Coconut

For an even easier banana sundae, pick up the coconut ice-cream from your favourite gelateria.

"My pit-smoked sweet potato is inspired by the hangi dinners I used to enjoy with my family in New Zealand," says Pontoon chef Lance Cameron. "It's served with sheep's milk yoghurt or goat's curd and lots of interesting textures, including toasted buckwheat, puffed wild rice, sunflower seeds, pepitas and crisp coconut. Feel free to add nuts, too - almonds, cashews and walnuts all work really well."

Try Canberra restaurant XO's innovative recipe for a silky pandan-flavoured panna cotta topped with a crunchy sesame tuile.

Salty, sweet and sour, these grilled prawns with tamarind make a perfect match for the coconut rice and juicy watermelon in this recipe.

A granita is your best friend when it comes to easy summer entertaining. This lime version is spiked with coconut rum; spiced rum would also work well. Look for papaya that's ripe, but not too soft - the flavour becomes a bit strong for this dish.

This coconut-muscovado cake is bursting with flavour and the freshness of watermelon.

Dig in – that frosty layer of coconut sorbet gives way to herby sorrel jelly and sweet mini-spheres of piel de sapo melon.

Christine Manfield's coconut crab and green mango salad- Combine crab and 100ml of dressing in a large bowl and stand for 5 minutes for flavours to mingle.

If you're after a light cake, this one's for you. A lightly boozy, tangy icing adds a little lusciousness.

A staple of Christine Manfield's recipe repertoire, this soy chicken is slow-braised in a master stock, taking on the aromatic flavours of Sichuan and liquorice root. The tomato-chilli sambal keeps for a month, so feel free to make extra.