Christine Manfield: Spicing It Up Down Under Dubbed the Spice Queen of Australia, Sydney Chef-Operator Christine Manfield embraces her country's culinary awakening with an artful, complex - even aggressive - blend of flavors. By Nancy Ross Ryan

Known as the high priestess of contemporary cooking in Sydney, Christine Manfield is chef-partner with Margie Harris in Paramount Restaurant, opened in 1993. Paramount is to Sydney as Charlie Trotter's is to Chicago, Jean Georges Vongerichten's restaurant Jean Georges is to New York City, and Thomas Keller's French Laundry is to San Francisco. But what makes her a hot topic for chefs and restaurateurs in all segments is her mastery of spice. Her latest cookbook, Spice (Viking Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Victoria, Australia, 1999), is all about flavor -- from leaves, seeds, roots, and fruits, to flowers, kernels, bark and even sap -- and using it to transform food. We recently sat down with her at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago to talk about flavor trends and their impact on her native cuisine. Q: We keep hearing that people in general today are hungry for more intense flavors in food, not just hot peppers but the kind of variety and complexity that can only be provided by the use of spice. A: The foundation of my cooking is the use of spices and associated flavorings. Used with a deft hand, spices can be subtle -- or complex. Today the array of spices available is dazzling! Q: Your third and most recent cookbook, Spice, couldn't be better timed to coincide with this current trend. But cookbooks aren't written and published overnight. How did this one come about? A: After years of cooking, eating, reading and traveling. Travel has been a prime motivating force behind my interest in food and wine, and to be surrounded by foreign languages, tastes, aromas is exciting. It broadens my perspective and opens my mind to new interpretations. Aussie Revolution Q: No, offense meant, but spice is not the first thing that springs to mind at the mention of Australian cuisine. A: Yes, Australian cooking in general had very little to do with spice until recent times. Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century cooking manuals used in Australia reveal a basic spice collection of only about twelve spices, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, caraway and black pepper. Q: Not very exotic or exciting, but pretty much like the American spice shelf at the turn of the century. But you wouldn't know it to look at American restaurant menus today. Has Australia gone through a similar culinary revolution? A: Similar in many ways. Australia and America both are celebrations of diversity. Our immigration policies have had a radical, positive effect on our eating habits and everything that defines our food culture. We have adopted so-called foreign foodstuffs and cooking methods and made them our own. And over the past few decades, Australian chefs, cooks and writers have made major contributions that have changed the general perception of Australian cuisine as "prawns on the barbie" and "meat pies." We have such a diverse climate -- we can grow anything. And we get ingredients from all over the world -- not just Europe but we are so close to Asia. Q: In your cookbook you depart from the traditional categories of 'herbs and spices' and, instead, group 'spices and aromatics" very differently. A: That's because the first step should be to become familiar with the taste and smell of each spice variety and how it works in cooking. So I place them into categories of: Flowers(for example, capers, cloves); Berries(allspice, pepper, juniper); Seeds(anise, annatto basil, caraway, dill, fennel, mustard); Fruits(barberries, cardamon, cayenne pepper, chilies, dried citrus peel, paprika, star anise, tamarind, vanilla beans); Kernels(nutmeg, mahleb); Roots(horseradish, wasabi, liquorice); Rhizomes(galangal, ginger); Leaves(bay, coriander, curry, lemongrass); Arils(mace, saffron); Bark(cinnamon, cassia); Sap(asafoetida, mastic.) Q: Your restaurant, Paramount, is in Sydney. Why did you choose Sydney over say, Melbourne, another major city. A: Sydney is more cosmopolitan -- more like New York or Paris. Melbourne is much more English -- more like London. Form Follows Function Q: Is it true that you don't believe in using a lot of garnishes with your dishes? A: I don't believe that non-edible garnishes belong on a plate and I think that garnishes are superfluous. Everything should be intrinsic to the dish and the flavors and textures should be integrated so that you get a little of everything in every bite. Q: When I looked at your menu I saw some flavorings still not common in the States, for example tamarind and masala. Tamarind glazed pork and a green masala tomato sauce. A: Tamarind is a single flavor and masala is a blend. Tamarind comes from India, from tamarind tree pods, which contain seeds and a sticky, dark brown pulp that is dried. In cooking -- sauces, curries, soups, fish and poultry -- it gives a fruity, sweet-sour flavor. Masala is a spice mix, actually there are many masalas, from India. I make a green masala paste (among others) for sauces. Freshness Counts Q: You talk a lot about the importance of freshness in spices. A: In general whole spices stay fresh longer than ground spices, so I recommend purchasing them in small quantities, whole, and grinding them as need to release their aroma. Smell and color are good tests of freshness. If a spice smells musty, discard it. It will only leave a dusty, weak taste in your food. You can grind whole spices by hand with a mortar and pestle, in an electric spice mill or coffee grinder dedicated to spices only. Q: Many of the recipes in your book call for dry-roasting the spices first. A: Many raw spices are hard to digest And cooking is a way to maximize flavor, so spices are added to a dish while cooking. Spices added at the end of a dish are often dry-roasted first. Q: I notice that your recipes are written in what we would consider "reverse" order: directions first, ingredients second and recipe name and description third and last. Why? A: Because if you understand the method of preparation you can use the same principles and adapt the recipe to available ingredients.

MENU SAMPLER Paramount Restaurant, Sydney, Australia 6-course tasting menu, $100 per person. $140 with selected wines 2-course tasting menu, $65 per person 3-course tasting menu, $85 per person (selections from the a la carte menu) Entrees(Entrees in Australia are appetizers in America) Tasmanian ocean trout tartare, nori omelette, ginger vinaigrette, fresh trout roe Spiced blue swimmer crab, mint salad, steamed crab custard, watercress, fried shallots Seared Queensland sea scallops, Tasmanian black mussels, buttered spinach, green masala tomato sauce Sichuan smoked, Barossa Farm duck, spiced duck sausage, smoked eggplant, wild rocket Coconut chicken, pickled green mango, spinach salad, chili jam, roasted peanuts Main(correspond to entrees in America) Roasted Murray cod fillet, chili salt squid, smoked bacon, black in noodles, confit tomato, roasted pimiento Tamarind glazed Gungel Farm suckling pork, sweet potato dumplings, steamed bok choy, mandarin sauce Peppered Northern Ribers grass-fed beef fillet, sautéed Strasbourg foie gras, celeriac potato gratin, black truffle sauce (surcharge $10) Cheese A daily selection of Australian and European cheeses, Paramount's Bramley apple jelly, pepper crackers, sourdough

Dessert (Surcharge $5 with selected tasting wine) Tangelo crème caramel, strawberries, citrus salad, toffee wafer (Joseph 'LaMagia' Botrytis Riesling '96) Pineapple, coconut, star anise ice cream pyramid, coconut wafers (Wellington Riesling '98) Toffee apple treacle sponge pudding, vanilla custard (Katnook Botrytis Riesling '96) Valrhona chocolate mocha tart, espresso ice cream cone (Campbell's Rutherglen Liqueur Muscat)

Editor's note: All Manfield's recipes are reprinted by permission from Spice,by Christine Manfield (Viking Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1999). Recipes are written in "reverse" order: directions first, ingredients second.

	Selected Recipes Saffron Bread Saffron gives this rich loaf, somewhere between bread and brioche, a wonderful colour and an even better flavour. It can be made into loaves or small buns, whichever you prefer. 1. Infuse saffron in the boiling water for 5 minutes for colour to develop. Meanwhile, mix yeast and sugar into the warm water and allow to stand for a few minutes. 2. Mix saffron water, milk, egg and melted butter until combined. 3. Mix flour and salt in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. With the dough hook turning slowly, add yeast mixture first and then pour in saffron mixture. 4. Knead dough for 25 minutes until shiny, firm and elastic. 5. Cover bowl with plastic film and a tea towel and allow dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. 6. Turn dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead by hand for 5 minutes, working the excess flour from bench into dough thoroughly. 7. Divide dough in half and roll each piece into an oval shape, then transfer to an oiled baking tray and brush with egg wash. Allow loaves to rise at room temperature a second time until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. 8. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). 9. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes until bread sounds hollow when tapped on its base. Cool on a wire rack. (Makes 2 loaves) 1 teaspoon saffron threads 50 ml (2 tablespoons) boiling water 30 g (1 ounce) fresh yeast 2 teaspoons castor (granulated) sugar 200 ml (approx. 7/8 cup) warm water 100 ml (approx. 1/3 cup) warm milk 2 eggs, beaten 60 g (approx. 2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted 600 g (approx. 1 pound, 5 ounces) bread flour 2 teaspoons sea salt egg wash Chili Orange Oil Toss this oil through noodles for added flavour, or add it to stir-fries. It's also great with grilled fish. Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a large saucepan over low heat -- do not boil. Cook gently for 15 minutes, then remove from heat. Cool completely. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve, discarding solids. Store in sterilized bottles and seal with a cork. Keeps indefinitely. Makes 1 liter (generous quart). Zest of 3 oranges 4 pieces dried orange or mandarin peel, broken into small pieces 12 large dried chilies, broken into pieces 4 red bird's-eye chilies, finely sliced 4 cloves garlic, sliced 1 stalk lemongrass, finely sliced 1 liter (generous quart) vegetable oil 150 ml (5-6 tablespoons) sesame oil

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