Serge Dansereau is the acclaimed multi-award-winning chef of Sydney's The Bather's Pavilion Café and Restaurant, and the man behind the gourmet cuisine on Orion Expedition Cruises. A French-Canadian, he has been dubbed "the father of the fresh food movement", and his latest cook book is Summer Food (ABC Books, rrp $39.99).

We'll be giving away a copy of Serge's fabulous new book shortly, but in the meantime, here we chat to him about food, travel and cooking!

UT:  Your latest cook book, Summer Food, highlights the best of Australian produce in the summer. What are some of the key ingredients for you?

Serge:  Tomatoes, prawns, raspberry, stone fruit and mangoes definitively make me think of summer and the food I love. 

UT:  There are some interesting twists on your recipes, such as use of Asian ingredients including mirin and miso. Have you developed some of these ideas while travelling overseas and experimenting with other styles of cuisine?

Serge:  As a chef you are always trying new food and ingredients and I guess you have an enhanced sense of discovery and a wish to cook with what you like. I have always used a certain amount of Asian ingredients often to lighten the dish or to show off a product and it also stimulates my customers. 

UT:  Your recipes are also reasonably simple to execute without too much preparation time. Is that an important element for you overall, or with this book in particular so people can enjoy the summer weather rather than being stuck in the kitchen? 

Serge:  This book does represent a more relaxed aspect of my cooking with easy to approach recipes with often less preparation time required and simpler ingredients to source all in the name of enjoying good simple food with your friends and family in summer. 

UT:  You must travel a lot for your work. Do you have a few favourite places where you also enjoy spending leisure time? 

Serge:  I do travel mostly for work and often with my family when I combine work and some leisure time. For instance I write all the menus and train all the chefs for Orion Expeditions Cruises and this give me the chance to go to exotic places like Komodo, Borneo, Papua New Guinea or the Kimberly’s in Australia with my kids and some of my staff.  It is also challenging working on ships but also gives me the chance to visit some amazing, remote places. I also travel once a year to France leading a gastronomic tour and next year we will visit Burgundy. 

UT:  From a culinary perspective, what are some of your favourite places to visit and why?

Serge:  I love the Napa Valley in California for the great restaurants that use organic produce from small growers, New York for the sheer pulse of the hip restaurants and Paris for its sophistication and the amazing bistros and classy restaurants. 

UT:  When you travel, what won't you leave home without?

Serge:  I love maps, real maps; I know it is not so trendy with iPhones and the like theses day but I am still a map person. I love maps of the Italian or French countryside so I am able to discover new areas and remote villages.  I feel that is real traveling when there is still a good amount of spontaneity involved in it.  

UT:  Where are you off to next?

Serge:  My next trip will be next year as I will now be very busy at Bathers’ for the summer. In March I will be on Orion Cruises to Vietnam, Macao, Hong Kong and Korea and in May I will lead my tour gastronomic tour in France.