KITCHEN WISDOM

There are some things in life you just know. Little tips, tricks and rituals absorbed from family members that have never been questioned; like the way you tie your shoes, or where to store the Vegemite (always cupboard). In the kitchen, those pearls of wisdom become ingrained, forming the bedrock of a cook’s foundations. From the basics, such as how to chop onions or adding salt to pasta water, through to more sophisticated and intricate behaviours tied to family and cultural heritage. For Parwana’s Durkhanai Ayubi, those nuggets of knowledge are steeped in Afghan tradition and passed down from her mother, while for Fico’s Federica Andrisani, they come from her Italian father. We speak to nine chefs about those life lessons and how they continue to influence them in the kitchen.

LOUIS TIKARAM

Stanley and La Mexicana, Brisbane

Cooking with my grandmother in Fiji always revolved around seafood – fish, prawns, mussels, etc. And of course nothing is cleaned, peeled, gutted or scaled by your local fishmonger over there, so we would do everything ourselves in the laundry basin