Page 47 - Tropic Magazine Issue 35

TROPIC • TROPIC TASTE

Five interesting things in
Mark’s home pantry

1 Shio koji – a Japanese
paste used for seasoning/
marinating

2 Fermented chilli

3 Coconut amino – like soy sauce

4 Kaffir lime from the garden

5 An abundance of potato chips – essential!

The menu is a unique mix of Australian What’s your favourite dish +
and Asian-inspired food, with local drink pairing on the menu?
Indigenous flavours front and centre. That’s a tough one! We have a shared style
How does this all work in harmony? dinner, perfect for couples, families and
We are fortunate to be located in the friends travelling together. My favourite
exotic Daintree food bowl and our combination is the tamarind-glazed
local ingredients are similar to those beef short ribs with mint, fried chickpea
found in Pan-Asian countries. I aim to panisse with galangal aioli and pea shoot,
highlight these native flavours while and a chef garden salad with shallots,
taking influence from traditional First palm and lemon. To drink, Oliver’s
Nations techniques and methods that Taranga Shiraz.
have incorporated these ingredients for
centuries, before giving it all a modern/ Where do you go for food inspiration?
Marky twist. This ultimately delivers a During my yachting years where I seldom
fresh spin on something that has been repeated anything, I would have to create
tried and tested successfully. menus based on what country we
were in. I did have a top-of-the-line galley
How do you make separate elements with all the toys and my boss, who was
stand out when your dishes are so a foodie, encouraged me to experiment.
detailed? This period really changed my perception
Many of our dishes have components of food and approach to creating dishes,
including ferments that take months to and I built an understanding of many
achieve the desired flavour and result. international ingredients.
Where usually these elements would just I began to create an arsenal of flavour
be another piece on the plate, we take the
extra effort to highlight ingredients so profiles, combinations and recipes, and
that they sing on their own but still hold watching that evolve over the last 20 years
the overall flavour profile we set out to has been a career highlight. Ultimately, it
achieve for the dish. is the ingredient that inspires me,
especially when it’s harvested from MORE: silkyoakslodge.com.au/dine
my own kitchen garden.

47 • tropicnow.com.au