How I eat
Chef-turned-televisionpresenterJimmyShugivesusa
tasteoftheTopEnd,speakstohisChinese-SriLankan
heritage and shares his love of rare seafood delicacies.EATINGWITH
Jimmy Shu
You’vebeenlivinginDarwinfor 29 years
now– howdidyoufirstcometoDarwin?
I wasrunningthreerestaurantsin
MelbourneandI wasalwaysonthe
huntforbeautifulingredients.Growing
upinSriLanka,we’dalwaysbuysilver
barramundi.I lookedallacrossAustralia
forit but,backthen,therewasonly
brownbarramundi.Eventually,I found
BillyBoustead,whowasbreedingsilver
barrahereinDarwin,andcamehere
forit.SoonafterI arrived,I stayedand
openedHanuman– I’vebeenhereever
since.NoweveryrestaurantI openhas
a silver barramundi dish on the menu.Whatareyourfoodmemoriesofgrowing
upinSriLanka?Myfatherrana Chinese
restaurantandwasoneofthefirstto
makefresheggnoodlesinSriLanka.
Hebroughtthefirstmachineoverfrom
a Chineseexpo,andI usedtomake
30 kilosofeggnoodlesfortherestaurant
andtoselleveryday.Heusedtoput
smilesonpeople’sfaces,and that’s
what I wanted to do.InyournewTVshow,youvisitDarwin’s
RapidCreekMarkets– whatdoyoulove
aboutthem?Weallhavea comfortzone
andtheRapidCreekMarketsaremine.
Everythingis underoneroof– things
frommychildhood,healthythings,
home-grownthings.Buyingdirectfrom
thegrowersmeansyougetthefreshest
stuff: the sap is still oozing out of tropicalfruits,theherbssmellincredible,the
vegetablesarestunning.Forme,I live
to eat, so these things are all I want.Darwin’sIndigenouspeoplehavea great
connectiontothelandandinfluenceonthe
foodthere– whathaveyoulearnedfrom
workingwiththem?Youhavetoappreciate
thatthesetraditionshavebeengoingfor
thousandsofyears.Whilewecanexplore
andusetheseingredients,wefirsthave
totrulyappreciateIndigenoustraditions
andingredients.Takethemagpiegoose,
forexample,BininjchefBenTyler
showedmehowtheycookthisbirdover
firewood.Eatingthebrainis anabsolute
delicacy– it tasteslikethebestFrench
pâtéyou’veevereaten... I couldn’t stop
thinking about it.Whataresomeotherinteresting
ingredientsyou’veworkedwith?Paspaley
PearlingCompanyoperatesoutofthe
NorthernTerritoryandafterharvesting
thepearls,thereis beautiful,freshpearl
meatleft.Wecureit – it’sa bitlikeceviche- ina Thai-stylenamjim.It’s$120-$140
a kilosoit’sprecious– butyoujusthave
threeoffourslicesandenjoythefreshness.
It’s like a softer abalone – it’s divine.
Speakingofseafood,you’rea bigseafood
lover– whatelsedoyouenjoy?I love
togocrabbing– it’ssospecial.Alsosea
cucumbers– there’sa hugedemand
for them around the world.Eating thebrainof
a magpiegooseis
an absolutedelicacy.
Ittasteslikethebest
French pâtéyou’ve
ever eaten.32 GOURMET TRAVELLERINTERVIEWJORDANKRETCHMER.PHOTOGRAPHY SALLY INGLETON.