Short order: Scott Fox, Pearls on the Beach, NSW Central Coast
Scott Fox is head chef and owner of Pearls on the Beach, on the NSW Central Coast.
Best recent dining experience: Moon Park in Redfern. Bang-on with food, design, wine and sake list.
Must-buy ingredient: I’m on a bit of a cocoa nib thing at the moment. I love the acidic cleanliness of fresh ground nibs; we use them in ice cream, even sprinkled over a lovely, grilled, grass-fed Cape Grim sirloin seasoned with house-smoked salt.
Most embarrassing pantry item: There are many! I recently purchased my first jars of Bonox and Bovril.
Can’t live without: My wife would say without hesitation ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches. I’d be a bit more general and say good-quality bread; I’m a sucker for carbs.
What I’m cooking at home: Meals at home are fairly basic. We load up on fruits and veg on our weekends. Loads of steamed veg and some grilled protein; it’s boring, but that’s what you crave when you don’t have it for the rest of the week.
Next big thing: I think the cuisines from South America are on the rise. We are familiar with Mexican food, but Peru, Chile and Argentina produce some wonderful exciting flavour profiles that fit really well with the Australian climate and way of life.
I hate: I’m not a big lover of cooked oily fish. I love sashimi and will eat it ’til the cows come home, but sear it and it just does nothing for me. Other than that little quirk, I’m pretty easily pleased. If someone else is doing the work, I’m happy with a Vegemite sandwich.
Favourite cuisine: Hard one to limit to one choice. We go overseas every second year and our travels are always about food and wine … maybe Japanese. We have been to Japan a few times now; it’s one of the few vacation destinations from where we come home lighter and feeling more healthy than when we left.
Worst meal I ever ate: Airline food is always average. Sorry, Neil, I haven’t travelled first class.
Biggest culinary influence: I’m mostly self-taught with what we do. My wife, Melissa, has a great palate and is very inspirational to our menu development.
Favourite cookbook: I have been cooking North African and Middle Eastern food for quite some time now, and the works of Yotam Ottolenghi, Greg and Lucy Malouf and the legendary Claudia Roden always seem to be within reach when I need some inspiration.
My last supper: It really wouldn’t matter what we ate as long as I was with friends and family … however, a 12-hour slow-cooked pork shoulder with beer mustard and red cabbage slaw wouldn’t be so bad.