9 Chefs Talk About The Family Secrets They Swear By

From perfect roast potatoes to the cleaning power of fresh lime, we speak to nine chefs about the family secrets they swear by.

- Georgie Meredith

There are some things in life you just know. Little tips, tricks and rituals absorbed from family members that have never been questioned; like the way you tie your shoes, or where to store the Vegemite (always cupboard). In the kitchen, those pearls of wisdom become ingrained, forming the bedrock of a cook’s foundations. From the basics, such as how to chop onions or adding salt to pasta water, through to more sophisticated and intricate behaviours tied to family and cultural heritage. For Parwana’s Durkhanai Ayubi, those nuggets of knowledge are steeped in Afghan tradition and passed down from her mother, while for Fico’s Federica Andrisani, they come from her Italian father. We speak to nine chefs about those life lessons and how they continue to influence them in the kitchen.

LOUIS TIKARAM

Stanley and La Mexicana, Brisbane

Cooking with my grandmother in Fiji always revolved around seafood – fish, prawns, mussels, etc. And of course, nothing is cleaned, peeled, gutted or scaled by your local fishmonger over there, so we would do everything ourselves in the laundry basin outside. For a huge family get-together, we would clean and fillet fish, and peel prawns for hours. Our hands would smell of seafood and often we would be pricked by some of the sharp spikes on the prawns and fish. My grandma would always wipe my hands with half a fresh lime, rubbing it into my palms and squeezing it all over my hands, followed by a wash with soap and water. The smell would immediately disappear and the wounds would never become infected. We still do this at Stanley, and whenever a chef is cutting lemon cheeks they save the offcuts for the team to help wash their hands in the kitchen.