Thread: Red Symons Australian recipe for the 21st century

Chile 'roo.


Red Symonds offers his Australian recipe for the 21st century

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

Just in case you haven't yet. https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/chilli-hunter

Thanks, checked it out .I'm not out to make the hottest , my interest was raised by an old Dutchman, from Brighton, Jan the Man. He was in the Dutch Army in Indonesia before and during WW2. When Holland surrendered, he and a mate went into the jungle. Helped by the locals, and a girlfriend, they survived the war intact, moving constantly . While with the local people, he learned about cooking with chilies. After the War , he came to Aus. ending up at Brighton. He used to make a wicked chili sauce, I used to supply the birds eye chilies and Russian garlic for him at one stage. He taught me his recipe, I was banned from the kitchen, even the aroma burned the throat. He used to eat this with a teaspoon, straight from the pot. I still make it, since he passed on. But I use less chilies . One story he told was how the war made him a rich man. For about half an hour. Retreating from the Japanese, the Dutch army in Indonesia fell apart, each man for himself, more or less. He and his mate found themselves in a small town, in the bank, probably the only secure building in town. He was an explosives trained soldier, they blew the safe, stuffed their packs with money, and bolted. Turns out the money was worthless, they had hoped to use it to pay the locals to look after them. Anyway, the Japanese had not endeared themselves to the natives with their cruelty, and the locals took old mate and friend in. Years of a nomadic life in the jungle, living off native gardens and local wildlife, and watching while the natives cut Japanese throats , gave Jan a philosophical outlook on life. A quiet, gentle man, Jan never had a bad word for any one. And never did any one a bad turn.