Sydney Seafood School celebrates 20 years

Sydney Seafood School is celebrating its 20th birthday

When the Sydney Seafood School opened on 31^st October 1989, the NSW fishing fleet caught plenty of whiting, bream, snapper and flathead to supply the local market. But in doing so, they also netted a fair amount of octopus, squid, red mullet, crabs, mussels and other species unfamiliar to the home cook. At that time, many people were mostly unknowledgeable and unadventurous when cooking seafood. Sydney Seafood School was established to demonstrate how easy it is to prepare a wide variety of seafood species at home, and so help create demand for this largely untapped wealth from Australian waters.

Seafood is still its focus, and there’s no longer any need to convince most people to try cooking with mussels, octopus or crabs; in fact abalone, sashimi, pipis and sea-snails don’t daunt many of the food-savvy cooks who fill classes most weekday evenings and weekends. Broader contemporary tastes now see a range of Asian cookery classes included on the program.

While we’ve evolved, over the years we’ve also grown through education from many of Australia’s leading chefs, through classes at the cookery school. Chef Peter Doyle (now Executive Chef of est. restaurant) appeared on the first program with a class entitled “Christmas Entertaining with Seafood” on 5 December 1989 and will be teaching on the School’s 20^th anniversary program on 8 February 2010. Master Sushi Chef Hideo Dekura, who taught his first “Understanding Sushi & Sashimi” class on 31 January 1990, still conducts regular Sushi & Sashimi Workshops at the School (next on 30 January 2010), and Seafood Barbecue, also on the first program, is now the School’s most popular class, filling 6-8 times a month (although the recipes have changed a little over the years).

The 20^th anniversary program which runs from November to February reads like a Who’s Who of Australian chefs.

David Thompson (pictured above right in the original Sydney Seafood School) a regular on the School’s program of classes before he relocated to London to open Michelin-starred restaurant Nahm, is back in town to conduct three classes based around his new book, Thai Street Food, while Cheong Liew, hailed as the ‘father of fusion’ is visiting from The Grange Restaurant in Adelaide to present a class showcasing his unique cuisine. Tetsuya Wakuda (archive photo above left) and Neil Perry, who rarely conduct cooking classes, were more than happy to make an exception to help the Seafood School celebrate this milestone birthday. The list goes on with Justin North, Matthew Moran, Guillaume Brahimi, Peter Gilmore, Christine Manfield and Peter Kuruvita all conducting classes in November.

Janni Kyritsis, previously of MG Garage and Berowra Waters Inn and now semi-retired, just can’t stay out of the kitchen. He’s been a behind-the-scenes consultant on the School’s recent renovation and, always keen to mentor young chefs, is conducting a class in November with his ex-sous chef Lauren Murdoch, now at Ash Street Cellar.

“When Janni suggested doing a class together with Lauren, it started me thinking,” says Roberta Muir, who’s managed the School for the past 12 years. “One of the great things about the Australian hospitality industry is the camaraderie between chefs, so for our February program we’re running a series of ‘double act’ guest chef workshops. Giovanni Pilu from Pilu at Freshwater and George Francisco from Jonah’s are kicking it off. They’re both northern beaches boys who’ve relocated from overseas and cook by combining a little of their homeland with the best Aussie produce. They’re good mates and are very excited about teaching a class together.”

Other double acts in February include Damien Pignolet with Jason Roberts (who was his Executive Chef at Bistro Moncur before leaving to pursue an international career); Chui Lee Luk (Claude’s) and Melbourne chef/food historian Tony Tan, who come together over a common love for Southeast Asian food; and two of the founders of CIRA (the Council of Italian Restaurants in Australia), Armando Percuoco (Buon Ricordo) and Lucio Galletto (Lucio’s). Other chefs joining in the celebrations in February are Peter Doyle from est. (who also appeared on the School’s inaugural program in 1989), Mark Best from Marque and Mark Jensen from Red Lantern.

A trawl through the School’s archives also reveals recipe kits for classes by Damien Pignolet, Owner-Chef of Claude’s (and also a presenter on the 20^th anniversary program); Tony Bilson, Owner-Chef of Bon Gout; and Philip Searle, Owner-Chef of Oasis Seros.

The 20^th Anniversary November – February program of classes and latest FISHline News can be viewed at www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au.