What do you have planned for Grow, Gather and Cook?
I plan to cook using what's in season. We will pull from the three philosophies of Grow, Gather and Cook, using ingredients grown locally. This is a simple practice that we live by at Biota.
What's some of the
I'm guessing you'd have to have your wits about you when foraging in Australia. Ever had any nasty surprises?
We go foraging almost every day for the restaurant. We tend to do a lot of research prior we never pick if unsure of what something is, and we never taste unless we are positive that the ingredient we are eating is safe. There are too many opportunities to make a big mistake and obviously I can't risk my team, let alone any of our diners with an uneducated guess. Of course we sometimes come across new plant species that we haven't seen before and we will then take a photo to research. In Australia the biggest things to be aware of are the deadly snakes and spiders that are always around.
Consumers are much more informed now about the benefits of using local produce rather than imported. How well do you believe the message to "eat local" has been embraced, and how much more do you think needs to be done?
I believe we still have a hell of a lot more work to do. We live in this amazing, self-sustaining country with usable land mass that can be developed in its own specific "biota". Each region has something new to add to the list of usable ingredients. We need to harness each region and harness ingredients that grow naturally and not try to put a square peg in a round hole.
How closely related are gardening and cooking in your world?
They go hand in hand we have four gardens on site and a 30m long polytunnel we propagate all seedlings in. Without the gardening, there would be little cooking. All our chefs spend time in the gardens, from planting the new season's seedlings, to maintaining the mature plants. Being a chef encourages continual education. If you cannot appreciate the ingredients from their beginning, how can you create a substantial dish?
What was your "breakthrough moment" when you realised where you wanted to take your career?
Sitting 50 floors up in the Arabian sky [at the hotel Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai], ordering food from eight different countries on a weekly basis and thinking "this is not right it needs to be simpler".
I'd imagine there's a lot of learning and experimentation involved in creating your food. What are you learning about or pursuing at the moment?
I have just spent a week in the Top End of Australia in one of the most remote parts of the country, eating from a land area of 77,000 acres. This area has enough food sources to sustain a small community. This is quite interesting for me and gives me new direction. There were many new ingredients that I had never experienced and this always pushes me to learn and create more.
What's your signature dish? Or is there something you're working on right now at Biota that really communicates your style of cooking?
The menu at Biota changes weekly, depending on what is available around us, what we can find in the forest and down on the coast, as well as what is blooming in the garden. Each dish on the menu needs to be a signature dish.
• Grow, Gather and Cook with James, and Claudia Weersing of Pyramid Valley Wines, is at Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay on September 24. James will give a morning cooking demo and go foraging. His finds will feature in dinner that evening. The package costs $800pp per night for double occupancy and includes luxury suite accommodation, pre-dinner drinks and canapes, Saturday dinner with paired wines, full breakfast and guest's choice of either a day of unlimited green fees or a 50-minute spa treatment. More information at capekidnappers.com
