Pepper and Salt owner and renowned Denmark chef Silas Masih taking tastes of WA overseas at World Expo

Denmark chef Silas Masih is set to star this month as WA’s guest chef at the World Expo in Osaka, representing the State among some of Australia’s top culinary talents. The renowned chef and owner of popular Denmark restaurant Pepper and Salt will spend a week in Japan, cooking as a representative of WA at the expo, a global event that aims to bring nations together to open tourism and trade opportunities, and open discussions on global challenges. Guest chefs utilise top Australian produce in menus for official lunches and dinners, and for entertaining live cooking demonstrations throughout their time at the expo to showcase Australian produce and flavours. The World Expo takes place every five years, and is designed to bring together nations from across the world to strengthen trade and tourism partnerships, and discuss solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. A range of Australian exhibitors will feature in the event, which runs from April through to October and is expected to play host to around 28 million visitors during its six-month opening period. Several Australian States presented a guest chef, and Mr Masih said the opportunity to represent WA was a “no-brainer”, and a great chance to showcase his home State’s produce and flavours, and to represent the Great Southern on the world stage. Menus created for the expo had to include WA ingredients already in the market in Osaka, a list including WA lobster, prawns, beef, lamb, honeydew melons, avocados, black truffles, honey, and Indigenous spices and teas. “There’s definitely been a few challenges, but certainly from a culinary perspective it’s been a really awesome exercise in seeing exactly what our beautiful WA produce is doing, particularly in Osaka, and to showcase it to the world,” Mr Masih said. The hero dish he decided on for the September events was WA lobster in a lemon myrtle soda batter, a Pepper and Salt signature, served with a sauce based on traditional jilungin tea over udon noodles. Wheat for udon noodles made in Japan has been exclusively imported from WA for more than 30 years, a fact Mr Masih said was another eye-opener for him about how WA produce is being appreciated around the world. He said being able to bring signature dishes and friendly Australian hospitality from Denmark to Japan had been a “real privilege”. “It’s showing the world what a beautiful place we live in, and how vast WA is in terms of what produce we can get and how we utilise it, and how our cuisine is so diverse with culture. “That’s what I hope to bring to the stage, the vibrancy of being an Australian, and putting another spin on putting a shrimp on the barbie.”