Kieran Morland was born in Melbourne Australia and has been cooking in top kitchens around the world for the last 16 years. Some of the restaurants Kieran has worked at include Momofuku Ssam bar in NYC, the Wapping project and 10 greek street London, Mecca and Syracuse in Melbourne and Kudeta in Bali.

Four years ago with the help of business partners Jasper Manifold and Melissa McCabe, Kieran opened Merah Putih restaurant in Bali which has become one of Indonesia’s premier dining venues. 6 months ago he opened Sangsaka which is a little Indonesian restaurant that focuses on the combination of traditional spices from around the archipelago with the use of charcoal cooking.

1. What is your philosophy when it comes to food?

I believe in sourcing the best quality ingredients I can find and respecting those ingredients by executing dishes to the best of my ability.

2. Name your most Favourite dish on the menu? And why?

At Merah Putih I like Medan suckling pig dish. It’s a 1kg whole leg or shoulder which we brine, sous vede and then wood roast and serve with pork urutan, tum, eggplant and andaliman. At Sangsaka we change the menu weekly but at the moment i like the Suluwesi charred shellfish with woku curry sauce. We are using slipper lobster, scampi, coral trout and batik clams.

3. Main considerations when it comes to choosing your ingredients?

As the restaurants are Indonesian we really try and use as many locally sourced ingredients as possible. We also try to use ingredients that are unusual and unique to this part of the world. Things like jukut undis (local lentil), nasi Jagung (kind of ground corn), kenari (local almond), andaliman (local Szechuan), kemangi (local basil) torch ginger, belimbing, taro, fern tips, curry leaves, kencur, jangu, cassava, etc etc. the list goes on

4. How do you see the growing demands for sustainable produce affecting the food world?

I think it’s a great thing. The more people seek out and demand sustainably sourced produce the easier it is for a chef to be able to serve it. We all have to understand the decisions we make have an impact on this world and collectively we can make a huge difference.

5. If you weren’t a chef, or in the food business, what would you be?

Id love to be an AFL football player but I guess I would need to be good at playing football for that..  but that was my childhood dream so I guess ill go with that.. or maybe Axl Rose in the mid- late 80’s.. that would be pretty awesome.

6. Do you have a memorable food experience that impacted you as a child or young chef?

My mum cooks an amazing roast dinner with all the trimmings. I still love her roast and always request it whenever im back in Melbourne. And when she doesn’t burn the bolognaise its pretty good too!!

7. What do you enjoy most about being a chef?

I like coming up with new dishes or flavour combinations and then implementing them at the restaurants. And working out how to transform classic Indonesian dishes into something we would serve at our places..

8. Other than creating good food, what are the most important qualities that make a successful chef?

Persistence, reliability, consistency, patience. Lots of hard work I guess and continually growing as a chef and moving with the times but not forgetting your style and what you believe in.

9. If you had a choice of anything for your last meal, what would you choose to have?

Hhhmmm.. big call. I had some Olive Sanuki Wagyu sirloin recently which was pretty amazing. Im a pretty big fan of uni too so maybe the uni dish at Amber in Hong Kong or Waku gin in Singapore.

10. Do you have any tips for budding chefs or restauranteurs?

It’s a great industry but make sure you get into it for the right reasons. Money probably shouldn’t be your priority.. if that’s all you think about perhaps banking or recruitment are best for you.  Hospitality industry is so much hard work and plenty of ups and downs but I wouldn’t have it any other way.