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Benjamin Christie has cooked-up a very successful culinary career focusing on Australian Cuisine. Christie began his career at the Watermark Restaurant in Sydney, Australia as a chef apprentice. Today he travels the world as a chef consultant & columnist for various publications including Dining Around Sydney magazine, Best Restaurants of Australia and Food Service News. Recently, Christie is one of the chef presenters on the TV series Dining Downunder along with chef Vic Cherikoff and chef Mark McCluskey. We recently got a chance to talk with Ben Christie in-between his busy schedule and get an insider look at the variety of possibilities that exist for people interested in pursing a culinary career.

Tell us about your career path. How did your career as a chef unfold?

Whilst at Cherrybrook Technology High School a new course was developed called Industry Studies in Cookery for the Higher School Certificate. At the time I was interested in food and I undertook the two-year course under the direction of Gillian Newell. I ended up coming second in the State and pursed an apprenticeship at the Watermark Restaurant on Balmoral Beach, Sydney, Australia

What sparked your interest to become a chef?

My first inspiration was my tutor and mentor, Kenneth Leung from The Watermark Restaurant whom taught me to not only cook, but to taste and experiment with various flavors. Kenneth has an amazing talent of mixing Asian flavours with the modern cookery styles in Australia.

My other inspiration was Australian Native Foods expert Vic Cherikoff whom discovered and commercialised the majority of native foods. It was only in the past few years that I have actually begun working with Vic and his in depth knowledge of ingredients, nutritional value and use knocks me over. I learn something new every time I work with Vic.

What is your culinary specialty and why did you choose it?

It would have to be my use of Native Australian ingredients in my cuisine. It’s only been in the last few years that I have had the opportunity to refine my knowledge and use of these exciting ingredients.

These indigenous ingredients that have been commercially produced and harvested specifically for use in restaurants, food service and the home kitchen. Native Australian ingredients include a range of spices, herbs, nuts, seeds and fruits. The most popular ingredients include Wattleseed, Riberries, Paperbark, Akudjura, Lemon Aspen, Native Pepperberries, Illawarra Plums, Kakadu Plums, Munthari Berries, Wild Rosella, Lemon Myrtle, Macadamia Nut Oil or Sugarbag Honey to name a few. There are also a number of products now available commercially which include native ingredients such as herb and spices, pastas, oils, spreads and sauces.

I enjoy working with these ingredients because there are very limited chefs around the world using them. Its rather rewarding teaching a chef that thinks he has seen every ingredient on the earth and then you show them something different and they start using them and suddenly its on their menu!

What makes Australian foods unique?

Australian Native ingredients are unique because they are ingredients that are specifically Australian and at present time are still grown in rather limited amounts. As demand increases farmers will increase crops, however some ingredients are still collected from the wild and thus supply is extremely limited. Apart from the limited supply, many of the ingredients are nutritionally beneficial, for example; The Kakadu plum which is found in Australia’s tropical north is the world’s highest fruit source of vitamin C. Whilst Wattleseed is high in protein, unsaturated fats and complex carbohydrates which appears to offer a protective role against diabetes and other diseases of civilisation.

How do you see this Australian Cusine making an impact throughout the world?

With the extensive amount of travel that I do, I am already starting to see the effect of Australian native ingredients on menus around the world. In my most recent trip I tasted Wattleseed Ice cream in the Netherlands, Paperbark smoked pork loin in The Czech Republic and Lemon Aspen Sorbet in Thailand.

As the industry progresses, it’s my feeling that the word “Australian” will be dropped and the ingredients will be come main stream, just like vanilla beans, star anise or white pepper.

How much time do you spend in the kitchen?

When I am not cooking overseas doing demonstrations and hotel promotions, I spend probably one day a week in a test kitchen refining recipes for the TV series, future cookbooks and for other publications. When doing hotel promotions for say a week, I am basically in the kitchen as soon as I step off the plane till the promotion is over.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef, what are some disadvantages?

How important are chef certifications, such as Executive Chef or Master Chef?

It is extremely important for Executive Chefs to be qualified and in other parts of the world the only form of education is on the job. Therefore young cooks learning on the job may pick up unhygienic practices and not understand the possible ramifications of their actions.

Also during the culinary education programme students not only learning cooking, but food science, hygiene, and work practices.

What are the best ways to find a job as a chef?

In Australia there are a few methods to find employment as a chef. These are online recruitment websites, newspapers, word of mouth and culinary agents.

Another method, which I used early in my career is find the restaurants or hotels that I wanted to work at. Then I sent my resume to them and nine times out of ten if you have a good background, the chef wont let you go with out brining you in for an interview. Kitchens always have high levels of job turn over.

How is the job market right now for culinary professionals?

After the Olympics the industry in Australia saw a great decline in the demand for chefs. However in the last 6 months I have seen in both Australia and the Asia Pacific region an increase in demand.

Good Australian chefs can find work easily anywhere in the world as we are taught such a diverse range of cuisines and apparently we have the attitude of “improvise, adapt and overcome”.

What predictions do you have for the culinary job market in the future?

I think that in the long-term hotels, resorts and restaurants will demand higher levels of education and much more experience from their chefs. Many in the industry think the total opposite that lower levels should be expected. However I have believed that it will come right around full circle, with consumers ultimately demanding higher standards when dining, even if it is casual food.

I have already seen one international hotel brand here in Australia go full circle from chefs in the kitchen to out of the bag right back to chefs back in the kitchen. The concept failed, because consumers walked!

What are advice would you give prospective students in the field of the culinary arts?

Be determined and keep focused. The industry can be very tough and often causes many to drop out. If I had my time around again, I’d do things the same again.

I guess the key to success is to find a well known chef whom is well regarded by the public eye. Learn as much as you can from them and watch their every move. Even now people still comment that I was trained by Kenneth Leung from the Watermark and because of that they know my standards are very high.

What are some your popular culinary specialties?

Most of my favorite dishes are on my website and I am continually adding to this all the time. Some of the dishes include; Australian Wildfire Spiced Wontons Lemon Aspen Sorbet Confit of Australian Red Desert Dust Salmon with sauté new potatoes & green beans Wattleseed Caffee Latte Gumleaf Scented Crème Caramel

What are some things you liked or disliked about your culinary education?

I literally disliked attending college in general, as the group of apprentices I was with were either not really interested in cooking or did it as they couldn’t get into the subject they wanted. I found that I learnt much more off Kenneth Leung who was trained in a 5 star hotel in Hong Kong. I still learn things off him.