BRIEFING MY KITCHEN
Known as the poster boy of Filipino food in Australia, Ross Magnaye tells Maida Pineda about wood-fired cooking in his Melbourne restaurant Serai
Ross Magnaye
In Serai, we try to evoke nostalgia. When Filipinos come in, they feel nostalgia for the experiences when they were younger. Then for someone who hasn’t tried Filipino food before, hopefully, they say it’s good food. At the heart of our restaurant is the wood-fired grill. Most Filipinos associate inihaw or grilled food with lechon (roast pork). But we use the grill as much as we can. Even the lechon is not the typical
roast pork most Filipinos feast on for their town fiesta or special occasions. We use Western Plains free-range pork belly. We try to focus on food from the south and sauces and curries that most Filipinos don’t know about. Traditionally, Filipinos, like any
Southeast Asian culture would use a lot of fire, but it’s my first time to use a grill this big. Our wood-fired grill was custom built for us by the Brick Chef, Samuel. I’ve used a Japanese hibachi before, which is a small box, but cooking with a grill this big is still a learning process for me. I think I’m using only 30% or 40% of its potential. It’s challenging because it depends on how much wood you put into it. On opening night, we had to cook a whole pig in it, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m confident about the flavor of the food, but the actual cooking of it on a grill – we haven’t really done it before. I’ve worked in many open kitchens before, but this one is very open. The customers are right in front of us, close to
the wood-fired grill. It’s natural for me to talk to the customer and work at the same time.
Serai is not a clichéd Filipino
restaurant with a distinctly Filipino name or ambiance. Sometimes we get people, lolas (grandmas) for example, who we don’t think would like our food, but they end up loving it. Sometimes, Filipino dishes are one dimensional, missing the balance of sweet, sour, salty. We try to change that and balance it out. The most important thing is the vibe.
We’re not too serious. You can come in here and have a glass of wine, or you can have a full meal. I want more people to try Filipino food. But my main aim is to open a restaurant that people enjoy visiting.
The wood-fired grill is the focal point of Serai.
Red gum is Magnaye’s primary wood of choice to fuel the grill.
Inihaw refers to the various types of grilled or pit- roasted barbecue dishes from the Philippines.
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