Eating With Annabel Crabb

The political journalist and commentator on grilling politicians and the art of kitchen diplomacy.

- Maggie Scardifield

You would’ve eaten some interesting meals over six seasons of Kitchen Cabinet. What’s been your most memorable?

I think dining with [Minister for Indigenous Affairs] Nigel Scullion in Darwin still holds an edge. He’s an outdoors guy who has been known to go rabbit trapping in Canberra. He took me out on a boat to get mud crabs and we nearly got marooned in a croc-infested tidal creek. While we were imprisoned on our flimsy craft, he regaled me with the tale of how he once shot a muddie off his thumb with a gun. Nigel cooked sticky chilli crab in the open air and had also prepared some incredible yabby curry puffs.

There must have been some kitchen mishaps, too.

I’m not gonna lie: having Clive Palmer nearly set me alight was unexpected. He was grilling our lunch on a giant gas range (salmon for me, what appeared to be a brontosaurus T-bone for him) and he enthusiastically squirted some cooking spray towards the inferno. It ignited, and I was lucky to escape with my eyebrows.

Who taught you how to cook?