Fans of MasterChef may find one of the current contestants a little familiar. Brendan Pang is the local legend and master chef behind Fremantle pop-up sensation Bumplings operating in a converted Airstream in The Sunshine Harvester Works (formerly The Mantle) collaborative venue on Beach Street.
Brendan has been in Melbourne since the start of 2020 filming the latest series of MasterChef.
While Bumplings is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 and Brendan is in Melbourne filming this series, he’s still very much connected to the port city. He’s using this time to reflect on his food identity and work on new projects for Bumplings.
He misses the creativity of the space, saying Bumplings is not just a pop up kitchen but a studio, where he gets to play around with ingredients. He works with Mauritian and Chinese influences - Mauritian is a mix of cultures, Chinese, Indian, French and Creole cooking. Most people haven’t tried it but they find there’s a familiarity – he describes it as ‘ugly delicious food’.
We asked Brendan how he got started…
“Food for me comes from family and my inspiration comes from the emotion and nostalgic memories of sitting around the table. It’s influenced us all – mum now runs a cake business, my uncle has a café and my aunty has joined the Sunshine Harvester group with the Pantry 92 pop up. It’s been a natural progression for us.”
Where does the name bumplings come from? With a love of dumplings and a desire to avoid Chinese takeaway clichés, Brendan swapped the first letter of his name with the ‘d’ of dumplings to create a new word ‘bumplings’.
Of the Sunshine Harvester project, Brendan says it’s awesome.
“Julian and I were school mates. He reached out to me after season 10 of MasterChef as he was working on the set up phase of Sunshine. I love the whole community space and working in collaboration with local suppliers, producers and food vendors.
I’ve always been drawn to Freo. Why, it’s hard to explain. It’s a city that’s always changing. There’s a buzz and a lot of community vibe with people supporting each other and chefs passionate about WA sustainable produce and ingredients. There’s a lot happening from north to south Freo.”
Favourite places in Freo?
“There’s so much more than you think and there are some magical corners. I love the small Italian place opposite the town hall. I discovered it a couple of years ago, it’s amazing. I do tell people about Parlapa but not too many people.”
Outside of MasterChef Brendan is cooking up a storm, keeping meals simple, staying indoors and using as many fresh ingredients as he can. He’s obsessed with pasta and has been working a lot with dough. Perhaps a taste of things to come at Bumplings…
Inside The Sunshine Harvester Works you can also find Rays Satay, Dingo Sauce Co, Fish Boss, Pantry 92, Gratias Organic, Freo Pizza Factory, Short Order Burger Co, Stampede Gelato and Union Brewery Distillery.
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Images: courtesy of Brendan Pang