Luke and Samuel Bourke
ROCKPOOL BAR & GRILL AND ROSETTA, SYDNEY
You’re both part of the National Indigenous Culinary Institute program. What’s NICI all about?
Samuel: NICI is a three-year interactive program, which you come out of with a Cert III in Commercial Cookery. It brings Indigenous people into some of Australia’s top kitchens to learn from the best. Luke is at Rockpool Bar & Grill and I’m at Rosetta.
You’re twins. What drew you both to professional kitchens?
Samuel: These are the first kitchens we’ve cooked in. It’s scary to begin with – there’s a lot of pressure – but the mayhem, adrenaline and camaraderie create more passion.
What’s the best part of the job?
Luke: We regularly have suppliers delivering everything from David Blackmore wagyu to Port Phillip scallops. They talk to us about their produce and what’s happening in the industry. It’s a big insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
What dish are you loving just now?
Luke: At Bar & Grill, we’re doing a pesto bean salad mixing yellow, green and roman beans with pounded basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil. It’s simple and lets the beans shine.
How can indigenous ingredients gain a wider audience?
Samuel: I feel empowered to use ingredients that were used by my ancestors, but diners can be iffy about things that are unfamiliar to them. We need to put indigenous ingredients on menus more and get people talking about them. I recently used powdered lemonmyrtle leaf to make sorbet.
It’s aromatic with a subtle lemon-cordial taste.
You both graduate from NICI in March. What’s next?
Samuel: We’re both trying to gain as much knowledge as we can to be better chefs, then, down the track, we’ll open a place of our own. Something small and simple.
Rosetta, 118 Harrington St, Sydney, NSW, rosettarestaurant.com.au; Rockpool Bar & Grill, 66 Hunter St, Sydney, NSW, rockpool.com