Aren’t you glad to be Australian! Aussies are leading the way in the world of food. Our 2011 Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Young Chef of the Year proudly waved our flag in Venice last weekend when he won the S. Pelligrino Cooking Cup. I couldn’t think of better news or a better way to start my expert – food and wine – advice on RESCU.
As the ambassador for the Australian awards, I spoke to Chef Richard Ousby – about his dreams and plans – before he left for Venice.
By Rebecca Varidel insidecuisine.com
Back in May, I sat down with Richard Ousby at Quay (arguably our best restaurant in Australia – as Number 26 on the coveted S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant’s list) where Richard has been working for three years. At the time of our chat he was preparing to represent Australia in the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Venice:
He’s currently planning his menu. He’ll be required to cook four plates of his one dish on a yacht, with limited cooking facilities and no electricity. He reminds me this will mean he won’t be able to use a blender. And that he’ll be cooking everything from scratch. The tricky part however is he won’t know at what time he’ll be required to serve up his dishes – that will all depend on how fast the yacht sails. On the night before the cook-off he will be cooking 100 small portions – also for part of the judging – of that same dish.
Richard is excited, and enthusiastic and he’s passionately telling me some of the menu ideas on which he’s working. We move onto produce and seasonality – the seasons are reversed and it will be summer in Italy.
How much control will he have over selecting his produce?
Not much he says; he sends off a list to S. Pelligrino who will source his ingredients.
How does he plan a dish?
“You have to sit down to force yourself to think about food” he starts before explaining how he then thinks about different ingredients and how they go together. It can take Chef Peter Gilmore “six months to make a dish” at Quay, Ousby says.
I ask him how things have changed for him since winning. His first response is that his career has “definitely accelerated.” There are more demands on his time now. Life is not just about cooking in a kitchen.
“Whenever I get a spare minute, there is a recipe to write, or someone to talk to” he says undaunted.
And after all this what are his plans?
Ousby has a house in Brisbane, so “it’s time to move on” from Quay. “It’s been awesome developing Pete’s style of food, but I’d like to develop my own style of food before … not I loose it – I’d just like to get it going.” When he tells me about his cooking plans in Brisbane though, it’s about the renovations he’ll be making to his house – he’s going to build a Yakitori grill and a big pizza oven.
For more of Rebecca’s interview with Richard Ousby head to https://insidecuisine.com
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