The chefs taking part in Tasting Australia’s L Plates sessions have a master recipe for sharing culinary skills.

Tasting Australia is about eating and drinking well. It’s also about trying new things.

There are 14 sessions in this year’s L Plates series, in which food lovers will be given the opportunity to try their hands at new culinary skills under the guidance of 15 well-known and emerging Australian chefs.

The series is presented by TAFE SA Regency International Centre and makes use of the school’s commercial kitchens.

The lineup includes Daniel Murphy of Fino Seppeltsfield, Kane Pollard of Topiary Café, Katie Allen of Aurora Restaurant and Fabian Lehmann of Maxwell Wines Restaurant.

Fabian speaks modestly about his skills, but he has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe and will take his group through a three-course dinner party menu that he says anyone can prepare at home.

“We’re going to keep it modern and impressive,” says Fabian, who plans to start with a presentation before the session gets hands-on.

“I’ll walk everyone through what we’re going to do… and then I’ll join [each person] and show them how to do the different tasks.”

This year will be the first time patisserie chef and TAFE SA lecturer Jon McKeigue has run a L Plates session.

His 25-year career has seen him work under one of the world’s most successful celebrity chefs before joining the Hilton Adelaide in 2008.

He will take dessert lovers through verrine making, promising they’ll get a “glimpse of some classic and modern patisserie techniques”.

“The best part will be the sampling at the end!” Jon says.

Daniella Guevara

Chef Daniella Guevara says L Plates gives foodies a chance to connect with their favourite chefs during sessions that are “super fun”.

Originally from Mexico City, Daniella is the owner of La Popular Taqueria. She’ll be showing participants how to make tortilla dough and authentic Mexican taco fillings, not the Tex-Mex style that abounds locally.

Daniella has an easy-going style and is passionate about sharing her culture.

“It’s an opportunity for me to explain more about Mexican food and [the traditions] in Mexico around these different dishes,” she says.

Daniella laughs, “I like to say that they can ask me anything and I will always respond. And I’m very loud!”

Terry Intarakhamhaeng of Soi 38 is also keen to share his cultural knowledge and cooking skills, which were nurtured in his family’s restaurant in Thailand.

So, it comes as a surprise to hear that working with food wasn’t his first career choice.

“As a youth you don’t want to work for your family business because you’re told what to do,” says Terry. “So you run away.”

This meant studying environmental science, working in Germany and the UK, and then as a trekker guide in the mountain regions of Thailand, before landing a job at Adelaide Zoo.

Realising he could channel his passion for the environment into cooking, he opened Soi 38, serving up regional Thai cuisine with locally sourced ingredients and minimal waste.

Terry says the foodies at his L Plates session can expect plenty of insider cooking tips to improve their Thai cooking skills “and impress their friends at home.”

Jon McKeigue says working behind the scenes in previous years has shown him how much fun L Plates is for chefs and participants.

“They always come away really excited about what they’ve done – and really happy that they can take a few items home.”

All of last year’s L Plates sessions sold out fast, so book a spot now.