Leading food writer, chef and restaurant owner extraordinaire, Bill Granger, talks to The Weekly about his new book Holiday in our 60 second celebrity grill!
Your new cookbook, Holiday, is filled with lots of fuss-free recipes. Do you think most Australians are too busy to spend hours over a hot stove?
Absolutely, although hours over a barbecue never seem half as strenuous!
What’s your favourite recipe from Holiday?
Pork meatballs with curry sauce, a reinvention of the curried sausages my mother use to make me as a child.
On your new DVD, you invite us to your family Christmas in Sydney. What’s on the menu at the Granger household this Christmas?
I’m normally too busy to plan Christmas and tend to rely on my own books. This year we’ll be serving prawn and lemon cocktails with chilli coriander mayonnaise, then hoisin and plum glazed lamb, followed by fresh mango and macadamia trifles with lime syrup.
How would you define the Aussie palate?
We tend to love flavours that are fresh, bold, clean and spicy – a bit like our personalities.
Lots of people are daunted when it comes to cooking? What’s the easiest way for novice cooks to get started?
Eat out at a variety of restaurants to explore new and interesting flavours and cooking from books creates satisfying results whilst teaching you the basics to cook on your own.
What’s your golden tip for dinner parties when you don’t have time for a lengthy session in the kitchen?
To save time, try and purchase good quality ready-made elements for your meal. The other night I cooked lamb cutlets on the barbecue and served them with tomato and cucumber salad along with bough flat bread, harissa, hummus, olives and yoghurt – a great success with almost no effort.
You’re a father of three beautiful girls. What’s the best way to inspire children to experiment with different flavours and develop their palate?
Praise them for trying food even if they don’t like it. Encourage them to help out in the kitchen and treat them to eat our in restaurants – this creates an interest in food that will be life long.
What’s one ingredient that every budding cook should have in their kitchen?
Someone to help with the dishes!
What’s one flavour that you can’t live without?
Lemon juice – I just love the zing this adds to endless dishes.
I hear you’re opening a new restaurant in London and Tokyo? Can you tell us more about this?
I’m very excited to be opening a Bills in Shichirigahama in greater Tokyo next year. This is the Japanese equivalent of the Hamptons or Palm Beach – and is set to open in March 2008. We’re currently finalising details for London, so will keep you posted on this!
The Weekly’s special feature on Bill Granger and recipes from his new book, Holiday, can be foudn in the November 2007 issue of the magazine.
