WILD TALK
Juan Peralta Ramos
Juan Peralta Ramos photographed Shene Estate & Distillery, Tassie
Wild Life
WILD NAME
I’ve realised although my name is short, its quite tricky. Pronouncing the “J” seem to be a impossible mission for many. So, to be honest, I’m full of very different nicknames. In brazil they call me Ruan, English speaking countries, Johnny. Where I live they call me “Peralta”, it’s a short version of my surname. So when you have to pick a name be aware of its multiple variations! I like to be called Juan.
IN YOUR OWN BREATH
I’m a young (not so young any more), person, that since early years questioned the modern and accepted standards of living.
I can so clearly remember my childhood year on the family farm working in the vegetable garden and watering the roses with my father - and then going back to the city where I used to live and could not understand why everything was wrapped in plastic in supermarkets.
Since young I’ve sought of a different way of living - that is my motto. Also the reason why a named my little house “The Black Sheep”!
WILDEST PLACE YOU’VE TRAVELLED
To be honest? Tasmania. By far.
I recall so clearly, my first day in Tasmania, surfing with Sarah and Nathan. What seemed to be a normal surfing day ended up being (at least for me that was completely jet lagged), a kind of a survival morning. We went by jet ski to a river mouth, Nathan wanted to leave me alone floating and went to go look for Sarah. That was the original plan… in actual fact, I was hugging Nathan, begging him not to leave me. We were at least 1 km from the coast! I remember pleading, “ Ey mate I heard terrible stories about this country please don’t leave me here!” So we drove back to the coast and I waited and Sarah was left alone floating! But white sharks don’t eat locals, the like foreigners… so we where all safe…
That sensation of being in the wild was a good start for getting to know Tassie. As wild as Tassie is!
Wild Kitchen
WOULDN’T go to the wild without these 5
Definitely my PUMA MACHETE, waterproof matches, my Blundstones or “Blunnies” - I use them everyday since the day I bought them in Hobart, from going to a party or to work with the chainsaw in the woods, literally. Wire, in the last few years I came to the conclusion that there’s nothing you cant do with wire; from fishing, to cooking, to fixing a car. Where I live they are wire experts. Last but not least, my surfboard. You never know when you might come across a secret, wonderfull wave.
WILDEST PLACE YOU’VE EVER COOKED
In fact, I think I’ve got two - that both made me feel the adrenaline of outdoor cooking (especially since one involves being hit by a big storm).
The first experience was in Satellite Island with Sarah. We fashioned a wooden cross to cook an entire rib over the fire. We literally experienced all 4 seasons in an hour. From beautiful and sunny, to raining cats and dogs, angry storms followed by incredible rainbows with deers walking freely in green pastures… to storms again! We had to move the table four times - it was truly wild.
The second experience, not as wild as the nature of Satellite, but more of a wild city experience, I was on a European tour and made a pop up dinner in a well known club in Notting Hill, London. I actually landed only one day before the dinner which made finding a grill an impossible mission. I didn’t expect it because everyone in my country has a grill iron! As if that wasn’t enough of a debacle, a big storm was coming… I had ordered an entire rib to cook outside - and the chef of the club suggested we cancel the outdoor rooftop cook and try to cook the ribs in a conventional kitchen oven. I said to myself WTF?! … before deciding we should do it anyway. I asked for an iron chair and a wire, hung the rib to the back of the chair and used a couple of tables to build a little roof to stop the rain. It was slow roasting, so I had to maintain the fire for 8 hrs. I did it, everything was perfect, the chair was an excellent grill and the wire secured the meat. My improvised roof was also perfection. I was pretty darn proud when one of the guests approached the rooftop telling me, “Juan, you’re not a chef, you’re an engineer!” That moment was probably the turning point in my professional life. I know it’s a bit clichéd, but really showed me that nothing is impossible. You just need wire!
WILDEST RECIPE you’ve tried
Shooting a documentary about Latin-American traditions, I went fishing with some local fisherman in Valparaiso, a coastal city of Chile. We went to catch the famous Humboldt giant squid. How we catch them would be a whole other story. We had an incandescent bait and a long rope. This creatures attack the bait and from one moment to another you are pulling the rope as fast as you can and the first thing you see are the enormous tentacles and the mouth and when you realise you are full of black ink that this fascinating monster is spraying as a method of defence. The squid weights more than 40 kilos. In the afternoon we had to shoot the recipe. To be honest, I’ve never followed a recipe in my life. Of course I had an idea, but there’s nothing much better than following your instincts, that’s the key for cooking and the answer I give everyone who questions how or why I cook.
We were in paradisiac bay, on a sunny day, and was planning to cook on the beach. I improvised a mise en place in the sand and the cameras started recording. To boil the tentacles I used ocean water, while it was heating the camera guy started asking if I was sure of what I was doing and if I’d ever used ocean water before?! “Of course not!” After boiling the squid, I heated a cast iron pan and sealed it up nice and crispy. To honour the Andes mountains I accomanied it with potatoes and a fresh side salad of avocado, tomato and roughly chopped fresh coriander - typical of the Chilean way. I think that “recipe” was a nice way of honouring the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. An incredible creature, known for its depth and a tuber from its high mountains… It was for suurrrrre a wild day.
WILDEST ITEM IN YOUR KITCHEN
Picture below -
Photos of Juan’s kitchen (care of Juan).
Wild Business
YOUR CAREER CHOICE IS A WILD (NON-TRADITIONAL) ONE, HOW DID YOU START?
Accidentally.
I always loved fires, to cook and the outdoors. Buenos Aires is one of the biggest metropolis and is next to one of the most spectacular delta formations that end in Rio de la Plata - the wildest river in the world. When I was a kid, I went on a sailing trip with my father and discovered this amazing jungle next to the city I lived in. Sailing in that same river, many years later, I took a tv producer to a nearby Island where it was proposed that I feature on his upcoming series about adventure cooking. I told him I wasn’t a chef, how could I host a series about cooking? He calmly responded, “just do what you want, as usual… and everything will be fine.” So I did what he said, we made some authentic food and that’s how my career started - an accident!
DID YOU EVER THINK THIS IS TOO WILD? I’LL NEVER MAKE A CAREER FROM IT?
More than a matter of ‘wildness’, I think it’s a matter of consciousness. For me, this is the hard, but the right way. Defending and using local produce is not a marketing strategy, but it’s a way of supporting others who care about the environment and is my way of supporting their efforts.
I’m committed to working with small and certified producers, organic or biodynamic produce. It’s making a statement and a way of contributing to a better world.
Last year Sarah and I hosted a couple of workshops in Tassie and Byron. Our intention was to raise people’s awareness on sustainable cooking through highlighting the benefits of ingredients like grass fed meat, line caught fish, organic wines and fresh produce. Everyone was so excited to learn new techniques, creative ways to cook on a fire and learn new recipes. There’s also such a responsibility in Australia (and everywhere), when cooking on a fire outdoors to educate people about safe practices. We are part of a generation that understands that every action has its consequences, there is no planet B.
ADVICE YOU’D GIVE SOMEONE TRYING TO START A CAREER IN STARTUPS/EXPERIENCE
I’d tell them to listen to this song from Australian band AC/DC; “It’s a long way to the top (If you wanna Rock ‘n Roll.)”
WHAT’s NEXT?
Well… I’ve cancelled 7 plane tickets this year so far. Europe, Africa, Patagonia and Australia. I have recently worked with an Argentinian film director to create a documentary on Uruguay. We were on a promotional tour to a European film festival then an event in Morocco. Sarah and I had plans for a trip to Patagonia before hosting our second round of workshops in Australia. We had our plans, everything was perfectly scheduled and I thought I’d be living a very different life right now. No one saw a pandemic coming…
So, plans have shifted - being forced to stay home in Uruguay has actually been a surprisingly nice change of pace. When this first became reality I was really anxious about the closed borders. But now? I’ve finished my building my house and I’ve stopped rushing. I’ve slowed down, I’ve planted new crop, I’ve created a vegetable garden, I’m surfing again, building fires. Slowing down has caused me to fall in love with my country again.
We are always planning weeks, months, years ahead. Sometimes that means we forget to enjoy the process.
So, for right now, I’m happy to be home and safe.
That is, until they open the borders ;)
Catch Juan in late 2020 hosting workshops with Sarah in Byron & Tassie… if they open the borders!
Images: Jonathan Wherrett and Juan’s own
Location: Shene Estate & Distillery and, Tasmania.