travel across the world with her recipe books. One day it would be Italian and another day, Japanese," says Donovan, 44, his dreadlocks tied in pony tail, his arms covered in tattoos.
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The chef - also a star of the TV show, Wild Kitchen, currently airing on ABC - is in the city, along with musician Darren Middleton. Together, they form The Tuning Fork, and as part of the venture, the duo will be doling out an intimate evening of music and food for a private event at Grand Hyatt Santacruz tonight.
In his suitcase, Donovan has brought along lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, pepperberry, Quandong or local peach, and three different macadamia oils. The idea, he explains, is to collaborate with chefs across the world, and introduce them to Aboriginal ingredients. "We will incorporate these with Indian flavours using common proteins like lamb and fish. It is an ongoing process, not a cuisine," he points out.
Chilled Pea Soup
Native twist
On tonight's menu, a seabass, flavoured with Maharashtrian spices, coconut and curry leaf, is topped with a pani puri. "We have used aboriginal salt, macadamia oil infused with lemon myrtle and garnished the dish with pepperberry. The native mint adds an exotic superfood touch in a Chilled Pea Soup made with jamun berry sorbet and sada dosa crisp."
Sea Bass Maharashtra style
Aboriginal cooking
So, while he is not cooking kangaroo meat on a fire, we ask Donovan to give us the low-down on Aboriginal cuisine. "It is the oldest cuisine in the world and uses the most basic techniques and ingredients. Food is cooked on fire, and meats are barbequed. They are even wrapped in paper bark and ginger leaves, and cooked in ground," he explains.
At Jaaning Tree, his restaurant back home, he part smokes a kangaroo loin in lemon myrtle to give it a charred texture. "This is finished in a sous vide, to retain the integrity of the kangaroo meat," says Donovan, who is excited about the Indian jamun they have converted into a sorbet for the pea soup on the menu.
Middleton, who is better known as the lead guitarist with the hugely successful Australian band Powderfinger of the '90s, met Donovan through a common friend a few years ago. Having dropped his dream to be a chef to follow his passion for music, Middleton found a partner in Donovan. "Both of us wanted an intimate platform to showcase our work, and put together a concept that would help us tell our stories - him through cooking and I through music," says Middleton. He has even written a song since his landing in Delhi: 'It is a fine line leading its way, playing chords, telling stories day by day/hoping to connect with a stranger just met'.
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