2:49p.m. 21st August 2008

| Renee Anderson

Bush foods expert Peter Wolfe conducts cooking classes at Eumundi Markets each Wednesday and hosts cooking tours to Vietnam. Photo: Nicholas Falconer/177522

For Peter Wolfe, learning about bush foods has been a transition from smoky black walls as a chef to a pristine outlook in his own commercial kitchen on his hinterland farm.

Many people dream of opening their own business, leaving the office behind, no longer answering to the demands of another.

This is exactly why Peter started Cedar Creek Farm Bush Foods – to get a break from working for other people and to use his own creativity.

After spending 35 years as a chef and working around Noosa for the past 25 years, Peter, with the help of his wife Shauna, decided to follow his passion for native foods and create an innovative, small business to educate people on the unique and fresh produce found in Australia.

“As a chef, you get bored with cooking the same things,” he said.

“It’s nice with Australian native foods – you can actually find ingredients people haven’t used before.”

Some of these unique ingredients – ranging from lemon myrtle, macadamia bush spice, Tasmanian mountain pepper berries and bush salad dressing – are fast becoming staple products for Coast cooking enthusiasts at the Eumundi Markets each week.

“We have a good local base, the tourists are interested, but the locals are who we see every week,” Peter said. “The fact we get returned business is really good.

“The markets are a great business incubator. They allow me to find which products sell, which products don’t.”

Along with a large selection of fresh oils, herbs and spices, Peter has an array of ruby blush grapefruits, meyer lemons and blood oranges on offer, but it’s his roasted macadamia and four spice mix which is capturing attention.

“I don’t know of anyone who has a spice base with only native products – most are blends with European or Asian spices,” he said.

“I’m using ingredients which have been in Australia for thousands of years.”

Peter is also dabbling with exotic Australian meats such as crocodile and kangaroo.

“I use them for festivals and a fair bit of private catering,” he said. “I will be using the meats for a large Landcare convention this year, with the main gala dinner all on Australian native foods.”

Peter’s tips and tricks on using local produce are displayed at the Eumundi Markets in a free interactive cooking lesson every week, which is attracting a large audience.

With his charismatic attitude, Peter is quick to educate the audience on the benefits of local and organic produce by passing around samples, answering questions and even sharing a laugh.

“With bush foods, nothing is genetically modified,” he said.

“They are low in animal fats, higher in vitamin C and you get the natural intense flavours.”

All of the produce used in the cooking lessons is sourced from the Eumundi Markets, which allows the audience to discover products such as macadamia oil.

“Macadamia oil is my passion; you can use it for frying, salads dressing and even massage oil,” Peter said. “Unlike blended oils, it handles the heat and is good for frying, is flavoursome, plus an Australian product.

“I really push the point of using local and Australian wherever possible.”

Along with his entrenched interest in native products, Peter recently went on a trip to Vietnam which inspired him to create a fusion dish at the cooking class called “east west crepes”. This delicious concoction is a savoury version of the crepe with flavours of crisp mint, coconut milk, lemon myrtle and lime, filled with the unlikely combination of carrot, onion and banana, which surprisingly blends well together.

Peter’s love of Vietnam captured the attention of Maggie Shalhoub from Live It Travel while she was participating at one of his cooking classes, resulting in Maggie developing a Vietnam Taste It Tour escorted by Peter.

“Peter, with his bush foods and unusual foods, wants to take people to Vietnam to not only taste all the foods, but to experience the bizarre foods and get involved with the village culture,” Maggie said.

Peter will be taking an intimate group on a 10-day culinary adventure tour in October and March, for hands-on experience from the cheapest street food in Hanoi to imperial fine dining in Ho Chi Minh City.

Peter’s free cooking classes at Eumundi Markets are 10 and 11am every Wednesday in the food and produce precinct. For information on Peter’s private cooking classes with Max Porter, phone 0401 200 609; or booking information on the Vietnam Taste It Tour, phone 5477 6120.