Sep 30, 2017
Duncan Welgemoed has the most incredible "becoming a chef" origin
story I’ve ever heard – it's a crazy tale that also involves George
Clooney and ends with Duncan quitting his job by escaping through a
window.
Duncan was prepping
chicken intestines from the age of eight in South Africa, so maybe
it's no surprise he ended up working at Michelin-starred
restaurants run by Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Raymond
Blanc.
As a chef at the Adelaide Showgrounds, Duncan dealt with riders for
Rammstein (their rider request was kind of adorable) and cooked for
his favourite bands. He
currently runs Africola in Adelaide, which is #29
on the AFR Top 100 Restaurants list and ranked in The Weekend
Australian’s Hot 50 Restaurants list.
This year, Duncan has creatively reused wine waste at an OzHarvest
dinner headlined by Massimo Bottura and, after seeing Marco Pierre
White for the first time in 15 years,
collaborated on an event together. "He's one of the greatest food
minds that's ever lived, in my opinion," says Duncan. "He'll always
be the master and I'll be the apprentice."
Throughout the podcast, Duncan is impressively forthright and
honest on many topics – from the time his dad was shot in
South Africa to his outrage at discovering food five years past its
best-before date being sold at a store in the indigenous community
of Yirrkala. He also stresses the need for Australians to become
way more engaged with the Aboriginal population. "They're not
closed communities, they welcome everyone with open arms. It just
pisses me off that people don't do it," he says. "Meet people,
that's all it takes. Those small steps ... just exploring your own
country, opens your mind so much."
One of the best meals I had in the past year was at Africola, which
launched with a South African focus, then (after several fires
inside the restaurant), switched to a menu inspired by North Africa
in 2016. (The cabbage hearts dish with smoked butter is insanely
good.)
If you don't have immediate plans to visit Adelaide, good news –
Duncan is bringing out his crew to the Africola Sound System dinner
at Hyde Park Palms on October 7 for Good Food Month. The menu
includes his peri peri chicken (which he thinks is "the best" in
the world) and the incredible eggplant with sheep's milk cheese.
Find tickets and info here.
*Apologies for the incredibly noisy background – we only had a
short time to record and this was the quietest spot we could
find!