APPLE ISLE MIX-MASTER

At The Agrarian Kitchen cooking school and its sister eatery in Tasmania, Rodney Dunn deftly fuses rustic and refined elements.

“Country cooking with a sophisticated edge” is how Rodney Dunn distils the ethos of The Agrarian Kitchen, his revered cooking school and respected eatery in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley. Along with his wife, Séverine Demanet, Dunn founded the educational facility in 2008, attracting scores of students eager for immersion in its seasonal, sustainable farm-based fare. Even the illustrious American chef Alice Waters once praised it as her “dream cooking school made real”. Only a year old, the associated restaurant is already regarded as a Tassie treasure.

As the recipes on these pages reveal, Dunn’s affinity for mixing pastoral and polished notes runs deep. Eggplant is steamed, not grilled or baked, an idea he gleaned from a Hong Kong native who visited the school. “We often get blinkered with certain vegetables,” Dunn says. Sweet capsicums are filled with salty brandade, a masterful blend of earth and sea. Meanwhile, sweetcorn soup combines comfort-food pleasure with a smidge of inventiveness. “Burning the chilli creates a smoky bitterness that rounds out the flavours without overpowering it,” he says.

Dunn blithely admits that relocating from the big smoke of Sydney to a rural town north of Hobart more than a decade ago has hardly simplified his life. He is now a father to two children, Tristan, 10, and four-year-old Chloe, as well as a farmer, educator, restaurateur and recipe developer. Chef Ali Currey-Voumard helms the eatery, where Dunn acts as a consultant and sous chef. He’s even found time to be a new Tasmanian judge for the 2018 delicious. Produce Awards. “Living here mirrors the flow of life,” he says, in reflection. “You cruise through the seasons. It’s idyllic.”