What do you get when you mix two classic Australian dishes, the Lamington and lamb?

Bendigo chef Justin McPhail with
 his beloved Lambington, a lamb-
  based dessert he created. 

It looks like a sweet, comes complete with a jam filling and a sprinkling of coconut but this is no ordinary sweet.

It's a lamb-based dessert called the Lambington.

Self-taught Bendigo chef, 27-year-old Justin McPhail is the creator of the dish.

His introduction to cooking reads like an Australian romance between a man and his love of beer and food.

"I got into food through home brewing," he said.

He wanted to further understand the compositions of food and in particular how the flavours worked.

"I figured the best way to do that was to research food and cook a lot more food and then apply that to my brewing, "he said.

"But then it got out of hand and cooking pretty much took over as my primary passion."

In addition to being a chef Justin is also co-founder of Bendigo Beer, an organisation that promotes craft beer.

"I've always been passionate about food and beverage," Justin said.

He only made the leap to professional cooking a few years ago after quitting his office job to pursue cooking.

Watching TV one night, he was inspired by self-taught experimental chef Heston Blumenthal, known for his scientific approach to cooking.

But Justin was also attracted to Heston's playful approach to cooking and in particular his interest in historical cooking of the fifteenth-century.

"When live pigs were presented as if they were ready to be carved up and then they would jump from the table," said Justin.

So, in his pursuit of experimentation and in his search for flavours, combined with a love of puns, the Lambington was born.

It debuted at the Festival of Lamb last year in Bendigo and out of 60 people served, only two people didn't like it.

Colin Thompson from Bendigo described it lovingly in his Facebook post.

"More Australian than blowies on a meat pie in the back of the ute, hittin' a kanga while crossin' the Nullarbor on the way to a barbie with ya mates and favourite sheila," he said.

Like many creations there were a few attempts.

"The first one, involved a pressed lambs tongue with a raspberry jus and some coconut," he said.

This current iteration is more involved.

It contains a locally sourced lamb from Maiden Gully, just out of Bendigo, which is slow braised then shredded up and mixed with chocolate. The mixture is then folded through some meringue and shaped into cookies and baked.

The two cookies are then joined together with homemade raspberry jam finished off with shredded coconut. The raspberries are also sourced from a local supplier in Goornong.

He likes the transition of flavours from sweet to savoury, creating a culinary journey for the pallete.

"The best part about this dish is it starts off sweet, and you think you are eating a lamington, and as you are starting to chew through a bit more, a lot more of the savory notes come through," he said.

"Then at the end you've got the lamb with the spiced mix coming through."

Being a beer fan, the dish is best served with beer he said, preferably darker ale or red ale, or even a Shiraz.

Justin will be entering his dish in the ABC Australia Cooks competition.

The competition is searching for a dish that best represents central Victoria using local produce. It's about real Australian cooking that includes ingredients unique to this region.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/03/10/4194612.htm