We all surely know the blackberry bush. They’re all over the countryside with their prickly stems that leave your hands and lips an elegant purple colour after picking and eating too many. The blackberry bush has been declared an introduced weed of significance – but hey, they taste awesome and if you pick them wild, they’re free!
Last weekend after visiting the producers day at The Lake House in Daylesford, it occurred to me that it is brambling season and after a conversation with friends they pointed me in the right direction of some safe blackberry bushes. But here’s the disclaimer, as a weed the majority of blackberry bushes around the countryside have been sprayed with weed killer. It’s a major problem under the label of ‘foraging’ for wild foods – is it safe to eat? This aside, if you have friends of the country folk type, call them and get out there quickly to find some of the finest wild food bounty we have on offer.
After an hour, scratched and purpled mouthed we collected our bounty and calculated around 4 kilo’s. Not bad pleasurable work. The next day at Circa a special dessert was made to utilise them of a vanilla macaroon, white chocolate mousse, blackberries and strawberry sorbet. Simple yet tasty that let the sweet, slightly earthy flavour to come through trumps.
What to do with the rest….i could make my aunty Betty’s blackberry jam recipe, which actually reminds me that it’s elderberry and crab apple season too, we used to pick them together along the old wagon roads of Yorkshire. What I think I shall do though is to freeze them down in small containers and make a smoothie each morning for breakfast until they’re used up. It’s a simple recipe:
Throw in a blender,
- organic rolled oats
- banana
- yoghurt
- the blackberries
- and a little apple
- a cup of full fat milk preferable timboon organic
And blitz it up!!!!!!!!!!
The humble radish is experiencing a resurgence and is without a doubt this seasons ‘it’ vegetable. At the recent Madridfusion gastronomic summit a number of chefs were presenting dishes that focused just on radishes. Rock on I say, I love the little firey buggers!
This understatedly cool vegetable is used in many cuisines. The Japanese love the daikon variety and is a staple in their cooking, the Lebanese love to braise them and the English, well, we are a bit simple and just slice them into an iceberg salad.
They are currently on the Bar menu at Circa prepared quite simply – halved with a little bit of butter piped onto them then finished with a sprinkle of herb salt. At home I like to quarter them, toss with a little shredded parsley and sorrel, dress with grain mustard vinaigrette and serve with smoked trout.
Below are the description’s of the four radishes I source from Daylesford Organics for my menu:
French Breakfast – red long white tip Oblong and blunt, rose-scarlet with a white tip. White, crisp flesh, mildly pungent flavor, top quality.
Helios- named for the Greek God of the sun. Pale yellow, sweet Spring radish with white flesh.
Philadelphia White Box – Historic radish variety. Nice and mild.
Plum Purple – Unique deep purple round roots. Firm white flesh, sweet and mild all season, hardy and adaptable, never pithy.
Have we lost the art of preserving? Going back a few decades, preserving was the only way to keep foods fresh. It was a matter of necessity in an era when imported and packaged foods didn’t fill our supermarket shelves. If you wanted to enjoy apricots in winter, you would’ve had to have preserved some from the previous season. And it was also a matter of economy- in times of plenty it makes sense to save for the harder times. Preserving and conserving is cheap and easy. All it takes is a little time, love and care.
It’s something that has always been a passion of mine and since we are in the depths of summer with an abundance of fruit and vegetables it’s great to go back to that time honoured tradition.
The cherry season has been and gone but at Circa we will have home made cherry brandy, pickled cherries and cherry jam for a long time to come. My sous chef Jake has been making cherry brandy for the past three years now and it’s such a delight when the first morello cherries come into the kitchen from Judy Barne’s Cloud End cherries in Daylesford. And I have to take my hat off to Jakey- his cherry jam is awesome!
Myself, I made 3kg of green tomato chutney from my 8 tomato plants at my partner’s Mum’s house in Euroa. I forget how simple but elegant preserving is. If you keep your eyes open for anything that is at the height of its season it will always be plentiful, beautiful and cheap. For example- to take advantage of the relatively short French tarragon season, every year I’ll get in a few extra bunches from our fruit and veg supplier and make a big batch of tarragon vinegar. This is best left to infuse and intensify for quite a while (at least 6 months) but it’s well worth the wait. A little goes a long way and it is a great base for numerous dressing and sauces.
The tomato season is a little late this year but the first of the heirloom varieties have come into the kitchen and are now on the menu. We save any trimmings and make a delightful tomato chutney we use on the breakfast menu.
Below is the recipe I use. Give it a go
Tomato Ketchup (for chutney)
3.5kg tomatoes roughly chopped
1 kg apples, peeled, cored and chopped
6 onions, peeled and chopped
4 cups sugar
1 quart malt vinegar
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 black peppercorns
12 whole allspice
12 cloves
Place all the ingredients in a stainless steel pan, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer; you want to cook until the ingredients are a pulp, which should take approx 2 hours. Remove from the heat and press through the sieve. Return the resulting mixture to the pan and heat to reunite it after its pressing experience. Boil for 2 or 3 minutes and then decant into sterilised jars and seal. Allow to rest for a few days to find its feet.
I believe the memories of food during childhood are savoured forever. I can clearly remember when the local carnies would set up the circus in my home town of Barnsley. They had a van of corn where fifty pence bought you a cob of corn, dripping in butter with salt, more salt and a little white pepper.
Last Saturday at the Collingwood Farmers Market I met the lovely John and Pam Hobson from Jonella farm. From January to April they grow amazing fresh corn at their farm in Cardinia. You can buy it fresh or just as it was in my childhood memory. But it does need just the right amount of salt.
Walking around the market I was pondering how I could use corn on my menu. Whispers in the back of my mind said ‘keep it simple’, so as of next week when we receive our first batch of 150 baby corns in their little sheaf’s it shall go on the bar menu. I’ll serve it with a little pot of clarified butter and three salts to do as you like. The salt types will be smoked, herb and prickly ash.
After serving 150 portions of turkey on Christmas Day, I was definitely in need of a break. A relaxing week in Noosa visiting some wonderful producers was exactly what was needed and has inspired some dishes on my next menu.
It was at the Noosa farmer’s market where I indulged in Noosa spanner crab, Mooloolaba prawns and the most delicious and fresh yellowfin tuna imaginable, here you can buy a whole tray of mangoes for $14! I’m currently working on a mango splice dessert and a simple claypot style fish and crab stew – both inspired by this visit.
Next, was a day trip to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland where I spent a morning with Richard Mohan the owner and grower at Midyim Eco Resort in Maleny. Richard produces and supplies top-end restaurants with his Pimientos de Padron, a small green pepper originating from a region in Galicia in North West Spain. The Padron pepper is a small sweet tasting green pepper with delicate flesh and every one in ten of them is hot. Eating them is a bit like a game of Russian roulette.
These peppers are grown locally by Andrew Wood of Glenora Heritage Produce and will be available in Feb/March at the inner – Melbourne farmers markets. The best way to serve them is to simply pan-fry them in oil and then serve with salt, perfect with a crisp beer while relaxing in the sun!
