Get To Know: Jess Butler
20/06/2018
We chatted to ex Masterchef AU 2017 contender, Jess Butler about how she’s using our native Australian ingredients.
Here’s what she had to say!
How do you best describe your cooking style?
Inventive and decadent- I like to try new flavour combinations and pair unexpected ingredients. Food should be fun and creative.
Name a career highlight in your journey so far
Cooking for Ben Shewry (owner and head chef at Attica restaurant) on MasterChef last year was a pivotal moment for me. We share a love for native Australian ingredients and to cook with them for him was in incredible opportunity. When he told me that I made an inventive dish that was an explosion of flavour I had to remind myself I wasn’t dreaming!
In terms of local produce, what are you loving right now?
It’s a great season at the moment for citrus, mandarins are sorely underrepresented in exciting dishes but they are just as fantastic in a fine dining dish as they are in a packed lunch.
What’s your favourite native Australian ingredient to cook with and why?
My first love will always be lemon myrtle, when I discovered it in the garden on MasterChef and used it many times after that. I love how unique it is with its herbaceous citrus zing and is so versatile in sweet and savoury cooking.
- What do you love most about cooking?
I’ve always loved the way food brings people together. It has an unspoken power to nourish, excite, heal and inspire like nothing else can.