Rescu. bails up celebrity chef, Tobie Puttock, from his duties at Melbourne’s 2009 Organic Expo to talk about his stint in Italy and why we should cook with organic produce.
With a couple of top rating television shows, two cookbooks, a monthly magazine column in Delicious magazine and some prestigious restaurant awards under his belt, Tobie Puttock is easily one of Australia’s best-known foodie faces. And he has the CV to back it up too; with stints at world-famous River Café (where he met good pal Jamie Oliver), Hotel Florence on Lake Como in Italy, Melbourne institution Caffe e Cucina, as well as his own awarded Italian restaurant Termini, this celebrity chef certainly knows his stuff when it comes to food and cooking.
And his passion doesn’t stop there; Tobie is probably best known for is his Melbourne based fine-diner-with-heart, Fifteen Restaurant. On returning to Melbourne after four years as head chef of Fifteen Restaurant in London – an altruistic venture created by Jamie Oliver to help under-privileged youths become chefs – Tobie took up the challenge and opened another Fifteen Restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD. That was in 2006, and today he continues to help between fifteen and twenty under-privileged Australian youths become qualified chefs every year.
Rescu: What do you love about home cooking?
Tobie Puttock: Preparing and eating food with your family is a fantastic way to connect and share what’s gone on during your day. Cooking can also be very therapeutic and a great way to unwind after a hard day.
Rescu: You lived in Italy for a while. Do Europeans have a different philosophy to food?
Tobie Puttock: For sure. Food seems to have a far more important role in day-to-day life. I think there’s a lot to be learnt from the European way of life and eating. What did you learn there? It really changed my whole outlook and approach to the way I live today. It was amazing to spend time with families over the years in Italy. I’ve had the privileged of making things like salami – things like that almost feel ceremonial at times.
Rescu: Why do you think people eat junk food when there’s so much great food out there?
Tobie Puttock: Everybody seems to be short of time these days and one of the most common things I hear is that people just don’t have time to find good produce let alone cook it.
Rescu: What can we do to improve the quality of food we eat?
Tobie Puttock: When I am not in the kitchen I often go to market, like Prahran market in Melbourne. The best way to find good produce is to talk to people who work within the industry. Royce Hagen at Prahran Market in Melbourne has amazing biodynamic meats and I’ll often let him tell me what to buy.
Rescu: If we could buy only one organic element, would you recommend buying meat, poultry, fruits or vegies?
Tobie Puttock: Probably meat or poultry because I think the flavour strongly benefits from the natural goodness organic farming provides.
Tobie Puttock was a key speaker at the Organic Expo in Melbourne 24-26 July 2009. You can experience Tobie Puttock’s talent at Fifteen Restaurant in Melbourne.