In the cultural Thermomix that is Australia, it’s natural that we pick up a taste for flavours, techniques and ingredients that are integral to a place or a people not from our own background. A regular dinner rotation for most Australian homes these days will no doubt include anything from spaghetti Bolognese to schnitzel, kofte, stir-fry or udon noodles. So is it shocking for a Greek chef to be cooking some of the best pasta in Australia?
Andreas Papadakis, head chef and co-owner of Melbourne’s much celebrated pasta bar and says it’s a question he gets asked a lot. “For me, it’s not really an issue, but it’s a common question. People like to ask how is it that a Greek man is cooking really good Italian food,” he says.
David Thompson has made a career out of cooking globally celebrated Thai cuisine, so why not? Besides, for Papadakis, Greece isn’t a far stretch from Italy in terms of shared flavours and techniques, or even a cultural way of life. “I think that Greek and Italian food is a lot closer than, say, Spanish and Italian,” he reflects.
“But the simple answer is, I love pasta. More than most Italians – probably!” says Tipo 00's Papadakis. Source: Tipo 00
Growing up in Athens, the Papadakis family spent holidays on the Greek island of Crete, his father’s ancestral home.
“I grew up in Athens but we had most of our holidays in Crete at the family home with a stable and rabbits and fat chickens running around everywhere.”
Crete is very rich in terms of food, he tells me.
“I have memories as a child – mum would be making a salad in the kitchen and you could smell the cucumbers being sliced from all the way out in the yard where we were playing. Dad is a great hunter, and always comes back with a hare he’s shot, but he also collects wild snails. We feed them dry pasta for a few days to purify them before eating… that’s how much we love pasta – even our food eats it!”
Spaghettini, Lakes Entrance red mullet, saffron & fennel from Tipo 00. Source: Tipo 00
Later, travelling extensively through Italy as a teen and an adult, he was struck by the similarity between the sense of community, love of produce and emphasis on elegant yet simple food. “This approach drives my cooking, even now.”
“But the simple answer is: I love pasta. More than most Italians – probably!” he says, laughing about how shocked his Italian chefs are at the quantities of pasta the guy can put away. “It’s a very simple and comforting thing that we aim to do at Tipo. A glass (or bottle) of really good wine and a delicious, simple bowl of pasta.”
Does it get much better than that?
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361 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
