Josh Niland, chef & restaurateur, 34: Q&A

Chef Josh Niland wants fishers and fishmongers to follow his ‘nose to tail’ philosophy. But, are we really ready for fish eye ice cream?

Mission: Josh Niland. Picture: Rob Palmer

Whole fish cookery – even down to using fish eyes for gelatine in desserts – is something of an obsession for you. Should we be trying this in our own home kitchens? The ambition is actually more that the industry introduces the practice of using the whole fish, so that home cooks and people who love good food have more options to buy from stores. We challenge convention at our restaurants to motivate those who work with fish daily in the industry. Why can’t we make the most delicious and texturally complementary ice cream from the vitreous humour of a fish eye rather than the egg of a chicken? An ice cream doesn’t taste like chicken, and neither does our fish eye ice cream taste like fish.

As head chef of Saint PeterandPetermen, as well as the owner of Fish Butchery, you have always placed fish at the heart of your kitchen. What is it about seafood that inspires you? My inspiration lies with this philosophy I have that a fish has far more value than its fillets. Apply the principles of meat-butchery-based preparation to fish, and it realises a far greater yield. If that is not motivating or inspiring from both an economic and ethical standpoint then I’m not sure what is.

Why do you think so many people are afraid of cooking fish at home? Bones, scales, odours, a lack of cookery knowledge. Those would be the main points of fear for home cooks and the only way to remove that aspect of fear is if the places we buy our fish from are arming you with the most suitable species, or giving you advice on the most suitable method, for what it is you want to cook.

Do you feel your message of sustainability is getting through or are you depressed when you read and hear about the state of the oceans? I do feel frustrated at times. There are over a billion people in the world who rely on the consumption of fish to sustain their livelihood and I have a small voice in a marketplace that demands quantity over quality, but the solution is not to stop eating fish. We’re trying to create tangible, actionable habits for the industry to follow. If we can demonstrate that there’s luxury and value to the entire fish, then there will be fish in our future. I’m optimistic.

How can the average person do their bit for ocean health and sustainability? The average person needs to see wild fish as a luxury and a finite resource to respect. Understand where your fish is from and understand how best to work with it. An important part of this conversation is also about remunerating the fishers who are choosing to raise the standards of how fish are caught and processed. We all want to eat more “sustainably” or choose a fish that we know is of a better standard, but are we willing to pay for the true cost of that?

You are all set to move Saint Peter into new premises at Paddington’s Grand National Hotel in Sydney’s inner east. What can people expect from that project? The project is due to be handed over in October. A due date doesn’t have a pin in it as yet, but we hope to see it open in summer. The team will work from an open kitchen, there’s a glass atrium-style roof in the dining room, a private dining room and upstairs we’ll have 14 boutique rooms. My wife Jules and I couldn’t be more excited. The opportunity to extend Saint Peter’s hospitality into accommodation will be amazing.