Surfer, qualified lifeguard, marine biologist - and of course one of Australia’s most-loved chefs.
Hayden has been disarming the nation recipe by recipe since his tv debut on Master Chef in 2011. Hayden can muck-in with the best of them … rounding up sheep, catching crayfish, diving for abalone, pulling up marron pots, baking bread and now doing it dressed in some of our I&P staples.
We spent 5 minutes getting to know Hayden a little bit better…
How did your career in food start? I have always loved food and cooking and have been around cooking my whole life via my mum but the “career” i guess kicked off off the back of me being on MasterChef way back in 2011 (which feels like a wildly long time ago now!). Today it is all about telling stories through food and creating recipes that are fun, packed full of flavour and most importantly achievable for the home cook and I get to do this pretty much every week through my TV show Taste of Australia which is on Ch10 each Sat + Sun at 4:30pm
Does anyone in your family cook? If so - what is your favourite thing they make? Mum cooks a lot, love her big salads, Jax cooks constantly - my fav of her’s is her pastas. Dad runs the pizza oven and the rest fend for themselves hahaha
Must have pantry staple? Dried Shitake Mushrooms
Favourite cooking tool? And why? Box grater - lots of uses, sweet, savory, textures - the whole bit!
Do you have a favourite cookbook? What’s the most cooked recipe from it? The cook book of the minute is Lanka Food by O Tama Carey of Lankan Filling Station in Sydney. Most cooked recipe would have to be the Cabbage Mallung.
Friends have popped over unannounced - what’s on the menu? Dhal - cause I always have everything I need to make a dhal in the house, plus its cheap, you can make a LOT of it and it’s always packed with flavour.
Favourite dessert: Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream
It's the holiday season - what’s your favourite cocktail? Filthy Martini
Best place in your city to eat? I am going to go local to Manly: best casual spot: Jipang, best Mexican: Chica Bonita, best Italian: Busta, best brunch / lunch: Norma’s, best cold beer: my balcony haha
Best food instagram accounts I follow… here are a couple: @rosiemackeanpastaqueen @kittycoles @brad_leone @crispyegg420 @lauriesfoodanddrink
Favourite music to cook with… Action Bronson
I chose the Workwear Jacket because… the "shacket" is awesome, nice and oversize, strong feeling fabric and perfect to layer with other items – I can see this being a staple when we are out on the road filming Taste of Australia during the colder months.
I’ll be wearing it… with the Armor Lux Heritage Stripe T-Shirt to layer during the colder times.
Follow Hayden and his recipes on instagram here.
