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Culinary Arts
Belle April/May 2010
Tanya Buchanan Photos Jeremy Simons
It's not often that you get the chance to have Australia's greatest living painter advise you on the finer points of cooking - in particular. how to make a paella - but that's exactly what happened when I spoke with Dr John Olsen A0 about hisnew exhibition, Culinaria. The show, which opened at son Tim Olsen's Woollahra gallery on March 2, is a series of works celebrating John's well-known passion for food that began when he lived and worked in Majorca in the 1950s.
Seeing the paintings prompted Belle to ask another fan of Mediterranean cuisine, and one of Sydney's up-and-coming young chefs, Jonathan Bartheimess, to use three of John's works as inspiration, and create the dishes and recipes to match.
Jonathan was happy to oblige and got to work after a long talk with the legendary artist. "Like John I have been influenced by Mediterranean cooking and I believe in stripping everything back to the best produce. I loved the opportunity to create peasant style dishes, as John refers to them. using his art as inspiration," said Jonathan.
When John Olsen left Australia for Europe in the 50s. Australia's culinary offerings were pretty dire. "When I left I didn't know anything about food, like most of the population. Any chance to be influenced by other cultures was eclipsed by the tyranny of distance. Most of our food was a misinterpretation of English cooking which could fill you with horror. The meat had to be as hard as cardboard with grey vegies - chops were grilled to a cinder," he recalls. However, the discovery of Elizabeth David's classic cookbook Meditermnean Food, and his work as a sous-chef in Majorca while pursuing his art instilled a lifelong appreciation of cooking and sharing food.
"When I arrived in Barcelona I visited a market called the Boqueria where I saw whole chickens that had been soaked in saffron, and a huge snapper suspended on strings. It was surreal. It was Salvador Dali. I had never seen aubergines, green or red peppers. It was amazing." explains Jpohn. "I've never been enthralled with haute cuisine. The kind of food I cook and am interested in came our of peasant society. Shared plates of food on the table with company you enjoy are the best meals," he says.
And just for the record, John's cooking lessons involve not drinking too much during the process, especially when making his beloved paella. "Yes, if you drink too much it spoils the system. Having said that. with Jonathan's bouillabaisse I would drink a big white wine such as an oaked chardonnay from the Margaret River or Mclaren Vale or a mature riesling.
Although John has had his recipes included in such books as "The Artist's Lunch" by Alice McCormick and his biography, Drawn from Life, he has never considered publishing his own recipe collection. However, visitors to the Culinaria exhibition will be treated to some of his cooking secrets when they peruse the catalogue. "I am writing an introduction about my experience with food and I will include some recipes, including the paella," he says.
And what to drink with the paella? "Whacko - whatever you lie. Go in boots and all! In summer, a chilled beaujolais or rose would be great - but a good one - you need one that is very dry," says John.
Our chat is winding up as the artist has lots of work to do. "I am still pain for the show. I have to go and cook a barbecue so I can paint it. Australian always think they are masters of the barbecue and are so ohn not. All the pain have to be finished very soon. One is a memory of a butcher's shop in Majorca and of course there will be paella."