Ben Milbourne on Newcastle Food & Wine Expo, on Andy & on his upbringing in Tasmania
For teacher turned foodie Ben Milbourne, food
is about fun, creativity and adventure. Thanks to his best mate –
MasterChef winner and Maitland local Andy Allen – food and friendship
are also closely intertwined.
Milbourne and
Allen appeared on the MasterChef 2012, the series which Allen went on
to win with his new-found best mate by his side. In the years since the
TV juggernaut, Milbourne has produced two cookbooks – last year’s
Mexican Craving and Tasmanian Trail (out next month) – and travelled the
country and the world. He is also set to launch his new TV show Ben’s
Menu on Channel 10 in the coming weeks.
Milbourne
is appearing at this weekend’s Newcastle Food & Wine Expo,
supported by the Newcastle Herald, where he’ll host intimate 35-person
degustations on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as demonstrating his
cooking skills on the Celebrity Stage across the three-day festival.
Speaking
over the phone from Tasmania on a break from filming his TV show,
Milbourne’s passion for food is palpable: he counts his blessings for
all the opportunities that have come to him post-MasterChef and the fun
he’s had along the way.
‘‘I don’t think
I’ve worked a day since MasterChef finished. Everything has been so much
fun and so enjoyable and everything that I do now is a whirlwind and
I’m loving it,’’ Milbourne said, adding that fun had been the constant
factor in his relationship with food.
‘‘Food
has always been fun for me. It was a passion for me before I went on
the show and I guess that’s why people go on the show, to take their
passion and turn it into something that becomes their life.
‘‘I’m
the perfect example of what you can do. I was also really lucky to meet
a best mate on there, who I still do a lot of work with, in Andy.’’
Milbourne’s
visit for the weekend’s expo is not his first to the region: he’s spent
time in Newcastle and Maitland, and raves about weekends spent at
Allen’s family’s property in Port Stephens. He and Allen, who is now
Sydney-based and works at Bronte’s Three Blue Ducks, have also travelled
the world together in pursuit of new flavours and techniques. Last year
they travelled to Mexico (which is documented on Allen’s YouTube
channel) and are soon jetting off to Spain and Portugal on another
culinary adventure.
It’s part of Milbourne’s approach to food – that there are always new flavours to conquer.
‘‘In
my past life I was a science teacher and I used to say to my kids:
‘There are 120 elements on the periodic table and the universe was
created with that.’ You have more than 120 ingredients in your pantry so
imagine what you can create with that,’’ he said.
Like
many great chefs, Milbourne is also passionate about eating seasonally,
something that was fostered by his upbringing on the Apple Isle.
‘‘Being
in Tasmania we’re very lucky that we get four seasons here. We get
really distinct changes in season and, in those changes in season, we
always get changes in produce,’’ he said.
‘‘My
life has been based around the idea that at certain times of the year
we eat certain things, and I think that’s really important.
‘‘The
way things are going now, things can be grown year-round and shipped so
quickly from one area to another that they’re always available.
‘‘If
you go into a supermarket you can always get things, which a lot of
people want. Customers want to know they can get a watermelon any time
of the year.
‘‘But if you want it to be at its best you have to get during its season.
‘‘If
you are buying from a greengrocer or a producer, that’s what they build
their livelihood around, so it’s important we give as much support as
we can give people for growing or supplying produce that is in season.’’
Seasonal
and local produce will be the heroes on Milbourne’s menu for the
degustations and demonstrations at the expo. On the celebrity stage
he’ll teach punters how to make kingfish carpaccio with Mexican
vinaigrette, avocado mousse and pico de gallo salsa and totopos (similar
to a tortilla).
‘‘Kingfish is prevalent to
that region, people are going to be able to get their hands on it. They
might even be going out catching it. I know Andy catches a lot of it
when he goes out with his dad,’’ Milbourne said.
‘‘The best way to eat kingfish is raw or just seasoned with some acid, doing a ceviche or something like that.
‘‘With
a fish so delicate in flavour you can get away with eating it raw or
just simply curing it. I’m also going to show you things you can put
with it to give some texture or a bite, to make a dish out of something
so simple.’’
The Mexican theme continues at
the expo’s three degustations hosted by the Tassie cook, with all but
one of the dishes designed during Milbourne and Allen’s Mexican trip.
Milbourne’s menu not only draws on local produce but will also be
prepared by the MasterChef star himself.
‘‘I’ll
be in the kitchen during the day getting everything ready and then I’ll
come out and dine with the guests and explain to each of them where the
dish came from, where we went about sourcing the produce, where the
idea came from,’’ he said, adding that he was looking forward to getting
up close and personal with punters at the dinner.
‘‘When
you do things like this it’s so much nicer if you feel like you’re
almost at someone’s house or in a really intimate setting, it means I
get an opportunity to get around to everyone, to talk to everyone and
find out why they’re there, what they enjoy about food.
‘‘For
me it’s just as much a learning experience as it is for those people
coming because I get to find out what makes people tick and why they
want to come along to these things. It means I can hone my idea of what I
want to do going forward, so I can give people what they want.’’
Milbourne is also hoping Hunter locals will give him what he wants: gossip about best mate Allen.
‘‘I’ll
sit down and enjoy some wine and a chat with people and if they have
any questions about what I’ve been up to or what Andy’s been up to or
maybe they might be locals who know Andy and can give me some dirt on
him, which would be handy,’’ he laughed.
‘‘If
I can walk away from the weekend with some dirt on him, I’ll be really
happy. Even better, if they have photos I can lord over him while we’re
in Spain so he can pay for every meal.’’
Milbourne
appears at the Newcastle Food & Wine Expo, supported by the
Newcastle Herald, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
(Source: Newcastle Herald)
