Parlour Wine Room's mysterious dinner for Canberra Good Food Month 2015
A dinner filled with mysterious and unfamiliar dishes is chef James Forman's way of bringing attention to food that's often overlooked in Australia.
The dinner to be held on Wednesday, is called Parlour Obscura, and is part of Good Food Month.
Forman says the dinner, which consists of five (official) courses and matched drinks, will introduce diners to cuts of meat and seafood that go to waste.
"My mentor in London had a very big focus on the ethics of what we're cooking and what we're sourcing," he said.
"So I'm focusing this on meat and seafood that generally get wasted, pieces that many people aren't going to be familiar with, seafood that's often tossed back in the ocean. A lot of butchers are saying, 'It's not worth me saving that piece.'"
One of the courses is a steak - but it's a cut that Forman says is largely unknown in Australia. "I ended up having to go into the butcher and show them on the animal where to cut," he said.
The Night Noodle Markets might be taking up plenty of attention in Canberra but Good Food Month has also begun with special dinners, lunches and talks with chefs.
Forman says the mysterious dinner will be matched to some very unusual and obscure wines chosen by Parlour sommelier Peter Bell.
"People should bring an open mind and an adventurous palate," he said.
The dinner will also serve to highlight the fact that the only barrier to eating a particular animal or vegetable exists purely in the mind - and it's only social convention that makes venison highly sought after but wild rabbits not interesting.
"I'm really pleased if anyone eats wild rabbit. If anything, we should have learnt that we can eat them out of existence. If people get the appetite for it, it will be eaten into oblivion," he said.
Good Food Month continues until March 15 in Canberra and is run by Fairfax Events, publisher of The Canberra Times.
Parlour Obscura is on Wednesday, March 4, at 6.30pm. $150 including wines. Bookings on 6257 7325 or hello@parlour.net.au. For more Good Food Month events see canberra.goodfoodmonth.com