In the middle of a barn, on the edges of a farm on Sydney’s south-western fringe, chef, author and TV producer Adam Liaw is biting into an Anzac biscuit.
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Liaw → bite → biscuit
“Whoarrrh,” he says in delight.
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he → say → delight
I take a biscuit too, freshly baked by contestants on the ABC’s new seven-part cooking show Recipe of the Year.
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I → take → Year
The show is being filmed all around us at handmade wooden benchtops stationed against a backdrop of green pastureland beyond the barn’s wide open doors.
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show → film → doors
Liaw takes my phone and films me breaking the golden, oat-flecked biscuit in two.
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me → take → two
“Good?” he says.
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he → say → ?
I explain my love for Anzac biscuits that are more chewy than crispy, but Ellice Schrader, a judge on the series and a member of the Country Women’s Association of NSW, overhears.
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Schrader → explain → NSW
“It needs to snap,” she says of the biscuit being broken apart.
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she → need → biscuit
She also confirms that the CWA advises Anzac biscuits must never, ever, be called “cookies”.
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biscuits → confirm → ?
“Ellice is formidable,” Liaw says.
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Liaw → say → ?
It’s a label he also gives her in the series’ first episode to which Schrader replies: “I’m a pussycat.”
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I → ’ → which
Recipe of the Year features 10 home cooks, drawn from 20 hopefuls in the show’s first episode, competing to achieve Australia’s “recipe of the year”.
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Recipe → feature → year
Hosted by Liaw and actor and food-lover Pia Miranda, it’s created and produced by i8 Studio, the Sydney production company Liaw runs with co-executive producer and director Josh Martin.
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Liaw → host → Martin
Liaw and Martin, whose company is known for shows such as Tonight at the Museum, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and Adam & Poh’s Great Australian Bites, say this series is a departure from the usual competitive cooking TV show.
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series → know → show
Not only do contestants bring their own recipes to cook, they share the meals cooked in each episode around a table together.
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they → bring → table
“It’s a really familiar space for a lot of viewers, and we’re genuinely trying our hardest to do things that are different,” Liaw says. “Not just for the sake of being different, but because we
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Liaw → ’ → sake
felt there were important reasons to make the show feel accessible and more like cooking feels at home.
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cooking → feel → home
Those reasons include the current cost of living, time constraints for everyday cooks and how and why people cook for themselves, friends and family.
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people → include → themselves
Unlike shows like MasterChef Australia (which Liaw won in 2010) or My Kitchen Rules, Recipe of the Year’s focus is on recipes rather than cooking.
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focus → win → cooking
“[Australians] love recipes,” Liaw says.
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Liaw → love → recipes
“We love them in the newspaper, online and in books.
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We → love → books
We were really thinking through what’s the experience with somebody when they’re making a recipe?
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they → think → recipe
And, when they choose to cook something, is it a recipe that makes sense for the purpose that is being set for it?
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that → choose → it
“Then, when you actually make it, what’s the process of eating?
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process → make → it
There aren’t many circumstances in home cooking where three members of your family stand there in front of you and taste it, give stern expressions and then give you feedback.
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members → be → feedback
Even though it is a competition, there’s also an atmosphere of home cooking on the show around the way we instruct the challengers and the way we judge.”
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we → ’ → challengers
“Everybody’s opinion on food matters – not just the expert.”Adam Liaw, on the judging criteria for his new series.
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opinion → matter → series
Pia Miranda, a passionate cook and food lover, says making the show inspired great warmth and conviviality.
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making → say → warmth
“It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m not just saying that because it’s about to come out,” she says.
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she → ’ → that
“Everyone who was there just had a great time …
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who → have → time
It felt like a fourth or fifth season, not like the first season of a TV show.
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It → feel → show
The show’s location also resulted in a passing parade of animal life beyond the barn’s doors.
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location → result → doors
“We had cows,” she says.
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she → have → cows
“We had kangaroos.
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We → have → kangaroos
Adam’s so cute: every time kangaroos went past, he got misty-eyed.
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he → ’ → ?
He gets so excited by kangaroos.
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He → get → kangaroos
We had to stop and just look at them.”
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We → have → them
Josh Martin believes the show’s focus on recipes, along with the contestants’ stories about their recipes’ origins and histories, will inspire a broad range of viewers.
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focus → believe → viewers
“We love MasterChef.
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We → love → MasterChef
We love Bake Off …
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We → love → Off
…and 45 more, not listed.
The Aporia
