Food Heroes:
Ian Parmenter
Our chef, Jim Fisher, explains how he met another of his food heroes...
Ian Parmenter is Festival Director of Tasting Australia, a regular contributor to magazines and radio, and an occasional wine producer.
I'd heard of him many years ago and had seen him presenting his five minute slots on ABCTV's Consuming Passions thinking even at that time "now there's a guy I'd like to meet...".
Well, earlier this year I got my chance when, in partnership with Toujours France, he brought an entourage of foody Australians over for a couple of weeks of wining and dining.
Cooking with Ian...
The idea was that we would supply the venue, the food, the wine (and boy, can those Aussie's drink!), and also do his mise en place (food prep). He, on the other hand, would demonstrate the cooking of his dishes to the nineteen or so elderly Aussie's.
As you can imagine, I was more than happy to do the 'mise' for one of my food heroes, but you could have knocked me down with the soggy end of a wet-wipe when he actually asked me if I wanted to present some of my own dishes!
But he had some clever little parlour tricks up his leave...
Ironed salmon and blow-dried croissants...
One of the items he asked us to provide for his cooking demos was an iron and ironing board. Oh, and a hair drier!
All was revealed when he showed us all how, when in the Outback and faced with nothing more than a few domestic household items, one could cook up a sumptuous meal.
He picked a volunteer and set her up with the ironing board and hot iron ("no steam!"). The fillet was seasoned and lightly oiled, then wrapped in greaseproof and promptly ironed "for about two minutes on gas mark linen". The result was, amazingly, a juicy, slightly underdone perfectly cooked piece of fish!
Next, a fresh croissant was placed in a carrier bag and cooked in the heat from the hair drier.
More Ian Parmenter weeks for next year...
And so started what is now a yearly occurrence at CookinFrance and I have to say that I'm thrilled! Quite apart from the huge publicity potential, Ian is just such a great guy to work with: hugely generous (I ended up doing at least half the demos - including some of his), funny, clever and inventive he's definitely one of my food heroes and I can't wait to have him back.
No mean cook...
Ian is a very approachable down to earth sort of guy and is a talented musician, raconteur and teller of rude jokes! But he's also a really good cook who takes pride in using fresh seasonal ingredients to simple but great effect.
London-born ex-pat Ian Parmenter established himself well into the hearts of his adopted Australia...
Ian Parmenter is Festival Director of Tasting Australia, a regular contributor to magazines and radio, and an occasional wine producer.
A former journalist and TV producer/director, Ian Parmenter was the presenter of ABCTV’s Consuming Passions, which screened in Australia and 15 other countries for 12 years.
He has 12 recipe collections to his credit and an award-winning book of memoirs, Sheer Bottled Bliss, which in 2006 won a major award for literary excellence in a food-related book.
In 1995/6, he won two major international prizes for the show at the Festivale Tele-Gourmande in France.
Ian was a founder member of the Margaret River Food Group, which established the first farmers’ markets in Western Australia’s southwest.
He is a strong believer in supporting and promoting Australian food and drink producers, who, he argues, are among the world’s best.
Ian’s vision is to put edible gardens into all Australian primary schools to give young people a chance to discover where their food comes from and to enjoy the pleasures of the table.
The organisers...
The Ian Parmenter/CookinFrance weeks were organised by Sue Heine and Kate Steadman of Toujours France, a travel company specialising in tours to France from their base in Victoria, Australia.
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Ian Parmenter with
truffle friend...
Ian instructs a guest on how to iron salmon...
...which she
promptly does!
Ian serenading our daughter, Jenny
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Learn how to cook pastries, breads and soups
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