Mark Olive has been championing native ingredients for decades. The Bundjalung man has whipped up dishes featuring everything from saltbush to crocodile on TV cooking shows such as The Outback Cafe, and published a cookbook full of quintessentially Australian dishes. Last year, he opened his own restaurant – Midden, at Sydney Opera House, which puts Indigenous flavours front and centre.
Like many of the other celebrity chefs who have featured in this column, Olive says a good set of quality knives is essential for every kitchen. But there’s another, much cheaper item that he relies on even more. Here, the food figure tells us about the $6 cooking tool he can’t live without, and shares the stories of two other important objects.
