The taste of Melbourne

Melbourne, my city. Cosmopolitan, modern, dynamic, cultured. But what is the flavour of Melbourne? I knew the answer was more than just a plate of salt and pepper prawns.

The Taste of Melbourne festival, with Albert Park Lake as its backdrop, is where I went searching for it.

I tried it all. Street-style corn from Mamasita, tempura soft-shell crab with jalapeño, an apple frangipane tart from Libertine, passionfruit-and-chilli gin cocktails, grapefruit and black tea beers, chocolate in every form, cupcakes in every colour. It was a kaleidoscope of flavours, yet I kept looking.

Because the flavour of a city, I thought, should be something more than just what you taste on your tongue.

And then I saw Frank Camorra. Surrounded by his MoVida team, he was tending to the grill, turning lamb skewers with care.

To watch a craftsman at work is a spectacle. Nothing excites me more than talent and passion. It was right there in front of me, in his face, in his food. His team felt it, the crowd felt it too.

That was what I’d been searching for. The taste of Frank’s passion was the flavour of Melbourne.
Because here, passion shared - in food, in art, in craft of any kind - is what gives the city its unique taste.