Love cooking healthy recipes for the people you care about? Derek Sarno is a development chef who creates exciting and delicious fruit- and vegetable-based meals, so he understands just how important good quality food and ingredients are
Derek Sarno is a plant-pushing chef. He and his brother Chad are founders of Wicked Healthy, where they promote ‘eating healthy 80 per cent of the time, wicked 20 per cent of the time’. But what does it actually mean to be a ‘plant-pusher’? ‘Nothing more than that I’m passionate about promoting plant-based recipes and eating lots of vegetables. I was inspired as a child by watching my mum and nana. As I got older I learnt from some talented chefs and friends I worked with, asking lots of questions and practising every day. I find real inspiration from observing people who work hard and take cooking as seriously as I do. The past decade or so I’ve been developing my own ideas and, along with my brother, we’ve been perfecting our plant-cooking craft by thinking outside of the box and away from what people might consider “normal”. It’s a space I’m comfortable in.’
What part did food play in your childhood?
‘I spent lots of time with my grandmother, stirring pasta, picking parsley and making soups. No matter what time of day it was, food was at the centre of everything; it was what we did as a family and it was all homemade.’
What’s the first thing you learnt to make? 20
‘It was a cake from a box I made with my Auntie Patty. I was 12 and it was a yellow cake, but I used food colour to make it blue, like the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street! I added cherries and chocolate and entered it in a bake show. I won third place, I think only because I was the youngest - that cake was crazy blue!’
How did your interest in following a plant-based diet develop?
‘As far back as I can remember, my mum has told me and my brothers to eat more veggies now I’m the one pushing plants! It took me a little while to get it in my head, but I’m finally doing stuff about it. I’ve trained most of my life to cook Wicked Healthy and to show how amazing it is to eat more veggies.’
What inspired you to work in the food industry?
‘I want to serve and be of benefit to people. At the same time, working in a kitchen allows my creativity to flow. I take my role very seriously; I am responsible for creating the foods that people put into their bodies so I feel I have a direct impact on people’s health and the environment.’