Shore thing: Adam Liaw's oysters and prawns for lunch

This may sound ridiculous, but it took me a very long time to realise just how great our seafood is. I grew up in South Australia and my dad worked in Whyalla, a steel town on the Eyre Peninsula about four hours' drive from Adelaide. Every weekend he'd bring home swimmer crabs, snapper, abalone and all kinds of other seafood from the pristine Spencer Gulf. Some of it he'd caught himself, some was caught by his friends, and some Dad just bought from his local fishmonger.

The thing that makes our seafood great isn't just our environment. Clean water is certainly a big part of it, but equally important (if not more so) is the expertise and dedication of our fishermen, who treat their catch well. While filming my SBS television series, Destination Flavour, I travelled all around the country and the world. I've seen (and eaten) amazing food on nearly every continent and I can tell you, Australian produce of every description easily holds its own on the global stage.

Grilled prawns with fennel and salty lime

Serves 2

Seafood cooked in the shell will always have more flavour than if it's peeled before cooking. For prawns, lobsters, crabs and any other shellfish, whether grilling, boiling or frying, always try to cook them as whole as possible.

• 12 extra-large Australian prawns

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp sea salt flakes

• ½ tsp fennel seeds

• 1 dried red chill

• ¼ tsp coriander seeds

• ¼ tsp black peppercorns

• juice of 2 limes

Remove the intestine from each prawn by either pulling it out with a skewer between the plates of the shell, or by splitting down the back of the prawn with a sharp knife. Brush each prawn with a little olive oil.

Combine the salt, fennel seeds, chilli, coriander seeds and peppercorns in a piece of aluminium foil folded and closed to create a pouch. Heat a barbecue grill to medium heat and toast the spices for about 5 minutes. Grill the prawns for 2-3 minutes on each side until just cooked through, then transfer to a serving plate. Grind the spices to a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle, place in a small dish and mix in the lime juice. To eat, dip the prawns into the salty lime and spice mixture.

Oysters with gin and dill vinaigrette

For 24 oysters

The slight bitterness of gin is a wonderful complement to the metallic tang of oysters. Gin-and-tonic lovers should get around this one.

• 1 tbsp gin

• 1 tbsp chopped dill

• 1 tbsp grated eschalot, skin removed

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 50ml rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

• 100ml extra virgin olive oil

• pinch of sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes, then shake again. To serve, spoon a little of the vinaigrette over each oyster.

Adam's tip Oysters on ice look great, but when the ice melts, it can leave a big puddle of trouble. I prefer to serve them on a mix of rock salt and cooking salt with just enough water to shape it into a mouldable pile, then chilled in the fridge. This keeps the oysters cold and upright.

Edited extract from Destination Flavour by Adam Liaw (Hardie Grant), out now.