FOUR DANCES OF THE SEA - the Importance of Cheong Liew

Growing up there weren’t many Chinese Australian chefs, I remembered reading names of great chefs in food magazines and in newspapers and marvelling in their dishes and hoping to one day visit their restaurant. Cheong Liew the chef at the Grange in Adelaide stood out the most, and like me grew up in Malaysia, I remember getting his cookbook, My Food for my 14th birthday and reading these recipes that sounded a lot like the food I ate growing up, but with great finesse and using local South Australian ingredients.

His iconic dish, the Four Dances of the Sea - four varieties of seafood in four distinctive national styles that influenced Cheong’s cuisine style was a marvel to behold. I’m glad to have worked alongside Cheong at Tasting Australia in 2017, we shared meals, told stories, drank too much wine and cooked our menu over 2 nights.

With his blessing I continue the Four Dances in our style, proudly continuing his legacy of cuisine in an Australian Chinese lens.