Your new book, In Praise of Veg, is a glorious tome. It’s over 2kg in weight, with over 150 recipes and featuring 75 different vegetables. How would you describe it to readers?

Thank you! It’s a beast of a book! I’d describe it as a go-to guide for green stuff… and purple and orange and… well, it is colour-coded, after all! It’s all the things I wish I’d known about vegetables when I was just starting out, as well as tips, tricks and inspiration from chefs all around the world and ideas I still come back to as an avid home cook. I think it’s a pretty good sign when even I’m dipping back into it for ideas.

Did veg play a big part in what you ate growing up? What are your earliest food memories?

Absolutely! I grew up in Georgia in the former Soviet Union, and vegetable dishes play a pretty major part in that cuisine. Lots of salads and braises and veg cooked over coals. It’s at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, on the spice trail, so if there’s anything that’ll make veg taste great, it’s the combination of those cuisines and all of those heady spices. I spent a lot of time in my grandfather’s vegetable patch and among the fruit trees at his dacha (weekender). I was very lucky that vegetables were never a chore for me—they were, and still are, a joy.

Studies have shown that in Australia, only 5 per cent of children get their recommended daily veg. Adults fare marginally better, at 7 per cent. Why do you think these numbers are so shockingly low?

It comes back to experience, expectation, and exposure. For a lot of Australians — in fact, most Western cultures—their earliest experiences with vegetables are often overboiled and under-seasoned, so the expectation is one that’s more of a ‘must eat’ rather than a pleasurable part of the meal to look forward to. The way veg is usually sold is as a ‘healthy’ part of the plate, which doesn’t do much for our expectation of flavour, either — in fact, studies show that actually has a negative impact on how we perceive that food.

For kids, the biggest factor for consumption is exposure — especially when it comes to new veg, which might need around 15 touch-points before they’re willing to accept them or enjoy them. So you can imagine, if parents’ personal experience hasn’t been great, their expectation of how these dishes are going to be received isn’t positive, and then kids aren’t being given the chance to get amongst new vegetables and have no motivation to try them, it’s no wonder those numbers — for big kids and small — have been at a pretty stagnant level for much of the last century.

You founded the food education program Phenomenom, reaching schoolkids all across the country, along with their parents via the podcast Nomcast. What are some of the changes you have seen when children (and their parents) are taught food literacy?

Well, for one thing, the notion of ‘food literacy’ is one that I’m seeing become integrated into the metalanguage within the space. ‘Food education’ has certain expectations and overtones of authority that aren’t particularly conducive to positive change. ‘Literacy’ denotes a certain level of personal agency and empowerment that I think can nudge people towards more healthful habits.

Most importantly, I think that using food in schools is a really great hook for teaching other competencies and classes too. The beauty of Phenomenom is that it’s designed to hook kids into maths, and science and history — through the lens of food. So it’s a two-fer… They learn more about food AND they retain more info for other aspects of their schooling too.

You say that ‘food doesn't just open mouths, it opens minds too.’ How has food influenced the way you see the world?

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that the more I know about food, the more I realise I don’t know! It drives me to stay open-minded, open-hearted, and open-mouthed at all times. You never know when your next great experience will be — edible or otherwise!

The book also includes words of wisdom from over 60 of the world’s best chefs. What was your favourite discovery?

Picking just the one is way too hard… but did you know there’s electric blue turmeric somewhere in the north of Thailand? David Thompson’s seen it!

It has been almost a decade since you left your job in teaching and went on Masterchef, embarking on a new, multi-faceted career in food. Looking back, what advice would you give to your younger self?

The road less travelled is bumpy, but it’s much more fun!

What books and recipes have you been taking comfort from during this pandemic?

I’ve found myself gravitating to old-school food writing by people like Barbara Kafka and Jeffrey Steingarten.

Recipe-wise, lots of slapping stuff together from what I have on-hand.

As far as new books just out, I’m loving Use it All by Alex and Jaimee from Cornersmith, A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura and Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez. Ottolenghi’s new book is sitting open on my desk, and I cannot wait for Nigella’s new one. It’s an amazing year for cookbooks! 

Restaurants in Victoria are to open to diners again. What restaurants have you missed the most?

Lau’s Family Kitchen in St Kilda… we were there every week when we lived in Melbourne, and it’s the one I’ve missed most because they haven’t been delivering down to the Mornington Peninsula. Most other places we love, we’ve managed to get straight to our doorstep. Of course it’s not the same as the full restaurant experience, but it has felt like everyone has really rallied behind the industry and done their best to support both the restaurants and producers.

What are you up to next?

I’ve got a bunch of projects in the works — some TV, some more podcast eps in the works, and maybe even dipping my toe into creating my first actual product! Watch this space!

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