Views from Australia

I went to Australia partly to find out what people there think about Indonesian food. They visit Bali by the planeload, and other islands in increasing numbers, but apparently without paying very much attention to what they are eating. Cherry Ripe, who writes about food in The Australian, told me: ‘It’s quite bizarre really, because we’re so close to Indonesia, yet Australia as a whole is largely unfamiliar with anything but the clichés, satay and gado-gado and nasi goreng; beyond that we don’t have a knowledge of Indonesian food.’ She thought this was something Australians should be ‘ashamed about’, but I really don’t see why; even in Indonesia itself, how are they supposed to learn? Peter Meier is chef-proprietor of the Casuarina restaurant in the Hunter Valley, and like many of Australia’s best cooks is deeply influenced by Thai and Vietnamese food. I asked him if he ever cooked Indonesian. ‘I can answer in one sentence: I don’t know enough about it. When I think Indonesian, it’s rijsttafel, and that’s really not what Indonesian food is about.’