By Leigh O’Connor, Editor.
From near and far, some of the hottest names in the culinary world will appear at Vivid Sydney this year as part of Vivid Food, embracing the festival’s 2024 theme of ‘Humanity’.
The event runs from Friday, May 24 until Saturday, June 15 and is the Southern Hemisphere’s leading multi-artform festival, celebrating creativity, innovation and technology, transforming Sydney into a kaleidoscope of colour and events for 23 nights.
Texas-based live fire cook, author and TV personality, Jess Pryles, will join the Vivid Fire Kitchen as a pitmaster for the second year in a row, leading demonstrations on barbeque, meat and smoking techniques.
Vivid Fire Kitchen will light up its new home of The Goods Line with the world’s best pitmasters and BBQ heroes joining forces with acclaimed local flame-focused restaurants for a festival of accessible fire demos, cooking sessions and exclusive BBQ dishes.
We got the chance to go one-on-one with self-confessed hard-core carnivore and ‘meat nerd', Jess for this exclusive interview:
Born in Melbourne, Jess’s love for meat and barbeque grew from humble beginnings as a regular consumer who enjoyed the occasional steak at home.
"I was frustrated by my own lack of knowledge on the different cuts available and more importantly how to cook them,” she says. "I spent years educating myself on all things related to meat, which eventually led me to become a professional Chef, cookbook author, TV personality and meat scientist.”
She first visited Texas as a tourist about 15 years ago and had her first taste of American-style BBQ.
"It was a pretty fateful bite because it ultimately led to me wanting to learn more about how it was made, how to trim briskets and why briskets in Australia were completely different to those I saw in Texas.
"So began a journey down the rabbit hole of meat cuts, butchery, quality and safety. Fifteen years and a graduate certificate in Meat Science later, I think I’ve earned the title of ‘meat nerd’.”
Jess believes American BBQ food is so popular because the idea of taking a big primal piece of beef and slapping it into a huge steel smoker, powered by nothing more than wood and airflow is just so fascinating.
It can be super intimidating choosing the right cut of meat, especially as there is often no standardisation of cut names – we asked Jess how to go about choosing the one that is right for your palate.
"Generally, meat can be separated into two groups – fast-cooking steaks and slow-roasting cuts. A Scotch fillet is a fast cooker, perfect when mid-rare, but a brisket is always going to be a slow-roaster or smoker.
"Your butcher is a great resource and you should always feel free to ask questions at the meat counter.”
Jess loves a rump cap as a cut that offers good value for money – it’s packed with flavour, has great texture and is usually reasonably priced.
"It’s amazing to smoke as a whole piece to medium rare, or slice into steaks for a rich sumptuous finish thanks to a generous fat cap.”
Her top three tips for cooking the perfect steak are:
•Buy a great thermometer – steak ‘doneness’ can be measured so there is no need to guess when it's medium rare, the thermometer will just tell you (by the way, that’s 56 C).
•Take the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to take the chill off.
•Always pat the surface dry to get maximum sear.
For those looking for a sure-fire lamb recipe, Jess dishes up her version of slow-grilled Middle Eastern lamb leg, seasoned with kosher salt, garlic and za’atar; try this next time you are contemplating a traditional lamb roast.
As for the most outrageous dish she has ever cooked, you may be surprised:
"Maybe barbacoa? We wrapped a whole steer’s head in cactus leaves and buried it in the ground for 16 hours until the meat was tender. I suppose that actually does count as pretty outrageous!”
We finish our chat with a candid confession from this meat-loving Aussie…her secret shame is that she orders vegetarian pizza…with pineapple.
To buy your Vivid tickets, click here.
