‘You’d be horrified’: Nagi Maehashi dishes the dirt on RecipeTin Eats

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. Nagi Maehashi, 45, is the voice, cook and photographer behind RecipeTin Eats, a cookbook and Australian food blog with a devoted worldwide following. She also founded the food charity RecipeTin Meals.

“My parents would point out that a farmer had harvested each grain by hand. Respect that. Eat everything.” Credit: James Brickwood

RELIGION

When you were growing up, what did your family believe in, generally? Food wastage was a huge thing in my family. We were pretty poor growing up: you’d get a bowl of rice and be told you had to eat every single grain. My parents would point out that a farmer had harvested each grain by hand. Respect that. Eat everything.

What are your commandments for good cooking? To relax and not overthink it. Don’t get too hung up on following a recipe. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, given what I do, but if you go into a recipe and you’re stressed about perfection and making everything just so, you get all tense and overthink it. That’s when you make mistakes. I always just look forward to what I’m gonna eat at the end. If you’ve got your eye on the prize, it’s amazing how different your attitude is. It makes it more fun because you know you’ve got this great thing that you’re working towards.

Have you had any food experiences that have been close to a religious experience? If I say that the ultimate grilled cheese is a religious experience, I feel like I’m undermining and disrespecting religion! [Laughs] I think a really good grilled cheese sandwich is worthy of worship, sometimes.

One hundred per cent. Gruyère, parmesan and mozzarella is the ultimate combination.

Complete this sentence. Other people go to church, I go … Straight to the kitchen.

SEX

What food would you recommend for date night? How about this: pull-apart lamb shanks in red wine sauce. Meat around a shaft, falling off the bone … [Laughs] Don’t read anything into that, Ben.

Okay … And never have anything too garlicky! Lamb shanks, red wine sauce: it’s excellent because it’s not too garlicky. Stay away from raw garlic in salad dressings for date night as well. Vietnamese food, Thai food – don’t go there on a first date. Japanese food, yes; it’s not strong on garlic.

A cleaner palate? [Nods] But for me, the perfect first-date place is a steakhouse. A big slab of red meat, cooked perfectly.

You know, inadvertently, you’re actually writing your dating profile … [Laughs] That’s so funny: “I just want a hunk of meat.”

We’re not even talking about food any more, are we? You would be horrified at some of the conversations we have here [at RecipeTin Eats]. One of our key tools in the kitchen is a tape measure. Crispy eggplant is a signature recipe. We send my assistant to the shops and say we need a 20-centimetre, perfectly shaped eggplant. Or it could be zucchini, or cucumber. [Laughs] The beef tenderloin was the best one …

At least 10 inches or go home? One kilo, 22 centimetres long, with a girth of 15 centimetres. We actually made the butcher measure it. It’s the most hilarious photo ever. Measuring the girth was the best part. The word “girth” gets thrown around a lot here.

RecipeTin Eats might be, in some people’s minds, a wholesome destination for food. What you’re revealing here is a reservoir of smut. Bunch of filthy minds, that’s what we are.

Wait, did we even touch on dessert? For dessert, it’s gotta be chocolate-covered strawberries. It’s so easy to do. You literally make it and put it in the fridge ahead of time. You don’t want anything too messy, and you don’t want anything too filling. Nobody wants to feel bloated after too much cream and chocolate at the end of the night, right?

POLITICS

When it comes to the politics of food, what do you think we should be mindful of when we’re at the supermarket and in the kitchen? I have a big thing about respecting food that an animal has died to produce. It’s very hard because I have to walk the line of affordability and accessibility while trying to communicate the message of respecting the source of the food. For example, eggs. There’s no question: free-range is the baseline. With meat, get what you can afford, but the better the quality – yes, it’s gonna cost more – the tastier it will be. I’m no preacher of sustainability, but this is a message I like to push subtly.

Why? Part of it is just social responsibility. And the upside is, the happier the animal, the tastier the meat. I know this to be true. I remember when I did a standing rib roast. Standing rib is the most expensive cut of beef – the crème de la crème. Before I published the recipe, I did quite a bit of testing. I bought dry-aged ribs from my butcher, standard ribs from somewhere else, and cheap ribs from a supermarket. Then I cooked them all using the same recipe. The difference between the free-range premium one versus the cheap one – grass-fed versus grain-fed – was like night and day. Unbelievable.

When was the last time you changed your mind? I change my mind every day. I say “sorry” multiple times. I get proven wrong a lot and I’m quick to admit it. I might have been doing something the same way all my life, thinking it’s the best way. Then someone will come along and say, “Try it this way.” And, oh god, it’s life-changing.

[e-mail]

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.