Anthony: The Croat and the Irishman cooking kangaroo. How multicultural is that?
Colin: After the nose-to-tail trend really took off ten years ago, there were a lot of people championing wild Australian meats such as kangaroo and wallaby, including Ben Shewry. We were doing wallaby, but it wasn’t very highly regarded back then. Then Noma came along, championing native ingredients and people’s mindsets changed. Now the trend has kicked in and people are finally starting to take it seriously.

Anthony: I’d still say wild meat is nowhere near as mainstream as, say, beef or chicken.
Colin: No way, but it’s more acceptable now.

Anthony: The frustrating thing about us Australians is that if kangaroo was something we imported from France or Italy, we’d pay $100/kilo for it because it would be exotic. But because it’s on our coat of arms, we’ve got flashbacks to Skippy, when in fact kangaroo is native, so the carbon footprint is tiny, they’re in abundance and it’s lean and nutritious.

Nearby diner interjects: “You’re famous for rich food, do you care about healthy food?”

Anthony: Good point, you always say fat is flavour.
Colin: I love both lean meat and fat, you don’t have to pigeonhole yourself. If you just do fatty food, the market shrinks to be very small. I eat healthier since I’ve had kids, and I’m more accustomed to the climate since I moved here years ago, cooking lighter food for the warmer seasons.

Anthony: Ha! Did you struggle cooking the roo, or was it easy?
Colin: I cooked it rare to medium-rare. I chargrilled it on the barbecue and it was easy, but you could also chargrill it on the stovetop and treat it like lamb loin.
Anthony: Good tip. You’re on fire mate! But what happens when this issue makes it back to Ireland and your mum sees you’ve been cooking kangaroo, and there’s no colcannon with it? Would you be allowed back in?

Colin: Ha! I don’t think they’d let me back in! But I’m finally big in Ireland – My Kitchen Rules is showing there now!

Here’s the recipe for Colin Fassnidge’s barbecued kangaroo with charred corn and avocado.