Bringing People Together
CLAYTON DONOVAN Interview James Hutton Picture Jeremy Greive
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layton Donovan is well known for his skills in the kitchen and his work as a champion of bush foods, but he could have made a career as a musician or a professional sportsman had he chosen either of those paths. Clayton grew up on Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung land on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, where he learnt about native Indigenous superfoods from his aunties and grandmothers, taking what they found in the bush and cooking it up at home. According to his website, Clayton returned to Nambucca Heads in 2008 and opened his restaurant, Jaaning Tree, combining his international experience with his understanding of Australian native foods to produce a unique and contemporary cuisine with an Indigenous twist. His talent and hard work was recognised when he was awarded the Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat four years running. In 2016 Clayton wrote and presented the popular ABC TV series, Wild Kitchen, which followed him on his travels through the Indigenous nations of the region, visiting farms and providores to source the freshest ingredients for his delicious creations. These days, Clayton is creating mind-blowing meals at corporate functions and public and private
events, and sharing his knowledge at schools with cooking lessons and mentoring programs. I first spoke with Clayton over the phone while he was in Tasmania working with MONA, in collaboration with Design Studio for Social Intervention, on the Public Kitchen concept, and again when we met for the cover shoot with photographers Jeremy Greive and JP Westlake. He's a larger than life character with a huge heart, and these experiences - getting to meet people like Clayton - are one of the many reasons Dan and I still love working on The Beast after more than 13 years. We hope you enjoy the read... G'day Clayton, thanks for your time. You grew up on the Mid North Coast, around Nambucca Heads? Just near there, Macksville, the same place as Phil Hughes and Greg Inglis. I'm a Macksville boy. Did you have an awesome childhood growing up around there? Yeah, it was a great place to grow up. The town's only got about 7,000 people, now it would only be around 10,000 tops. Country life, you know, not much going on, but there were some challenges. Shitloads of sport? Yeah, I used to skate and play footy - it's a real footy town. Footy in winter and
cricket in summer, that's what we did. Apart from that, I used to skate and surf. Me and my Italian friend used to skate all the time. Where are the best surf breaks up there? Scotts Head is the best, that's where I grew up.
My mother cooked really well. We didn't have any money and she cooked from a recipe book. It was like travelling around the world, and I really enjoyed that. How are the locals in the water? Is it a friendly spot or is it pretty localised? I grew up with Trent Munro, Neridah Falconer and Asher Pacey. My sister was really good too. Neridah Falconer said that my sister was the only person she was ever scared about taking her title. We have this really big surf and skate culture, in a very small place, like Venice Beach. You were going to become professional at one stage? Yeah, and I used to box as well, pretty efficiently. I played rugby league too. I got a scholarship to go further - same with boxing - but I broke my back. May 2018 | The Beast 45