The Cook and the Chef

Fusion Food (4x3)

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This Week Simon and Maggie marvel at the British success in putting their own stamp on a Pakistani curry and then celebrate the cross-cultural cuisine of Australia’s own "Father Of Fusion" Cheong Liew. Cuisines from different cultures have been influencing each other from the time that people and food have crossed borders. Indeed cultural fusion is part of the evolution of cuisines where historically people have borrowed methods and ingredients or adapted their own dishes to suit new environments. In the 1970's "Fusion" cuisine took on a new meaning as a group of well travelled chefs deliberately set out to combine cuisines and define them in such terms as "East meets West", "New World" or "Fusion". Chefs, like Australia's Cheong Liew were motivated to combine cuisines in the pursuit of flavour with some fantastic results, but some attempts by others lacked integrity and resulted in what the critics called "confusion". Fusion cuisine has tended to thrive in countries like Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand where a variety of fresh produce is available, where there tends not to be a strong historical food tradition and where people have adventurous palates. According to Cheong Liew Australia meets all the criteria and the lack of boundaries allows chefs to let their imaginations run wild. Simon's first contact with cross-cultural cuisine was the Balti curry. Originating in Northern Pakistan it made its way to Birmingham, England with Pakistani migrants who, from the 1950's to the 1970's, set up little cafes called Balti Houses. The Balti quickly became the curry you had after a night out and a few beers. Already a melting pot of regional influences the British claimed the curry as their own and to accommodate the British taste it was often (and still is) served with chips. In the kitchen Simon makes a delicious corn Balti. The spice base includes, ginger, garlic turmeric, coriander and garam masala making for an extremely flavoursome curry. Simon serve