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Australian Chef Ross Dobson

My husband’s cousin Lalita makes a gulab jamun that is soft and crumbly, just sweet enough without tasting candy-like. I have it every time I visit her — in Australia.

Lalita, of course, is Indian, but she and her family are part of the great immigrant culture to be found down under. Along with their food. Greek, Dutch, Syrian, Indian, Italian, Vietnamese, Cantonese…it’s a long list of cultures (okay, and the koalas, too) — that makes Australia so intriguing.

None of this was lost on Sydney’s chef Ross Dobson. Dobson’s new book “Wholesome Kitchen” offers easy, healthy recipes heavily inspired by his country’s rich cultural heritage. Here’s a (lightly edited) Q&A he was kind enough to do with me via email:

HyphenatedChef: What made you think of using a multi-cultural approach to this book?

Dobson: This is how I like to cook and also how I like to eat when I go out. I look to diverse ranges of cultures for inspiration when I cook for myself, cook for others in my café or write recipes for others.

HC: How were you inspired by Australia’s multi-cultural society?

D: I think that forming a close relationship with our neighbors who were new to Australia from Hong Kong was really influential. The food tasted so different from anything else I had ever eaten. We had a very no-frills diet with very little flavour. For example, no one used fresh garlic in their cooking in the 70’s unless, of course, you were not born in Australia. The Italian and Chinese food I ate became a huge inspiration. Once I tried black beans, dim sum, home made salami and fresh parmesan cheese (not in a can!) there was no going back. [Read more →]

Photo courtesy of www.FoodGal.com

In my life as a walking, talking, professional tastebud, I have been honored to serve as a judge for various items from tomatoes to — wait for it — water (Swear to God. H2O). This time it was chicken. All six recipes in the Foster Farms West Coast Chicken Contest had their strong points, especially the winning Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts. But I was perhaps most happy to see a multi-culti take on America’s favorite protein: Chinese-style Sesame Chicken with a chili dipping sauce. Nice nod to the West Coast’s Asian population. Find the recipe and more information on the Foster Farms website.

I love Swiss chocolate — love, love, love — but it’s rare that while rolling it around my tongue, making pacts with the devil over “just one more piece” I wonder about how the Swiss actually came to possess chocolate as the national confection (no cocoa trees in the Alps.)

Turns out chocolate isn’t the only thing given to the world by Latino culture. “When Worlds Collide,” premiering on PBS Monday (Sept. 27) at 9pm, explores the transfer of culture that took place during the century after the “Old World” encountered the New. As to be expected, much of the communication was achieved through food.

“It was probably the most important transfer of foods in world history,” says James Amelang, a historian at the Autonomous University of Madrid. “Think of Italy without tomato sauce, Spain without gazpacho, Switzerland without its chocolate, and France — and everyone else — without its French fries.”

Sounds like a terrible world to me.