The Yaama Dhinawan project (the name means
“Welcome Emu”) aims to open within months at the old Eveleigh railway works,
with a cooking school and a café fronting Wilson Street.
Pyrmont-born brother and sister, Jennice and
Raymond Kersh, who made Edna’s Table a favoured dining spot for city lawyers,
media and politicians, have joined with Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo of the Kamilaroi
nation to form the Yaama team.
Courses begin in September, with training
open to students from all backgrounds. Uniquely, the college will give training
in indigenous food and culture. Chef Raymond Kersh, together with Aunty Beryl
and trained TAFE lecturers, will teach students about collecting food in
traditional ways and integrating the ingredients into modern cuisine.
“Our hearts are in this project,” said
Jennice Kersh, who for more than 20 years has run the restaurants named after
her mother. “We have always been passionate about developing indigenous
Australian cuisine and it’s long been our dream to work with young people from
the community.”
The Kershes are no strangers to battling
neighbourhoods. Their father was a wharfie who recreated exotic dishes seen on the
docks in their tiny Pyrmont kitchen. Raymond and Jennice became fascinated by
Australian native foods 40 years ago at Balgo when their brother was running an
outback station. When they opened their own restaurant, they soon began
incorporating the ingredients into fine dining.
Redfern residents since 1994, they have been
delighted to meet up with Aunty Beryl, who has extensive experience as a cook and
TAFE teacher, has worked at a number of restaurants including Lilli Pilli, and
is dedicated to working with Sydney’s
Aboriginal communities.
The pioneering project is part of the plan by
the Redfern Waterloo Authority to transform the railway works into a cultural
complex. Yaama will inhabit the former Railworkers’ Social Club, which has
kitchens, a dining area with performance stage, and rooms suitable for
classrooms, all now ready for renovation.
While the project is in preparation, the
Yaama team has been unable to stay out of the kitchen. In May they held a
highly successful Mothers Day lunch at the Wyanga Centre in Cope Street, with a mouth-watering menu.
Soon their first students will be learning
preparation techniques, and within months the project aims to welcome locals to
the Yaama café.
[South Sydney Herald July 2006]