Indigenous chef Mark Olive, of Dapto, has been cooking for more than three decades.
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The TV celebrity chef from The Outback Cafe, The Chef's Line and ABC's Message Stick is known for his charismatic creative approach to cooking. But now he's been given an opportunity to take his love of native ingredients a step further with a new line of ice-cream.
The Connoisseur Australian Native Collection is available in supermarkets and convenience stores across Australia.
Olive is passionate about giving native foods a greater profile in cooking generally and knew the significance of a range of ice-cream inspired by native ingredients.
Peters Ice Cream says the new Connoisseur collection champions local and unexpected flavours with distinctive tastes and texture. They include lemon myrtle, wattleseed and pink hibiscus.
Native flavours:
- WATTLESEED + HAZELNUT Stick: Roasted Australian wattleseed sauce swirled through creamy ice cream and coated in rich hazelnut white chocolate
- WILD HIBISCUS + BERRY Stick: A delicately floral hibiscus and berry coulis swirled through vanilla flavoured ice cream and coated in a uniquely pink hibiscus flavoured chocolate
- MACADAMIA + SPICED LIME Tub: Buttery, roasted Australian macadamias dusted in aromatic lemon myrtle with a zesty sauce of Australian native finger limes and ginger swirled through creamy vanilla flavoured ice cream
- BUSH HONEY + NOUGAT Tub: A deliciously sweet bush honey and spicy cinnamon myrtle sauce combined with chocolate coated nougat pieces swirled through a velvety caramel flavoured ice cream
- DAVIDSON PLUM + COCOA Tub: A delicate cocoa ice cream infused with a sweet & sour sauce featuring tart notes of Davidson Plum perfectly balanced with sweetness of a Caramelised Pear.
Peters' said it partnered with the renowned Dapto chef because of his years of experience and passion for fusing native flavours in an unexpected way. Olive was approached about the new Connoisseur Australian Native Collection 18 months ago and got involved because it will help people become more familiar with ingredients that are unique to Australia.
"I thought it was a really interesting intiiative. They got me to design three tubs and two sticks. I had a really good time developing them. We finalised it all at the beginning of the year and it was launched in August. Being from Dapto is where it all started with me foraging around here in the early 80's. There is a lot of native food around this region. I was exposed to a lot of ingredients growing up. Then I did my apprenticeship and thought why not mix them together and see how we go".
There is a lot of native food around this region. I was exposed to a lot of ingredients growing up.
- Mark Olive
Olive hopes his success will inspire and give many young indigenous people a platform to know they can do something similar. He enjoys being a role model and said being given this opportunity by Peters and talking to tourism leaders about further opportunities to showcase indigenous culture was really exiting.
He knows there are more indigenous chefs ready to step up.
Peters marketing head Andrea Hamori said the company was excited to champion local ingredients in a new and unexpected way by highlighting some new versatile and delicious flavours.
Olive will continue to take every opportunity to showcase native ingredients. He is attending an important outdoor forage of food event in Kangaroo Valley soon called WILDfest. The weekend of food, wine and nature will involve a Highland Valley Forage showcasing the story of how the Southern Highlands, Shoalhaven and the South Coast are connected.
Destination Sydney Surrounds South (DSSS), Destination NSW and Aboriginal Tourism see an opportunity for international and domestic visitor engagement. Greg Binskin said the have been working with the celebrity chef from Dapto to explore opportunities for tourists interested in sampling local native produce and indigenous cultural experiences close to Sydney.
WILDfest will include a beginners walk where participants enjoy an eight course degustation food and wine trail that taps into the culinary skills of Mark Olive, Hampden Deli, Dining and School's Nick Gardner and the team from Birch at Moss Vale.