roughcut issue#1 June 2015

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THE

ARTISAN ISSUE

No.1K June 2015

ALL BY HAND

P9 Bhutanese Pork CurryP10 Celebrate Craft BeerP25 In Season: Killer BeetrootP32 Delicious Winter PudsP34 School’s in: The Future of Butchery

FOOD IdeasFLAVOUR

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CONTENTS

IDEAS7 First Bite: Banging out a great curry

10 The Craft of Draught: Great drops inside one of Australian best small breweries

25 RAW: The dirt on beetroot – how to grow, choose and cook

31 A Taste of Colour: Be inspired by winter greens

34 The Cure: School’s in for a new generation of butchers

53 Snapshot: A brief history of colour splashed on the page

54 Home: Things we’re loving this winter

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This is Charming flavours and captivating ideas chopped into bite-sized pieces.z

In a world where there are already so many conversations about cookery, you could be forgiven for asking why we need another. Well, is a little bit different, a little bit more. I think it’s about rebalancing.

Great food goes beyond what we find on a plate - it should be emotional, cerebral, even occasionally comical. Because to really love the flavours, you have to love the ideas, and understand a little bit of the cultural context in which food operates.

So let me offer you the invitation. Don’t settle for pretty pictures and some scant detail on process. Insist on more. Indulge that foodophile inside with a loving exploration of some of the more interesting recesses of what food, ingredients and our culinary culture can offer.

I promise it will be delicious and easy to digest. A selection of interesting ideas, rough cut.

Ed.

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FOOD Ideas FLAVOUR

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Published by Fast Ed Media P/L

PUBLISHEREd Halmagyi

CREATIVE EDITOR, ART DIRECTION,ORIGINAL ARTWORK AND GRAPHIC DESIGNLeah Halmagyi

RECIPES, PHOTOGRAPHY AND FOOD STYLINGEd Halmagyi

FOR MORE RECIPES AND IDEAS VISITfast-ed.com.au

THANKS TO: The Australian Hotel and Brewery, The Beer Diva, TAFE NSW, SWSi Granville, Mona Vale Quality Butcher, Australian Pork Limited, MINTRAC, MLA, Breville, Onekind.

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RECIPES9 Phaksha Paa: Delicate flavours

from the Happy Kingdom

23 Braised Brisket in Dark Lager: Why beer and beef were meant for each other

29 Thyme fazzoletti with baked beetroot: Embrace garden-fresh Italian inspiration

32 The Four: Irresistible puddings to help you survive the cold

51 Beef Rib Roast: Everything you need to make a dinner table show-stopper

57 Pomegranate Julep: A cold weather cocktail with old-fashioned style

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For the largest part of human history all food was artisan. Simple, bespoke, unique and completely local. Every loaf crafted by hand, every cheese the product of individual talent, every meal a distinct reflection of the cook.

And then modernity happened, and continued happening. Myriad benefits have flowed from the industrial and agricultural revolutions, advantages that have enabled our civilisation to flourish. Easy access to safe and reliable sources of food can be counted amongst the most important.

But there are consequences of mass production that grew unseen and unsuspected, against which our culinary heritage wasn’t adequately defended. The concentration of manufacture began an inexorable slide towards blandness, as the complex array of historic flavours filtered into a homogeneous mass, featureless and indistinct. Our cuisine threatened by dilution.

A century and a half after the industrial revolution began, we have re-entered the artisan age. Clawing back ground from the onward march of attenuation, the 21st century has erupted with a clarion call for craft foods.

Some are rising at impressive rates - craft brewing is an avatar. Others are yet to grapple with the impacts of industry, and face imminent extinction without a strong and meaningful intervention. Sadly, in Australia, butchery and smallgoods are in precisely this struggle. Perhaps, though, there may be hope.

This issue of Roughcut is dedicated to all artisan and craft producers - an acknowledgement of their hard work, a heartfelt paean to the colour and texture they bring to our world.

Artisan is a celebration of food, crafted by hand.

MANIFESTO

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MORTAR& PESTLE

When it comes to making curry paste, you really need a mortar and pestle. Slow-grinding tears and shreds the filaments of fresh curry ingredients, mixing and combining them without releasing excess moisture. This results in best-possible flavour when cooked. Using a food processor may be faster, but blended curry pastes are typically damp and lose aroma intensity as that water content is slowly evaporated when fried.

Correct use of a mortar (the bowl) and pestle (the club) is a combination of pounding to break up larger ingredients, and scraping against the sides to tear apart ones that are fibrous. For additional friction and more effective grinding, add two teaspoons of salt to the mortar for every cup of ingredients.

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• 2 large pork hocks

• 2 tsp Szechuan peppercorns

• 1 Tbsp ground dried perilla leaf*

• 8cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped

• 12 cloves garlic, chopped

• 3cm piece turmeric, peeled and chopped

• 2 tsp fine salt

• 6 small red chillies, trimmed and chopped

• 2 Tbsp ghee

• 3 brown onions, sliced

• 1L best-quality beef stock

• 2 cups dried pork belly, cut into small pieces**

• 2 cups daikon, diced

• 4 cups mustard greens or purple kale, leaves only, torn

• 2 long green chillies, sliced

• red rice, to serve

*Available from Asian grocers

**A Chinese version called ‘Lup Yook’ is widely available from Asian grocers{

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SERVES 4

1 Place the pork hocks in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over a high heat and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for 5 minutes, then drain and discard the water. Dry the pork hocks well.

2 Combine the Szechuan peppercorns and ground perilla leaf in a mortar and pound to crush. Add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and fine salt and continue pounding. When almost smooth, add the red chillies and pound several more times.

3 Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over a moderate heat. Fry the pork hocks for 5 minutes, turning often until browned, then set aside. Add the onions to the saucepan and fry until lightly softened and beginning to brown, then stir in the garlic mixture and cook for 5 minutes, until very aromatic.

4 Return the pork hocks to the saucepan and pour in the stock, adding water to cover if necessary. Fit the lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook gently for 2 hours. Add the dried pork belly and daikon, then cook for a further 2 hours, until the meat is very tender.

5 Mix in the mustard greens and green chillies, then cook for 5 more minutes, until just wilted. Serve with red rice.

PHAKSHA PAA: BHUTANESE PORK HOCK CURRY WITH DAIKON AND PERILLA

THESE BEAUTIFUL JAGGEDLEAVES ARE PERILLA,

also known as ‘wild sesame leaf’, an Asian member of the mint family. Used in Chinese and Bhutanese cookery for its distinct lemony-earthy flavour, perilla is also prescribed in traditional Chinese medicine to boost the immune system, especially to treat a common cold.

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THE CRAFTOF DRAUGHT

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THE CRAFTOF DRAUGHT

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Yes, even here in newly-suburban Rouse Hill, craft beer is the principal narrative in the

story of how we drink. Double-hopping, wild-fermentation, Lambics, Guezes, squealers and growlers. Our beer is now as complex, layered and incomprehensible as the rest of our life. Craft beer has taken over.

But is this a good thing? Do we really benefit from the rise and rise of artisan brewing, or has the restorative simplicity of a good cold beer been erased with our tacit acquiescence, supplanted by a culture of mandated novelty and unnecessary innovation?

Perhaps the issue at hand is not the beer itself, but merely the sideshow. Maybe it’s just the manner in which marketers have adulterated the core value for which craft brewing truly stands, festooning it instead with romantic fables that appear to sit at contretemps to the real world of fermentation.

So, is craft beer all it’s made out to be?

On this question, it seems that the jury may still be out.

ON THE NORTH-WESTERN PERIPHERY OF SYDNEY, SANDWICHED BETWEEN A BIG BOX HARDWARE STORE AND REMNANT FRAGMENTS OF THE CITY’S HISTORIC FARMLAND, CREATIVITY IS BREWING.

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paper-napkin analysis will deduce that this is a massive quantity – around 4½ million cases. Few if any of Australia’s independent brewhouses will ever even come close to this amount.

Their second strategy is more nebulous and prosaic, possibly erring on the side of deliberate imprecision. The CBIA argues that “Craft beer is born of a mindset, an idea between art and science executed by the dedicated skill of a brewer”. Really? Does craft brewing boil down to nothing more than thinking like a brewer and being prepared to put in the hours?

There’s no hipster chic here, just

a quiet and attentive approach

to his adopted art.

K

The siting of the Australian Hotel and Brewery is somewhat of an amusing allegory

for the tale of our nation’s beer consumption. When the business was founded in 2010, Annangrove Rd in Rouse Hill was still dairy and beef cattle land, just a dusty back road on the bucolic edge of a sprawling city.

However, Sydney’s population pressures being what they are, shopping centres and project homes have swept over the rolling hills like a rising tide. In just a decade, the entire region has been transformed. And just as the landscape of this neighbourhood has been forever changed by progressive forces, so too has Australia’s culture of beer drinking.

As a top-line economic problem you’d never go into brewing. After all, its public face appears to be that of an industry on the decline. Australia’s national consumption of beer has been steadily falling from its heights in the 1970’s, and now the average drinker consumes less than four beers a week, a two-thirds regression.

Yet the numbers are deceptive. While major breweries have been hit hard by shaken consumer confidence, 21st century health trends, and the meteoric rise of our wine industry, boutique brewing has been growing apace, doubling its market share in the past several years, while proceeding with a trend line that continues to tick upwards.

So what is craft beer? And why does it galvanise such a strong and positive response amongst consumers? Is it a demographically sensitive product? And can it survive?

Craft brewing is becoming big business. In fact it has already become a sufficiently large market segment that the small brewers now have their own peak representative body, the Craft Brewing Industry Association (CBIA), founded in 2012.

The association’s approach to defining the ‘craft’ of beer seems to adopt a two-pronged, dichotomous and slightly divergent position, one that accurately reflects the complexities of trying to articulate rules around the character of artisan production. The CBIA charter provides that craft brewers are those brewing less than 40 million litres per year, but yet even a rough

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From first view, the Australian Hotel in Rouse Hill could not be more removed from those northern English country alehouses. It’s one of those places you’d rarely find, if you didn’t already know it was there. Set back from the road, and with its main entrance facing into a hidden carpark, it appears from the outside as some kind of quasi-industrial space, all pipes, sheet metal and concealed doors. And in part, that’s precisely what it is.

Passing through the maze of well-dressed rooms, each sufficiently dim to douse the space with anonymity, the hotel unfurls. It seems expansive for the shape of its shell, but most captivating are the cathedral windows that open onto the brewery itself.

And it is here that that the mythology of craft beer begins to unravel.

Dissonance abounds in the space between the reality of brewing and public perceptions. The very terms ‘craft’ and ‘artisan’ come pre-loaded with mental images. Nineteenth-century wooden barrels, steampunked into the modern world to a soundtrack of French electro-pop; or dingy backstreet lager-fiends, dealing out their latest batch under broken neon and new-wave graffiti to hopeless culture-addicts jonesing for the hottest thing; or lederhosen-sporting Euro-types devotedly foraging for organic ingredients from which to concoct a faithful reimagining of a more clean and ancient time.

These romantic misconceptions simmer beneath the surface, articulated mostly on the label and through marketing. Unchallenged, these myths are powerful and persuasive, indeed they are mendacities that some parts of the industry blatantly exploit. In craft beer we are buying not just the amber, but a deeply-rooted and valuable sense of self. For every personality type there is a craft beer that reassures you of your place near the peak of our social order.

Of course a brewery is really no more quixotic than any other factory. It’s all copper-belted steel tanks, dials, wheels, taps and gauges, and seemingly endless miles of hose. The air is a curious blend of sweet-sour funk and the sharp rebuke of antiseptic, while life seems to move at a curiously-measured pace. Any anticipation of Wonka-esque frivolities is cast down in short order. K

Neal Cameron, head brewer at The Australian, is an accidental beer man. A

chemist by profession, his experience working for a major wine company in south-western NSW was an unanticipated catalyst for the execution of his deep and abiding love affair with ales and lagers.

When his former employer proposed to adapt their proven skill in wine production to the emerging and potentially lucrative business of beer, Neal volunteered. Like so many of the leading craft brewers in Australia he was (at the time) yet to chance his hand in the commercial side of the industry.

And perhaps this is one of the key features that characterises so many of the craft adherents – theirs is a process of discovery, exploration and self-education. Home brewers who scale up their product to semi-commercial volumes; vintners and distillers acting upon a natural affinity for their fermented cousin; passionate intellects who apply knowledge from another life to the precision required by quality brewing. Neal Cameron is a paradigm of the latter persuasion.

A tall and gentle man with a broad smile and knowing eyes, Neal is far from the supposed archetype of modern brewers. There’s no hipster chic here, just a quiet and attentive approach to his adopted art. Black shoes, black pants and a loosely-worn black T-shirt, it’s all deliberately muted and presents an air of pensiveness.

And while he can hold an intense and meaningful conversation on his favourite subject (for hours if needed) Neal’s overall style is reserved, never imposing himself. It’s easy to conclude that while his life is dynamically interwoven with the fabric of brewing, he sits himself somewhat apart, to maintain clear lines of reflection. It’s all so very reserved, hung with the unmistakeable air of his English heritage.

Neal grew up in Tadcaster, a small market town loosely forgotten on the road from Leeds to York. With a population of 3000, it was still home to three significant breweries and fourteen pubs. There, amongst the pints and pots, fascination with traditional brewing was inhaled not acquired. To Neal, the nicotine-flecked yeasty cloud emanating from those pubs smelt like the idea of a good time, the promise of opportunity, the scent of home.

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Neal Cameron

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Authentic beer, made by hand,

true to it’s heritage -

that is the integrity of the craft

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drinker. But a craft beer must be unique, characteristic, distinct – a vibrant flavour expression. It should be a beer with personality that channels an identifiable organoleptic experience, one that celebrates the importance of taste long before concerns of broad market appeal set in.

A beer to fascinate, a beer to savour. That is the integrity of the craft.

In a stagnant market, defying the expectations of economists and writers, craft beer is on

the rise.

Projections suggest that small and independent brewhouses could account for as much as 15% of Australia’s national beer consumption by 2025, casting a shadow over even imported products.

Any economist would conclude that in such an accelerated and progressive environment, not all players survive. Eventually some degree of rationalisation occurs, as consumers vote with their wallets. And yet this is the essential

K

Instead, everything of value here is hidden from view, veiled from inquisitive human gaze in its metal bastions. Cooking and steeping, fermenting and maturing.

And there is the quiet. The character of this craft is such that it feels perfectly-suited to a rousing and animated orchestration. Yet over the unobtrusive and deliberate conversations, there’s nothing more than the sound of rain falling hard on a tin roof.

At heart the basic idea of brewing hasn’t changed in many thousands of years.

Grains, usually barley, are malted (partially sprouted then roasted), cooked to a porridge-like mixture, then lautered to extract a liquid known as the ‘wort’. Pitch in hops and then some yeast (every brewer has an opinion on which of each to use and why), allow it to ferment, then filter and serve. At premium pace, you can proceed from paddock to pint glass in less than two weeks.

Not that you’d necessarily want to. Time can be the hidden ingredient most central to a great brew.

That, and the health of your yeast. On this particular subject Neal’s gaze hardens, and his eyes take on a flinty tone. Nothing, it seems, will persuade him on the subject of microbiology. Typical chemist.

Of course he’s right, because it’s here in the details of how a beer comes to be, that the essence of great brewing is found. This is where were find the craft of beer.

It’s not about the machinery. Not the gauges and buttons, nor the size of your tanks, nor even whether mechanisation has begun to dislodge human hands. These are mere devices that enable humans to extrapolate their natural capacities, increasing production and harnessing the power of profit. Scale is not the issue, unless it condemns a brewer to cut corners.

No, it’s all about the recipe.

The one characteristic that all craft brewers share is an essential love of great beer. Those beers come in thousands of styles, shades and finishes, and not every beer is loved by every Dan Shaw

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beauty of artisanal market forces – they are effectively irrational, because the products they concern are not commodities, so traditional economics do not always apply.

Craft beer drinkers tend to consume less volume, but accept the marginally-higher price imposed by smaller production scale. As a result, the cheapest will not win, nor (thankfully) will the beer that is most in vogue. Price point and fads are not the final arbiter.

Rather, there is an unspoken resonance that exists between the aims and aspirations of craft brewers, and the motivations of consumers. Quality is the key factor. It all comes down to the recipe and execution. Not every craft beer is great, indeed some are just plain bad. But drinkers can be relied upon to help sort the confusion. Bad beer loses market share and eventually disappears. Recent media-led fascination with hyper-hopped and excessively-alcoholic brews are a well-enunciated case in point. While they may consume significant lines of newsprint, eventually they will disappear because the beer itself is simply unpleasant.

And this is why Australia needs not just more craft beer, but more craft brewers like Neal. Dedicated, single-minded, and possessing skill to burn, he also makes time to assist and promote the industry itself, through the CBIA and in his role as a competition judge. Because to grow the sector, education remains the key, both for brewers and for the broader public.

The craft beer industry may be bathed in (mostly) harmless distortions, the by-product of its puff and spin. But you’d be hard pressed to find a brewer to whom the same conclusion might apply. Forget the headline banners, beer manufacture and its practitioners have all the hallmarks of a hard-working trade.

This is a healthy foundation for an emergent industry.

Additionally, if more boutique producers and their marketers could peel themselves away from the wrongly-perceived need to glamorise and ornament craft brewing, and instead simply trust that great beer will win out, then ‘craft’ would be able to finally transition and truly become an everyday choice, not the dilettante alternative. In this, craft beer could bridge

the demographic divide that currently limits its growth outside of metropolitan areas.

Brewers need to back themselves.

It was in precisely this vein that the Australian Brewery decided to retail their beers in cans, not bottles. Aluminium is less glamorous than glass, and presents lower perceived value. It could well be a hard hit to the hip pocket of the business. So why would anyone choose to hobble their business with such a decision?

Because it’s better for the beer. And for the environment.

Beer is light-sensitive and affected by oxygen, and cans prevent both problems - consider them as nothing more than a mini keg. In addition, the recycling footprint of cans is significantly lower.

To Neal and the team at the Australian Brewery it’s all about the beer. Unaffected labelling, simple design and the right medium carry a great beer to exactly where it needs to be – the hands of a consumer.

Perhaps this is what the CBIA mean when they talk about the ‘mindset’ and ‘dedicated skill of a brewer’. Because if Neal and his team are avatars for the industry generally, then Australian drinkers are in good hands.

Ed.

My thanks for help with this story go to Neal Cameron and the team at the Australian Brewery (australianbrewery.com.au), and to

Kirrily Waldhorn, Australia’s own Beer Diva (beerdiva.com.au).

To try Neal’s extraordinary beers, head to The Australian Hotel and Brewery, 350 Annangrove Rd Rouse Hill, NSW

2155, shop at beerbud.com.au, or ask your local quality bottle shop. Be sure to sample the Saison D’Heretique, one of the best

examples of the potential of craft beer produced in Australia.

K RECIPE PAGE 23

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Australia’s favourite chicken since 1918.

A hearty family dinner is the best way to beat the cold. Get your gang around the table with a new favourite that combines two of the dishes they really love – satay chicken and casserole.Use your slow cooker and it can all be done while you’re at work, so dinner’s on the table in minutes.

EASY SATAYCHICKEN CASSEROLEPreparation time:5 minutes + 30 minutes marinatingCooking time: 6 hours | Serves: 4

• 8Ingham’sChickenDrumsticks• 1Tbspsesameoil• 2Tbsplightsoysauce• juiceof4limes• 1Tbspvegetableoil• 1whiteonion,finelydiced• 7cmpieceginger,cutintofinebatons• 8clovesgarlic,minced• 1Tbspmildcurrypowder• 500mlchickenstock• 400mlcoconutcream• seasaltflakesandfreshly-milledblackpepper• 3Tbsppeanutbutter• choppedpeanuts,slicedgreenshallots,coriander leavesandrice,toserve

1 Combine the Ingham’s Chicken Drumsticks in a large bowl with the sesame oil, soy and lime juice, mix well, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours.

2 Remove the Ingham’s Chicken Drumsticks from the marinade (reserving the liquid), then fry in vegetable oil until browned*, then set aside. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and curry powder, then cook for 5 minutes, until aromatic. Return the Ingham’s Chicken Drumsticks with the reserved liquid, stock and coconut cream. Set slow cooker to low heat and cook gently for 6 hours.

3 Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the peanut butter. Serve with peanuts, coriander, shallots and rice.

Find many more deliciousrecipes for chicken and turkey atinghams.com.au

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• 1.6kg beef brisket, trimmed

• 1 Tbsp mustard powder

• 2 tsp brown sugar

• sea salt flakes and freshly-milled black pepper

• 4 rashers bacon, sliced

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 brown onions, sliced

• 8 cloves garlic, sliced

• 4 bay leaves

• 300ml dark lager

• 1L beef stock

• 1 cup pitted prunes

• 500g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced

• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 tsp seeded mustard

• 2 tsp cider vinegar

• 1 Tbsp plain flour

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

• steamed potatoes, to serve

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SERVES 6

1 Preheat oven to 140°C. Rub the brisket with mustard powder, brown sugar and a generous amount of black pepper, then place in a baking dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.

2 Pat dry, then set aside. In a large frying pan set over a high heat, fry the bacon in vegetable oil for 3 minutes, until well browned, then add the brisket and cook for 10 minutes, turning several times, until browned. Add the onions, garlic and bay leaves and cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer to a deep baking dish.

3 Pour the dark lager into the frying pan and bring to a boil. Add the stock and cook until simmering, then pour over the beef. Scatter the prunes, mushrooms and carrots over, cover with aluminium foil, then bake for 4 hours, until the beef is tender.

4 Pour the pan liquid into a saucepan with the seeded mustard and vinegar and bring to a simmer. Mix the flour and butter, then whisk in and simmer until thickened. Season with salt. Carve the brisket and serve with steamed potatoes, the braising vegetables and gravy.

BRAISED BRISKET IN DARK LAGER

CRAFTING TENDER BRISKETIS ALL ABOUT TECHNIQUE.

Curing in sugar overnight draws out surface moisture, and creates a crust. Ironically, this drying-out actually helps make the beef more moist when cooked later in the beer, as it forms a barrier to lock in the juiciness. As for cooking, use the 4 hours of baking as a guide, not an instruction. It’s much more important to check that the brisket has actually become tender, if not yet, bake for a further 30 minutes.

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BEETS

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BEETS

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GROWBeetroot is a simple vegetable to grow, whether planted in a garden or in pots, but does require well-drained soil and plenty of phosphate to form quality bulbs. A generous sprinkle of dissolved boron is essential too – you can buy this at garden centres. For best home-grown results, allow the beetroot to grow quickly, and keep soil piled over the protruding head of the bulb to prevent its top section from drying out or becoming corky.

BUYYou can buy beetroot in a range of sizes, and colours. Smaller beetroot are generally sweeter and more tender, while larger ones have an earthy quality that is perfect for rich soups or baking. While most beets are deep burgundy red, other heirloom varieties come in gold, yellow, white and even candy-cane stripe, although these may only be available for short periods during the year from quality greengrocers. Golden beetroot are mild-flavoured and very sweet.

STOREBeets should be refrigerated and used within a

few days of purchase as they dry out quickly, and can become fibrous. Beetroot leaves

are also edible (much like silverbeet or chard) and full of essential nutrients. To store, separate from the bulbs and wrap in a lightly-damp cloth, then keep in the

vegetable crisper.

PREPSoak then wash beets and beetroot

leaves thoroughly in cold water before cooking, as their wrinkled skin will

usually contain dirt. Use disposable gloves to peel and chop, as beetroot juice is a strong

natural dye. If preparing whole, do not peel as the skin will come away easily once cooked.

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RAW

BEETROOT

ALL THE ESSENTIALS

YOU NEED TO GROW

YOUR OWN, BUY THE

BEST AND MAKE

MAGIC IN THE

KITCHEN.

COOKBeetroot can be eaten raw, as juice, or cooked in several ways – steamed, fried or baked – but should not be boiled. Peel and chop, then steam until tender. Cut into matchsticks or grate coarsely, then fry in extra virgin olive oil. Sauté with onions, then simmer in stock to make soup. Wrap in aluminium foil with thyme sprigs and garlic, then bake in a moderate oven until tender before peeling while still warm. Beetroot leaves should be gently sautéed or lightly steamed. Do not overcook, or the leaves will dark and can become lightly sour.

NUTRITIONBeetroot is a rich source of iron, calcium, vitamins A and C, folic acid, fibre and essential minerals like manganese and potassium. The powerful antioxidant that gives beetroot its rich red-purple colour is called betacyanin, and is thought to help suppress the growth of a range of cancers.

CLEANINGBeetroot is delicious, but can stain clothes permanently. However, there is an effective and simple solution. If you do get beetroot juice on fabric, rinse with cold water, then rub with a little Borax (available from hardware stores). After three minutes, soak in cold water for one hour, then launder as normal.

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• 300g ‘OO’ flour

• 1 tsp fine salt

• 3 eggs

• 1 egg yolk

• 4 large beetroot

• 1 bunch sage leaves

• ½ leek, sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil


• 2 cups baby spinach leaves

• ½ cup toasted walnuts

• ¼ cup Parmigiano, finely grated

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THYME FAZZOLETTI& BAKED BEETROOT

1 Preheat oven to 190°C. Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse several times. Add the eggs and yolk and pulse until a dough forms. Turn onto a lightly-floured bench, then knead until smooth. Wrap and set aside for 2 hours to rest.

2 Wrap the beetroot in aluminium foil then place on a oven tray. Bake for 2 hours, until just tender, then peel cut into wedges.

3 Roll the pasta out to 2mm thick. Finely slice 12 sage leaves and scatter over. Fold over to enclose, then roll out to 1mm thick. Cut into 7cm squares.

4 Sauté the leek and garlic in the olive oil in a large frying pan for 5 minutes, until just softened, then season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Mix in the spinach, walnuts and remaining sage leaves. Cook the pasta in rapidly-boiling salted water until al dente, drain well, then mix in with the Parmigiano and beetroot wedges.

SERVES 4

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honeydew

pista

chio

l

eek

e

ndiv

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m

arjo

ram

feij

oa

zucchini

kale

A TASTE OF COLOUR:

GREEN

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THE FOUR WINTER PUDDINGS

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• 6 thick slices brioche• 50g unsalted butter,

softened• 4 eggs• 300ml thickened cream• ½ cup pure maple syrup

• 1 tsp natural vanilla extract• 250g raspberries• ¼ cup icing sugar• 150g white chocolate,

chopped• thick cream, to serve

CARAMEL-APPLE COBBLER

1 Combine the melted butter, mashed banana, egg, milk and brown sugar in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Sift in the flour and spices, then beat until smooth and fold in the pecans. Place a small disc of non-stick baking paper in the bottom of four well-greased one-cup ramekins, then arrange the sliced banana pieces on top and spoon the batter over.

2 Wrap each ramekin in cling film and place in a steamer basket over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook for 25 minutes, until just set. Turn out onto plates, then serve with caramel sauce and salted-caramel ice cream.

• 4 Granny Smith apples• juice of ½ lemon• ¾ cup caster sugar• 100g cold unsalted

butter, diced• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ¾ cup plain flour• ½ tsp baking powder• ¼ cup brown sugar• ¾ cup rolled oats• vanilla bean ice cream,

to serve

1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Peel the apples and cut into wedges, then toss in lemon juice. Put the caster sugar in a large frying pan over a high heat and cook to a mid-brown caramel. Add the apples, 25g butter and cinnamon, then cook for 7 minutes, stirring often, until lightly softened. Transfer to a 1.5L baking dish.

2 Combine the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and remaining butter in a food processor and pulse until a coarse crumb forms. Mix in the oats, then scatter over the apple mixture. Bake for 35 minutes, until golden on top and crisp. Serve warm with ice cream.

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY BRIOCHE PUDDING

1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Spread the brioche slices with butter, then cut into quarters. Combine the eggs, cream maple syrup and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Toss the raspberries in icing sugar.

2 In four well-buttered one-cup individual baking dishes, build layers of brioche pieces, raspberries and white chocolate. Pour the custard mixture over, then set aside for 10 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden on top and just set in the middle. Serve warm with thick cream.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE PUDDING• 1½ cups self-raising flour• ¼ cup cocoa powder• ½ cup caster sugar• 1½ cups milk• 1 egg• 120g dark chocolate,

chopped

• ¾ cup dark brown sugar• 1 Tbsp molasses• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter• double cream and

chocolate sauce, to serve

1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Sift the flour and 2 Tbsp cocoa into a bowl, then stir in the caster sugar, milk and egg. Beat until smooth, then fold in the dark chocolate. Spoon into four well-greased one-and-a-half-cup baking dishes.

2 Mix the remaining cocoa, brown sugar, molasses and butter in a bowl, then add 1½ cups boiling water. Whisk until smooth, then ladle over the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve warm with double cream and chocolate sauce.

INDIVIDUAL BANANA-PECAN STEAMED PUDDING• 75g unsalted butter, melted• 2 very ripe bananas,

mashed• 2 eggs• 1 cup milk• ¾ cup coconut sugar*• 1 cup self-raising flour

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg• 1 tsp ground cinnamon• ¾ cup pecans, toasted and

chopped• 1 ripe banana (not too soft),

sliced into discs• caramel sauce and salted-

caramel ice cream, to serve

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THECURE

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Even vegetarianism confirms this bias, for the rejection of meat is a conscious decision -

underpinned by morality, steeped in religion, or justified by a perceived pre-eminence of civilising tendencies. It is a deliberate interjection that contradicts our innate desires.

Our carnivorous propensities are rationalised by mere hunger.

Yet this central part of the human-food interchange, that process by which meat journeys from the wild to the table, faces an imminent cataclysm – it’s a fading craft, an endangered art. Australia is losing butchers, slaughtermen and smallgoods makers at an alarming rate, as the once-vibrant industry coalesces into just a few large hands. In their place we are left with basic meat cutters and service employees whose task it is to stack shelves.

And what is it that we lose from this contraction? More than simply jobs. From a culinary perspective we cede the ground of artisanal excellence – those bespoke flavours upon which great cuisine relies. That forfeiture is tragic. But intellectually, we abandon knowledge, and this (surprisingly) is the greater misfortune. For once our well of collective experience about how to produce craft foods runs dry, it can never be refilled. In cultural knowledge and shared history, that which is lost is lost forever.

However, some hope may prevail. In the geographic heart of Sydney, nestled amongst the torpor of ageing brown-brick structures, a brand new resolve to conserve and celebrate butchery has been sparked.

THERE ARE FEW HUMAN ACTS MORE PRIMAL, CARNAL AND INTUITIVE THAN THE CONSUMPTION OF ANOTHER ANIMAL’S FLESH.VERY FEW. SEX AND DEATH.

K

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Blue. It’s the only colour evident in an otherwise near-blank space. Aprons and

handtowels, but the rest is crisp and featureless. This is a world of hair-nets, protective gloves and the understated reserve of sober things: a room in which meat is taken seriously.

Conflict between the tungsten and fluorescent bulbs gives a shimmering quality to this cavernous and brightly-lit room, articulated more sharply by an envelope of white walls. Mirror-finish stainless steel, not yet beaten out of shape or burnished by use, accentuates the effect and concentrates the gaze.

It’s all very clinical, the overall effect reminiscent of a surgical theatre.

That impression bears consideration, for surgery of one form or another is performed here every day – amputation, dismemberment, reconstructions. The cadavers lie about, waiting their turn upon the table.

This is the newly-opened Meat and Allied Trades school at Granville TAFE, part of the South West Sydney Institute. A rudimentary chat with anyone involved in butchery education eventually resolves to the same conclusion – this facility represents a long-awaited and much-needed investment into Australia’s butchery industry.

And why is this investment so keenly sought? Because butchery is in freefall, and no one seems capable of reversing the decline.

In 1985 Australia had approximately 30,000 independent butcher shops, today just 3000. To lose 90% of any industry in such a short space of time is staggering. But when the industry in question is as formative, essential and culturally-relevant as butchery, hyperbole suddenly does not seem out of place. Somewhere in the nation a butcher’s shop closes every 3 days, a trend that shows no sign of abating.

This is a catastrophe, pure and simple.

In the minds of legislators, regulators, managers and the public alike, butchery lost its sheen.

Fifty years ago local butcher shops were an iconic part of every community, along with bakeries and greengrocers. Today, many suburbs have

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no options for purchasing meat other than their local supermarket.

While it is far too simplistic to conclude that the rise of a supermarket-led consumer environment has been wholly responsible for the decline of these three trades (and so many others), there has been a symbiotic, unequal and damaging relationship between big and small players that must not be overlooked. The consolidation of food retail pathways has had a measurable effect on consumer choice, pricing and product quality.

However, other key factors are also at play. Economics, wage rates, regulation, globalisation and labour concerns all impact the state of our meat industry.

Though we live in an era that publicly celebrates our culture of food through media and conversation in ever-deepening ways, Australians are progressively cooking fewer meals from raw ingredients. It’s a contradiction observed by many commentators. In particular, the rise of convenience and take-away foods has heavily affected local and community retailers, as many of these fast foods are purchased in place of the principal proteins that would ordinarily underpin domestic preparation. A by-product of that social trend is that it eliminates a significant portion of our need for butchers, fishmongers and poultry shops. We’re cutting corners, and it’s the butcher shop that’s on the block.

Structural reforms and legislation are a particularly vexed issue. These have presented a complex hurdle for many small butchers, as multiple levels of government have intensified their scale of interaction with the food sector over the last several decades. Many of these transformations are, at least in principle, well thought-out regulations designed to reinforce food safety and give confidence to consumers about the ingredients they purchase. Compliance, however, is costly. While bigger retailers can amortise these expenses over large numbers of employees, significant sales and expansive financial returns, smaller butcher shops find these fixed price imposts unsustainable. In some cases compliance costs exceed the profit margin of their business, constituting what some in the meat industry have referred to as a ‘government-enforced shutdown’. K

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Meat is not just a commodity,

and butchery not merely a trade.

Together, they are a

cornerstone of our culture.

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However, it’s important not to overstate the role of governments, or their relevance. For while some in the meat business cling to rusted-on positions that ‘regulation is killing business’, these statutory approaches generally have consumer welfare at heart. It’s a tricky balancing act. Some local retailers have argued that if government is to intervene, then it should act in a more balanced way, and that a degree of regulated support (in addition to diluting the punitive nature of costs) will be necessary if the local and boutique elements of the industry are to survive current pressures. Perhaps a system that applies proportionately-subsidised funding to small retailers might counterbalance the impact of compliance. This is an idea worth considering. However, butchers also acknowledge that support for this kind of scheme would be difficult to achieve for so long as major retailers have significant political influence.

Geopolitics and global trade are forces to be reckoned with as Australia is a significant exporter of meat products to world markets. In fact, our export volumes are growing at between 7% and 18% year-on-year, in spite of ongoing drought. While this has been a boon for our economy, those globalising tendencies have domestic ramifications. High levels of international demand drive up saleyard prices, meaning that Australian consumers are facing ever-increasing costs for the high quality meat we purchase. By international standards, Australian meat prices are still comparatively low. However, in a culture where the consumption of meat is normalised as a daily or twice-daily component of diet, this has affected purchasing behaviour and led to wide-ranging price sensitivity. That factor plays heavily into the hands of major retailers who are more empowered when bargaining over supply

contracts, and who can strategically distribute the impact of these higher prices throughout a broad retail offering. Local butchers have few, if any, of these levers at their disposal.

But the most pointed issues facing our butchery industry are all about its people, particularly those at the commencement of their careers.

The recent high water mark for new entrants commencing butchery apprenticeships or traineeships was in 2008 – 1580 nationally. By contrast, only 1140 started their training just six years later, reflecting a significant, serious and quantifiable downward trend. Each year, fewer and fewer young people are considering butchery as a career. Smallgoods is in even worse shape. Over the last decade, that industry has averaged just 150 commencements each year (excluding 2013 which, as a statistical aberration, had over 700 signups).

But commencements do not paint an accurate picture in isolation. As anyone who has experience with training young tradespeople knows, that must be measured in completions, for all too often students change their minds and their career trajectory. And this is where some hope does present itself. Butchery completions are rising, both as a proportion of signups, but also in raw numbers. Last year 857 butchers qualified nationally, a completion rate of 64%. That figure rates amongst the highest for trades training in any field, and a major turnaround for butchery specifically. To put this in context, in 2004 only 304 certificates were awarded.

Fewer butchery apprentices, but more of them getting through. Why?

The ‘fewer’ part of the equation is closely linked to the long hours, below-average

wages, and routine nature of the work. Butchery is, like so many trades, formulaic in parts. Add in knife injuries, heavy lifting and the perpetual context of blood, death and viscera, and too many Gen Y are simply put off. Until cutting and processing meat has a ‘rock star’ element to its character (and most certainly a revised wage scale) it’s unlikely to feature on the career objectives of many school leavers.

Perhaps the time has

come for a national

‘Local Butcher’s Shop Day”.

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K

In terms of higher completion rates, this represents what Australia’s TAFE systems are able to do so well: assess, adapt, acknowledge and achieve. While it makes a great sound bite, in practice this is remarkably hard to accomplish. To transform a trade’s image such that it becomes aspirational once more, while also adapting its content to meet precise industry demands seems complex enough. But when you add in the additional layer that those two goals are often contradictory and at times mutually-exclusive, then you get a truer sense of the scale of the challenge.

Prior to the $6 million redevelopment of the Granville facility, education for apprentices in the butchery trade was provided using older and sporadically ramshackle equipment that, at times, offered limited relevance for the kinds of work actually done in industry. A disconnect was emerging between teaching and practice that threatened to undermine the relationship between TAFE, its students, and the employers who are the end-users of TAFE’s services.

Having recognised the significance of these difficulties, TAFE stepped in to stem the flow. A brand-new, state-of-the-art butchery school is a very effective advertisement for the true possibilities of the sector. This seems to work particularly well with current school leavers who, for the most part, rightly view technology as a fully integrated part of their lives, something essential, a birthright. The old world of white tiles and sawdust on the floor doesn’t present a laconic charm to them, instead it feels undesirable, tired and outdated. So school has gone high-tech.

Through this transformation, Granville TAFE’s new Meat and Allied Trades school has become a butcher’s dream - from multiple-injector brining machines, to vacuum tumblers, compactor-fillers, sous vide kettles, industrial smokehouses and even a complete kitchen in which apprentices can be taught the value-added processes that butchers rely upon today as a key element of their offering. After all, butchers have had to adapt in order to survive. Today it is expected that they will provide cook-ready meal solutions, and even ready-to-eat products. It seems that the line between

David Horne

Anthony Burleigh

44

chef and butcher is blurring, which makes the trade more interesting to new entrants, and that metamorphosis may be central to re-casting the industry’s public image.

And then there are the new pathways on offer. Making use of the work done by apprentices, the school at Granville operates one of Sydney’s best-kept secrets – their own butcher’s shop. Those steaks, roasts, hams and bacons, lovingly prepared under the watchful eye of some of the nation’s best instructors, can be purchased at the TAFE for a fraction of their retail value. And for butchers or chefs seeking extra skills, or keen home cooks who wish to learn the art of meat meat, short-course night classes are now part of the curriculum. As the team at TAFE understand all too well, creating a better narrative around butchery and generating demand for the product is a central component in the strategy to bring more people into the trade, and customers back to their local butcher shop.

Ben Barrow, head teacher at Granville TAFE, is precisely the kind of man you’d hope to

be teaching butchery. Tall, affable, charismatic and possessing the kind of strong handshake that stands as unmistakeable evidence of his decades spent engaged in physical labour, he’s a new generation of meat specialist.

It takes a very particular kind of attitude to succeed in teaching trades. Many of these students have (for a variety of reasons) not excelled academically in their high school years. Given that butchery, particularly smallgoods manufacture, relies upon a keen interest in (and robust understanding of) some basic science, great instructors must have the wherewithal to adapt that information such that it becomes palatable.

More complex, though, are the pathways by which students end up in in the Meat and Allied Trades School. While the evidence is anecdotal, that it comes from the teachers

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themselves makes it compelling. Many students enrol as apprentice butchers as a consequence of a perceived lack of career choice. Any true fascination with the trade, or possibly even affection, comes later. This is the very crux of the problem. Few young people are actively choosing butchery. Many simply find themselves there.While marketing solutions and shiny new

facilities go a long way to redefining the relationship of new or potential students to the industry, in reality there is no asset more effective or valuable than the very staff who provide education in class. If anyone is going to convince an 18-year-old that making sausages and providing exceptional customer service is a great thing to do, it will have to be the person teaching them. K

Ben Barrow

46

ADVERTISING FEATURE

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SIMPLE BEEF CASSEROLEServes 4

1 Sear the Conscious Farmer beef shin in half the olive oil over a moderate heat in batches until well-browned, then set aside. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots and garlic in the remaining oil, until softened, then return the beef.

2 Add the dried herbs and stock, then bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 2½ hours with a lid on, until the meat is very tender. Top up with water as needed during cooking, and stir regularly. Season with salt and pepper.

3 Mix the butter and flour, then stir in 1 Tbsp at a time while simmering until the sauce is a good gravy consistency. Serve with rice.

• 1kg Conscious Farmer beef shin, diced

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 brown onion, finely diced

• 2 sticks celery, finely sliced

• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced


• 1 Tbsp dried Italian herbs

• 1L beef stock

• salt flakes and freshly-milled black pepper

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

• ¼ cup plain flour

• rice, to serve

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Perhaps this is why the mood at Granville feels so positive. Ben Barrow and Andrew Morabito are born leaders. They incubate enthusiasm, though never forcefully. It’s simply something in the air - inhaled, absorbed, metabolised.

To be effective, in real measure it often comes down to the how teachers are perceived. Those who carry themselves with gravitas tend to encourage followers. But those who also possess genuine talent are the ones who can be transformative. Andrew is a master smallgoods maker, and his salami hang in maturing boxes right in the centre of the room, like the trophy cabinets found in sports halls – future stars find the inspiration to train harder imaging the moment that they too will hoist the silverware high. Here young butchers, full of verve and yearning for knowledge, view cacciatori, sopressa and prosciutto with lustful eyes, daydreaming about the moment when their own might emerge from the box.

Ben is remarkable, and not merely for the effortlessness with which he demonstrates the skills of his trade. Sometimes it’s hard to focus your gaze upon what he’s doing. Everything is a blur as his knife slices and separates, with the intuitive movement that only years of real dedication can provide. It’s compelling, magical. It could almost be a deceptive sleight of hand, Criss Angel without the tattoos and emo-bling.

But excellence is not a concept to simply extol, it must be a lived idea, a way of existing. To this end Ben is representing our nation, as part of the Australian Steelers at the Tri-Nations Butchers challenge in September. Our six best butchers will compete against the most talented industry operators that New Zealand and Great Britain have to offer.

The Australian team is brimming with both confidence and talent, and murmurings of anticipated success abound. However, of the half-dozen meat professionals in the group, it is worth noting that only one is a teacher. Or should that be, thankfully at least one is a teacher? That our schools are serviced by talent at this level is a key ingredient in the recipe needed to ensure future growth for butchery in Australia.

The problems facing butchery are very real, and for the shop owners whose businesses

are closing, they are gut-wrenching.

But the glimmer of hope is equally real.

While conflict between big and small retailers will continue, it’s important to note that our supermarkets are some of the few large-scale providers of apprentice positions to young Australian butchers. It’s true that this is an unavoidable consequence of industry contraction, but it also remains worth noting that our major food chains are now significant players in training. As such, the answer to questions about the future of this sector will not be found by griping against the status quo, but rather by asking questions about how all trainers can be encouraged to provide greater numbers of apprentice jobs, and more complex value-added work practices to make those positions more enjoyable and rewarding.

Young butchers, like burgeoning professionals in any field, are seeking only three principal things. A job in which their particular interests can be explored; a career that gives real opportunity for advancement and growth; and a stable and reasonable income which will allow them to plan for their future.

It is in this last need that an important point needs to be raised and dealt with. Butchers are underpaid. Badly underpaid.

The median salary for an Australian butcher is $41,100 p.a.. There are exceptions to this rule: wages in Western Australian are sitting 15% above the national average; gourmet butchers nationwide tend to earn an additional $10,000 per year; and butchery department managers in supermarkets have an earning potential of up to $75,000. K

It could almost be a deceptive

sleight of hand, Criss Angel

without the tattoos and emo-bling

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The Australian national average wage is $75,000.

In short this means that the long-term potential for those select high achievers in the butchery trade would be merely to reach the national average wage. What motivation does this provide?

Unlike other businesses, raising wage rates for butchers would not have as significant an on-flow effect for consumers, as the marginal impact of wages in formulating retail price point is lower than in other industries. In meat-selling, the cost of the basic product, amortised plant repayments and site rental are the leading expenses.

While, as noted above, Australians have become more price-sensitive about meat, those consumer concerns are not as important as the future health of the industry from which their food comes. Australian shoppers will eventually need to accept either marginally smaller portions, or marginally higher prices.

And this is where regulatory involvement could be effective. Higher wages would make training in Meat and Allied Trades vastly more attractive. As a by-product it would immediately put additional pressure on small retailers, that is unavoidable. But it need not be a long-term problem.

If a move to increase salaries were pursued in concert with statutory relief for other compliance and training costs, government co-funded wages for apprentices employed in shops with six or fewer employees, a nationally-consistent marketing campaign to support local butcher shops, and a discussion around how funding for small retailer transformation

might be made available, then those expenses would be offset.

Many economists will argue that individual elements of an industry cannot be supported against the needs of the trade as a whole, lest an anti-competitive market emerges. But the industry (insofar as the big-small divide is concerned) is already anti-competitive: that is the result we are currently reaping from the rapid contraction of the last 30 years. Moreover, this is not merely an industry, this is an essential component of our food supply and our culture. Experience surely tells us that such things of significant social value ought not be left to be trampled under the onwards rush of market forces.

Support for butchery ought to be made available on the basis that this is a critical industry in critical crisis.

Perhaps the time has come for a national ‘Local Butcher’s Shop Day’. It would be an opportunity for every Australian to re-connect with the meat professionals in their suburb, to rediscover those bespoke skills that make meat so compelling, and to indulge ourselves in the radiance of good old-fashioned customer service.

Perhaps it would rekindle an ongoing relationship with your community butcher. At very least, you’re guaranteed a great plate of food.

My thanks for help with this story go to Ben Barrow, Andrew Morabito and TAFE, David and the team

at Mona Vale Quality Butcher, Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Pork Limited, MINTRAC.

To sample the TAFE students’ product, head to the Meat and Allied Trades School at Granville TAFE, 136 William St

Granville (best access is by Elizabeth St). For some of the best-selected, well-crafted and deliciously-dry-aged meat, Mona Vale

Quality Butcher is at 2/18 Bungan St Mona Vale, NSW 2103.

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• 2kg dry-aged standing rib roast (5 bones)*


• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 12 Dutch Cream potatoes, peeled

• 120g hot Italian salami, finely sliced

• 1 onion, finely sliced


• 2 sprigs rosemary leaves

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BEEF RIB ROASTWITH CRISP SALAMIAND POTATOES

FOR A LARGE ROAST LIKE THIS,remove from the fridge at least 2 hours before baking to allow it to come towards room temperature. This helps to ensure a moist, juicy and tender roast.

SERVES 6

1 Preheat oven to 230°C. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper, then rub with half the olive oil. Arrange in a roasting pan and bake for 20 minutes, until the meat is well-browned. Reduce the heat to 180°C and continue baking until a probe thermometer reads 54°C when tested in the centre. Remove from the oven, cover, then rest for 20 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and steam over a saucepan of simmering water for 15 minutes, until just tender. Toss in the remaining olive oil and bake for 1 hour.

3 While the potatoes bake, fry the salami slices in a large frying pan over a moderate heat until well crisped, then add the onion, garlic and rosemary. Once the onion is softened remove from the heat. Mix into the baked potatoes, then serve with the roast.

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For thousands of years, dyes extracted from plants and foods were the only way to bring

bright colour to the world. Mineral pigments like ochre are mostly dull and understated, limited to brown and rust-red tints.

Vegetables, fruits, flowers and plants, however, rely on colour to attract pollinators, and it is the power of this natural flush that can be harnessed to bring a human joy of vivid tone to life.

To make root or fruit based paints like carrot, beetroot or strawberry, simply process through a juice extractor or power-blender, then combine 1 part of extract with 5 parts pure icing sugar.

Whisk well, stand for 10 minutes, then sieve.

To make leaf-based paints like spinach, kale or cabbage, blanch and refresh the leaves (this stabilises the colour and prevents dulling through oxidation), then process as with root paints.

To make coffee and tea paints, infuse a strong solution in warm water for 2 hours, then strain. Finish with icing sugar as for root paints.

These paints are shelf-stable for up to 2 weeks, and can be used in the same manner as any other watercolour.

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THE ARTOF FLAVOUR

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BABY IT’S COLD

OUTSIDE

Home

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BREVILLE ORIGINAL ’74 JAFFLE MAKERWinter seems just a little less hard when you’ve got a hot jaffle in your hand. A perpetual family favourite, jaffles are the ultimate in easy snacking where everyone can get their favourite filling. The Breville Original ’74 is still the first and best, bringing back classic style to the kitchen with elegant curves in polished stainless steel. For a really luxe jaffle, try thinly-sliced truffle salami, roasted capsicums, fresh basil and Gruyere cheese.

breville.com.au

COUNTRY ROAD ORRIS AND CUMULUS GLASSWAREBeautiful glassware is always the perfect finish to any table setting. Country Road’s Orris and Cumulus ranges are delicate yet durable, ideal for any occasion, with stemware, tumblers and pourers to choose from. When the chill sets in, thaw out with a spicy mulled wine. Choose a medium-bodied red wine and heat ½ cup, then dissolve in ½ cup sugar. Simmer briefly with cinnamon, star anise and cardamom, then add to a pourer with mixed citrus zest and the rest of the bottle. Stand for 30 minutes before serving.

countryroad.com.au

KITCHENAID CAST IRON 3.8L CASSEROLE DISHFor a perfect stew, you need the right equipment, and every house should have a proper heavy-based pot or French oven to bring winter food to life. KitchenAid have just released their new range of gorgeous cast iron casserole dishes in a range of beautiful colours. They come in two sizes, 3.8L and 5.7L, and the porcelain enamel is incredibly easy to clean. Best of all, the cleverly-designed ribbed lid even doubles as a grill plate.

kitchenaid.com.au

ONEKIND THROWDOWNAdd some urban chic to your table with a splash of rich denim. Onekind’s multipurpose Throwdown Mats are a unique way to bring colour and cool to dinner. In durable canvas and supercool denim, the mats can be used as picnic throws for a getaway, or as an on-trend tablecloth. Mix with white and ivory tones for sophisticated winter style.

onekinddesign.com.au

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1 Place the mint leaves, lime and raw sugar in the bottom of a tall glass, then muddle with a cocktail stick. Once aromatic, stir in the bourbon and pomegranate juice. Add crushed ice, then top with soda water.

POMEGRANATEJULEP

• 6 fresh mint leaves

• 2 slices lime

• 1½ tsp raw sugar

• 60ml bourbon whiskey

• 90ml pomegranate juice*

• ½ cup soda water

* Freshly-extracted pomegranate juice is best, but bottled will work well. This recipe will not work for mixed pomegranate juice blends.{

SERVES 1

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