We interviewed Chef RJ Lines, now at Benny’s, about the influences of produce, native ingredients and regional cuisine
What is Australian cuisine?
A unique blend of Asian, European and traditional native produce.
What do you think were the primary influences behind its evolution?
I think the main influences half a century ago were the European influences, especially British, Greek and Italian, and that has shifted into a heavy South East Asian presence, and now the emergence of Australian native and indigenous produce.
How important is it to fully understand the integrity, provenance and sustainability of the produce that you source?
For me personally, it is the most important. Produce must be seasonal, sustainable and as local as possible. It just makes sense. I believe it is a knock on effect that hopefully the general public and wider food community can embrace and spread.
What artisian produce has recently inspired and gained your respect as a chef?
Recently it is the heritage beef program from Richard Gunner. A unique rare breed cattle program of “heirloom” beef breeds that are both pasture raised and dry aged. It has a great story bringing these once highly prized beef cattle back to the forefront from modern factory farming.
Has important is it for the untapped potential of Indigenous influence on Australian Cuisine to be fully realised?
There is a recent interest in the Indigenous flavours which I see as “up and coming”. It’s exciting, and I think out of respect, we need to be exploring it deeper. It has been an untapped market and is not yet fully realised.
What native Australian ingredients have you successfully incorporated into your dishes?
Finger limes are a favourite of mine, and we also have a native bee hive in our garden, which we are still waiting to yield the benefits from. Very recently, I received my very first Magpie goose from the Northern Territory. It’s a really unique wild bird that I’m excited to experiment with.
Do you think regional cuisine of recent times has developed its own sense of sophistication and identity?
Slowly I think it has. There are some outstanding regional restaurants out there like Biota, that seem to be leading the charge as chefs are really embracing the local, sustainable, native ethos. Also local to us, the team at Cornersmith are embracing their inner-city regional style cuisine.
What is your quintessential memory of an iconic regional dish?
In the mountains in the north of Italy, in what almost looked like a dive restaurant in a small town. I remember the wild boar ravioli made from chestnut flour, and also really simple stinging nettle pasta with a rich tomato sauce. I can picture it now almost 10 years on.
It is our intention to re-interview all Chefs to see if their viewpoints have changed as the culinary landscape has shifted.
