THE lessons that Launceston-born chef Daniel Garwood learned in seven months in Europe will remain after the jet lag wears off.
The 20-year-old, who started his career with Country Club Tasmania, was the inaugural recipient of the Slow Food Hobart scholarship last year.
The award gave Garwood a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a cultural exchange, exhibit Tasmanian produce at world food fair Salone del Gusto and work with mentor chefs and artisan producers in countries including Italy, Sweden and Belgium.
Garwood said a highlight of his trip had been cooking for the King of Sweden while working at Michelin-starred restaurant Faviken. Another experience in Italy saw him take a cooking class.
"I taught them about modern Australian food and foraging. I walked around the school and took students and we did a bit of foraging."
Garwood said his passion for slow food - a philosophy of "good, clean and fair food" - was born from a natural curiosity of the world around him.
"My family always went on bushwalks and I was always looking for something to eat," he said. "I have a natural curiosity for food and trying to figure out the science behind it."
His work so impressed Belgian restaurant in de wulf that he will return later this year for work.
He said his long-term goal was to effect legislative change in Tasmania to accommodate a slow food restaurant.
Garwood will present two masterclass workshops for TasTAFE Drysdale students this month and continue to work with Slow Food Hobart and Registered Training Organisations to spread the movement's philosophy.
