Food fight: what is modern Australian cuisine?

Michael Hartnell

"I think Modern Australian cuisine can be a really great thing or an absolute atrocity. Anyone can use the term to describe anything from a deconstructed meat pie to a Heston Blumenthal sausage with pepper berry. With so many great cultural influences in Australia and fantastic produce, I see Modern Australian food to exemplify innovation, great produce, simplicity and seasonality."
– Michael Hartnell, executive chef,
Mandoon Estate

"Australians are not tied to traditional foods and boundaries like so many other countries, so our chefs can take on their own styles. It's critical chefs source products locally, and keep it super fresh and not overly complicated. They need to understand their suppliers on a personal level, which benefits the farmers, chefs and consumers."
– Tony Howell, Aravina Estate

Tony Howell

Carolynne and Hadleigh Troy.

"I remember a decade ago being queried as to whether Modern Australian meant that there were native animals featuring on the menu, like crocodile and kangaroo! I hope the definition has become more defined over recent years. For Hadleigh and I, Modern Australian cuisine is the selective use of flavours and techniques from a broad range of cultures and cuisines that directly reflect the multicultural society we are lucky enough to live in. Underpinning the cuisine is classic technique with a focus on regional produce and, in its most contemporary form, the incorporation of indigenous ingredients."
– Carolynne Troy, co-owner, Restaurant Amuse