Another Memory to Create: Neil Perry
Neil Perry is probably best known for his restaurant Rockpool — and the kitchen there has produced a generation of influential Australian chefs. In this interview from the Australian Culinary Archive he shares his obsession for produce and describes the rise of modern Australian cuisine which has created many memories for people during his 40-year career.
Julie Gibbs Why did you become a chef?
Neil Perry That was very organic, really. My father was a butcher. We used to have beautiful beef and lamb and a vegetable patch as well as fruit trees, choko vines and passionfruit vines. I’m probably one of the only people that loves curried choko, or choko with butter and pepper, because that’s all I knew, right?
Dad would say, ‘What do you think about that? How’s the taste?’ He’d cook Indian food with onions, garlic, ginger and spices. He loved Chinese cooking and we’d go to Chinese restaurants. He was a mad-keen fisherman, so breakfast when we were on holidays was just black fish, or garfish, or whatever, filleted, floured, pan-fried and on toast.
JG That’s where that produce obsession came from?
NP My whole career of being obsessed with produce was set up without me really realising it. I started front of house, but always loved cooking and reading every book from the three-star chefs, and driven by work ethic, by my parents but also by reading Great Chefs of France. It’s one of those books that diarises the life of a chef, what it’s like to work in a great restaurant, and the commitment.
I think it’s commitment of produce, of craft, to training, commitment to hours — and I didn’t have much interest in not leading. I always thought whether I was at school playing football or whatever I was doing, I was able to get people to follow me on a path.
