Kitchen Conversations: Janet Jeffs

Posted on 2 May, 2019

Ginger Catering’s chef Janet Jeffs was front and centre at March’s Winning Appliances Sunday Supper Club.

We caught up with her to talk life, food and everything in between.

Janet Jeffs is Director and Executive Chef of Ginger Catering, based at the National Arboretum, Canberra. Her career began in Adelaide more than 40 years ago, when an undergraduate degree in Fine Art at Stanley Street was gazumped by an apprenticeship with Cheong Liew, one of the 10 most influential chefs in the world.

What is your earliest food memory?

About four-years-old, definitely not in primary school, going with my mother and aunties to Uncle Arnies (mums’ family are Danish) and eating roast duck, at the big table with all the adults.

It was autumn, Arnie had an apple orchard in Verdun, a small village near Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, the smells of the ripe apples, and the delicious duck leg is so real to me, it was an obvious choice to include in tonight’s menu. Albeit 58 years ago!

What led you to a career as a chef?

I was in arts school and had to earn $ to keep myself. The chef was an old school monster but brilliant, I learnt a lot, and was good at it. This led me onto asking Cheong Liew to take me on as an apprentice.

Tell us a little bit about your food journey – how did you get to where you are today?

I’ve got more than 40 years of a food journey, from all of my apprenticeship with Cheong, winning national apprentice and then Golden Chefs Hat awards with the South Australian team, teaching cookery at Regency Hotel School, working with Maggie Beer for two years, running my first restaurant Kilikanoon in the Clare Valley for seven years, working corporate catering before moving to Canberra in 1995 and starting Juniperberry at Red Hill, winning the catering contract at NGA, then Old Parliament House, now National Arboretum.

What’s been your career highlight so far?

Many highlights at different stages of my career, winning competitions, opening my first restaurant, invited to the awards of my first SMH GFG chefs’ hat, the challenge of growing a tiny 40 seater restaurant into a major catering company, growing a farm, growing apprentices into amazing chefs, it doesn’t stop!

It’s also not been an easy ride, before we won our first chefs, we had what I call a winter cool room, with hardly any produce, I was making my own pasta, sausages, smoking meats to stretch the $ further, I guess that resourcefulness gave us the edge and the hat. Then the GFC of 2008/2009 was another sort of challenge and resilience!

What do you love most about being a chef?

The strong connection between farmers, chefs and diners, when everyone “gets it” it’s magical.

What’s your favourite thing to whip up when you’re at home with your family or friends?

I love BBQ and smoking outdoors, the fire, flavours and sharing of food

Tell us about Ginger Catering – what experience are you trying to create for diners?

It’s a big picture, a great community space like the arboretum, food that has connection to place and land, staff that are well trained and cared for, that translates into a dining experience for everyone, whether it be café, restaurant, wedding, school formal and all rights of passage that celebrate life.

How would you describe your food philosophy?

Our philosophy is good, clean, fair food. It’s from the ground up, in everything we do.

What are your favourite places to eat in Canberra?

Raku for brilliant clean flavours, Pilot for innovation, Ainslie IGA where I shop.

What appliance/s found in the Winning kitchen/showroom would you love to get your hands on?

I want one of those big mother ovens/cooktops that powers out lots of cooking ability! My old stove at the farm is embarrassing (a bit cobblers’ children) so when we get around to a kitchen makeover, my wish list is vast!

You can visit the Winning Appliances Kingston showroom at 80 Giles Street in Kingston or browse online at winningappliances.com.au.

Photography: 5foot Photography

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