Taste of the Territory

Who is Jimmy Shu:

Jimmy Shu, the Sri Lankan-born Chinese chef, famous for his Hanuman restaurants across Darwin and Alice Springs that fuse Thai, Tamil, and Nonya cuisines (the latter being a 400-year-old tradition combining Chinese, Malay and Indonesian flavours), also found himself working with ingredients he'd never encountered before. In Arnhem Land, Kakadu, and the Larrakia Nation outside Darwin, Shu found fresh inspiration from bush foods.

About the show:

Taste of the Territory is an 8-part series that takes you on a culinary journey to the multicultural melting pot of Australia’s Northern Territory. Host and celebrated chef, Jimmy Shu, explores the diverse food scene of tropical Darwin through the sights, smells, breathtaking landscapes, and stories of the Top End’s most celebrated and hidden foodies! Join Jimmy as he lifts the lid on the family recipes of Darwin’s home cooks, tastes the street food and local produce of the famous Darwin markets, and delves into the amazing flavours of Indigenous bush foods. Jimmy Shu’s Taste of the Territory takes you on an adventure to meet the region’s most fascinating people through their love affair with food!

Part travelogue, part food odyssey, and part cooking show, Jimmy Shu’s Taste of the Territory is as much about showcasing the kaleidoscope of culture and personal stories of these incredible characters as it is about the food they produce. Darwin is not just a melting pot of food but a haven for opportunity and hope to the many waves of migrants who have often overcome immense hardship to start a new life here. Over decades and across generations, they have made Darwin their home and contributed significantly to its tapestry of identity through their culture and food.

This has shaped not only what locals eat, but also the very essence of a multicultural food palette of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, Cambodian, Malay, Indonesian food that is created in the home kitchens of Darwinites every day. As Jimmy’s friends share their food and recipes, they will also share their own stories of resilience, what bought them to Darwin and the childhood memories and culture that inspires their most personal expression of who they are: their food.