Chinese Food and Foodways in Southeast Asia and Beyond

9. Four Dances of the Sea: Cooking “Asian” As Embedded Australian Cosmopolitanism

192 9 [Cheong]฀came฀up฀with฀four฀small฀islands฀of฀seafood฀on฀a฀bare฀white฀ plate.฀There฀ were฀ tiny฀ fi ฀llets฀ of฀ soused฀ snook฀ (pike)฀ on฀ avocado฀ slices฀ with฀a฀wasabi฀mayonnaise,฀thin฀slices฀of฀raw฀cuttlefi ฀sh฀with฀squid-ink฀ noodles,฀ slices฀ of฀ poached฀ octopus฀ tentacles฀ with฀ a฀ garlic฀ mayonnaise฀ and฀spiced฀prawn฀sushi฀with฀glutinous฀rice.฀…฀The฀result฀is฀a฀constant฀ on฀the฀Grange’s฀menu.฀It฀cannot฀be฀taken฀off.฀As฀a฀creation,฀it฀is฀myriad฀ fl ฀avours฀ and฀ textures฀ all฀ in฀ magnifi ฀cent฀ balance฀ …฀ Perhaps฀ it฀ is฀ the฀ greatest฀of฀Australian฀dishes.฀(Downes,฀2002a:฀72–3) At฀ the฀ time฀ when฀ Chef฀ Cheong฀ Liew฀ fi ฀rst฀ conceptualized฀ Four฀ Dances฀ of฀the฀Sea,฀he฀was฀no฀stranger฀to฀celebrity.฀The฀year฀was฀1995;฀the฀place,฀ Adelaide,฀ Australia.฀ Cheong฀ had฀ already฀ established฀ his฀ reputation฀ for฀ innovation฀(“the฀fi ฀rst฀to฀open฀other฀chefs’฀taste฀buds฀to฀Asian฀possibilities”)฀ (Ripe฀1993:฀20)฀through฀his฀legendary฀restaurant฀Neddy’s฀(1975–88).฀This฀ reputation฀ was฀ further฀ enhanced฀ by฀ Cheong’s฀ years฀ of฀ teaching฀ at฀ the฀ Regency฀ Hotel฀ School,฀ arguably฀ Australia’s฀ leading฀ centre฀ of฀ hospitality฀ training.฀Now฀he฀was฀about฀to฀take฀up฀the฀position฀of฀consultant฀chef฀to฀ the฀Adelaide฀Hilton฀International฀Hotel’s฀restaurant,฀the฀Grange฀(Downes฀ 2002a:฀ 51,฀ 78–80).฀ In฀ that฀ same฀ year,฀ his฀ book฀ My฀ Food,฀ written฀ with฀ Four Dances of the Sea: Cooking “Asian” As Embedded Australian Cosmopolitanism Jean฀Duruz C H A P T E R 10 CFFW.indd 192 7/13/11 6:14:20 PM Cooking฀“Asian”฀As฀Embedded฀Australian฀Cosmopolitanism฀ 193 Liz฀ Ho,฀ was฀ published.฀ In฀ its฀ foreword,฀ Barbara฀ Santich,฀ Adelaide฀ food฀ historian,฀ was฀ to฀ declare฀ “Cheong฀ is฀ a฀ culinary฀ magician,฀ a฀ sorcerer฀ of฀ the฀ kitchen”฀ (1995:฀ xiii). While฀Cheong’s฀celebrity฀status฀might฀be฀considered฀unrivalled฀in฀the฀ history฀of฀Australian฀cooking,฀this฀chapter฀is฀not฀primarily฀concerned฀with฀ charting฀this฀history฀or฀assessing฀Cheong’s฀contribution฀as฀such.฀Instead,฀ it฀ offers฀ a฀ different฀ “take”฀ on฀ changing฀ food฀ and฀ social฀ identities฀ in฀ the฀ region฀—฀the฀embedding฀and฀fusing฀of฀foods฀that,฀in฀the฀process,฀retain฀ echoes฀ of฀ their฀ Chinese฀ origins฀ —฀ through฀ an฀ exploration฀ of฀ Cheong’s฀ more฀“homely”฀attachments.฀Conceptually,฀the฀argument฀aims,฀in฀part,฀to฀ undo฀the฀conventional฀distinction฀between฀the฀archetypal฀opposing฀fi ฀gures฀ of฀chef฀and฀the฀cook฀(Gunders฀2009)฀—฀between฀the฀practised฀professional฀ with฀an฀eye฀global฀trends,฀and฀the฀experienced฀home฀cook฀rooted฀in฀the฀ rituals฀of฀his/her฀community.฀Likewise,฀the฀argument฀is฀not฀so฀concerned฀ with฀identifying฀“Chinese฀food”฀as฀a฀diverse฀and฀distinctive฀set฀of฀“ethnic”฀ cuisines฀in฀Australia,฀despite฀their฀continuing฀historical฀presence.฀ Instead,฀ this฀ alternative฀ tour฀ explores฀ some฀ of฀ the฀ grey฀ spaces฀ in฀ between,฀ spaces฀ where฀ the฀ boundaries฀ of฀ professionalism฀ and฀ immigrant฀ Chef฀Cheong฀Liew.฀(Photograph฀by฀Tony฀Lewis) 10 CFFW.indd 193 7/13/11 6:14:33 PM 194฀ Jean฀Duruz home-making฀ become฀ somewhat฀ blurry฀ …฀ spaces฀ in฀ which฀ food฀ reflects฀ the฀complex,฀tangled฀histories฀of฀those฀who฀cook฀and฀those฀who฀eat฀it.฀In฀ charting฀ such฀ spaces,฀ we’ll฀ encounter฀ childhood฀ memories฀ of฀ Cantonese฀ family’s฀shophouse฀and฀farm,฀together฀with฀memories฀of฀a฀Malay฀kampong฀ (village)฀ nearby฀ …฀ a฀ long฀ table฀ in฀ an฀ Adelaide฀ garden฀ …฀ moments฀ of฀ forensic฀prowling฀through฀Adelaide’s฀Central฀Market฀…฀opportunities฀for฀ convivial฀eating฀with฀the฀chefs฀of฀the฀city’s฀Chinatown.฀In฀the฀process,฀the฀ analysis,฀taking฀a฀narrative฀route฀through฀multi-layered฀meanings฀and฀sites฀ of฀ belonging,฀ rubs฀ against฀ issues฀ of฀ identity,฀ globalization,฀ hybridity฀ and฀ cosmopolitanism฀(Highmore฀2002:฀159)฀—฀issues฀framing฀current฀“tastes”฀ for฀ Chinese฀ (and฀ other฀ “Asian”)฀ food฀ in฀ Australia฀ and฀ issues฀ negotiated฀ within,฀ and฀ through,฀ the฀ dynamics฀ of฀ these฀ “real”฀ spaces.฀ Reaching฀ its฀ destination฀ in฀ the฀ final฀ section฀ of฀ the฀ chapter,฀ the฀ analysis฀ positions฀ this฀ cumulative฀ narrative฀ of฀ Cheong’s฀ “grounded”฀ and฀ nostalgic/imaginative฀ practice฀ within฀ debates฀ of฀ the฀ “new฀ cosmopolitanism”฀ —฀ conceptions฀ of฀ cosmopolitanism฀ in฀ which฀ difference,฀ rather฀ than฀ universalism,฀ plays฀ a฀ critical฀role฀(Werbner฀2008). Meet the Gastro-Father of “Asian” Australia … To฀set฀the฀scene฀for฀this฀“other”฀story,฀however,฀it฀is฀necessary฀to฀understand฀ how฀ the฀ celebrity฀ account฀ became฀ the฀ Cheong฀ Liew฀ story.฀ Magical฀ or฀ not,฀Cheong’s฀unique฀cooking฀“style”฀emerged฀five฀years฀earlier฀than฀Ken฀ Hom฀ and฀ Jeremiah฀Tower’s฀ official฀ launch฀ of฀ “East-meets-West”฀ cuisine฀ in฀California฀in฀1980฀(Ripe฀1993:฀13).฀Furthermore,฀it฀was฀a฀“style”฀that฀ proved฀ formative฀ in฀ shaping฀ Australia’s฀ culinary฀ imaginary.฀ According฀ to฀ Downes฀(2002a:฀79): Neddy’s฀ revolutionized฀ what฀ Australians฀ believed฀ the฀ best฀ restaurant฀ food฀amounted฀to.฀…฀[T...