roughcut issue#2 august 2015

THE

LIFE ISSUE

No.2K August 2015

EXISTENCE

P31 French Pot Roast ChickenP44 John Fairley on Family FarmingP66 Guest Chef: Lennox HastieP72 How to Save the Future of the Australian Olive Oil IndustryP93 Blackberry Shrub: The Hottest Thing in Cool Drinks

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This is roughcut – charming flavours and captivating ideas chopped into bite-sized pieces.

Roughcut #2 – The Life Issue - is dedicated to three main questions, although I can’t promise that it will help you find the answers. Our real purpose is to start a conversation and share some facts, so that you can come to conclusions for yourself. Perhaps now, perhaps in time.

Question 1: How well do you really know your food? What is your degree of connection to it – physically, intellectually, culturally, emotionally? Are you a part of your food universe, or are you simply watching from the sidelines?

Question 2: What are you actually prepared to do in order to provide food for yourself and your family? Over the course of the last century our nexus to food has drifted and diluted: we are no longer ever truly self-sufficient. In consequence we have lost skills, beliefs and courage. It’s not simply a choice between hillbilly survivalism or an inner-city pre-pack lifestyle, there are other ways. But are you prepared to look for them?

Question 3: When was the last time you felt genuine appreciation for your food? In all its many aspects – value, quality, source, impact, wellbeing. As we drift into ever-busier lives we are losing contact with the building blocks of who we are – those elemental cells that become our bodies, our minds, our selves. We are more than what we consume, but when it comes to our physical structure then yes, we are what we eat.

So indulge your tastebuds, and challenge yourself.

This is roughcut. There’s no place for fence sitters. Read. Have an opinion. Participate in the conversation with yourcut on roughcut at our Instagram feed.

I look forward to what you have to offer.

Ed.

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CONTENTS

IDEAS8 First Bite: Puff Pastry

13 A Murder Most Fowl: Rediscovering the traditional art of a home-killed chook

33 RAW: Mushrooms

41 A Taste of Colour: Orange

44 Land of Milk and Family: John Fairley on the future of farming

67 Guest Chef Profile: Firedoor’s Lennox Hastie

72 Life at the Edge of the Desert: The battle to save our olive oil industry

90 Homestyle: Everything you need to want

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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: Joanne Stocker & Rod Evans, Australian Mushroom Growers Association, John Fairley, Country Valley Dairy, Firedoor Restaurant, Lennox Hastie, Margi Kirkby, Jenni Birch, Gwydir Grove Olive Oil, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Bodum Australia, Onekind Design, Gardner Knives

RECIPES11 Rhubarb and Ricotta Jalousie:

Indulge in a simple classic

31 French Pot Roast Chicken: Your best-ever roast chook

39 Creamy Polenta with Skillet Portobello Mushrooms: Naturally good

42 The Four: Winter pasta dishes

59 Milk Jelly with Vanilla-Milk Granita and Cumquats: Easy elegance

71 Lennox Hastie’s Grilled Leaves, Guanciale and Pecans: Fire, fire burning bright

89 Olive Fougasse: Irresistibly traditional flatbread

93 One for the Road: Blackberry, Thyme and Elderflower Shrub

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It’s a simple and seemingly unprepossessing observation, bandied around with incessant regularity – ‘Food is Life’.

Really? Is that all there is?

Fuck I hate those hollow and futile epithets, they are the acid rain of our generation.

It’s no longer enough to find them merely plastered across otherwise perfectly-good drinking mugs, they now populate every part of our daily interactions – foisted upon clothing, sprawled on billboards, infecting corporate messages.

Social media is the deep and poisoned well from which they are drawn, an endless supply of supposedly uplifting one-liners that are in fact nothing more than vain and vacuous time thieves, belittling our collective intelligence.

After all there’s so much more going on. Like all well-constructed aphorisms, these simplistic statements dissemble and elude. They are the magician’s sleight of hand, drawing necessary attention away from pressing and more significant issues, erroneously suggesting that the finer detail no longer matters.

Well, here at roughcut, we think the details really do matter.

We stand for the detail, and we stand with the interested.

Food is more than life, and it can be life in many forms. Perhaps most crucially, food is also the absence of life, its extinguishment. Food is death.

From a family who decide to exercise their ancient and intrinsic omnivorous power to catch and kill their own dinner, to an industry fighting for its life against fraud, and a keener sense of life born from true passion for the process of real food. Here, you’ll find all the detail – unfiltered, unadulterated, a pure voice.

LIFE is a celebration of our life in food, our life with food, and our life from food. Sometimes it is only by taking one life, that the lives of others may continue.

MANIFESTO

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PUFFpastry

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Puff pastry is one of the kitchen’s great magic tricks – a solid lump of dough that bakes into layers of fine and flaky puffs.

Yet creating perfectly-crisp and evenly-spaced leaves of pastry is not a mystery, is simply requires good technique and solid understanding of some basic culinary chemistry.

It’s kind of like blowing up balloons. Fine elastic layers of dough stretch to contain the expanding gas created by evaporating water, separating the individual layers of pastry in the process.

As such, the basic dough used in puff needs to be glutinous, much like that for making bread. A key difference, however, is that this dough must be fully rested to relax any resistance, otherwise it will contort out of shape while baking. As such, most chefs prepare their base dough 24-36 hours before beginning to incorporate the butter, then again for 12 hours once assembled.

Classic French puff pastry contains a weight of butter equal to the weight of flour used in the base dough. Initially flattened into a sheet, this butter will be stretched

and gathered between the ever-increasing number of dough layers, although in that process a variety of views exist as to the best

method for folding. But in short, you roll it and fold it, and roll it again……

Regardless of technique, the final product will contain between 126 and 252 layers, creating fine and crisp leaves.

Puff pastry must be baked in a hot oven. This ensures that the water content of the butter rapidly converts from liquid to gas, enabling separation and expansion. Too cool an oven will result in a solid and chewy result.

Meanwhile, the butter’s oil content quickly reaches high temperature, crisping the dough and enriching its flavour.

While mastering the art of puff pastry may take time and dedication, it is one recipe that every keen cook should attempt at least once. The skills learned through this endeavour have endless applications throughout all aspects of cookery.

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SERVES 10

1 Preheat oven to 220°C. Chop the rhubarb into fine pieces, then combine in a saucepan with ¾ cup caster sugar. Finely zest the orange and put in a medium bowl, then squeeze the juice onto the rhubarb. Set the rhubarb over a moderate heat and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often, until thickened. Set aside to cool completely.

2 Add the breadcrumbs, chopped hazelnuts and remaining caster sugar to the orange zest and mix well.

3 Roll out the puff pastry to a rectangle 40cm long by 30cm wide. Use the back of a knife to mark two lines down the length of the pastry, each 10cm from the edge, creating the impression of three equal strips. On each side, use a sharp knife to make incisions 3cm apart from the edge of the pastry to the line. This will create 13 fingers on each side.

4 Brush the pastry with beaten egg, then scatter the breadcrumb mixture down the centre. Arrange half the rhubarb on top of the breadcrumbs in dollops, then add half the ricotta. Repeat with the remaining rhubarb and ricotta.

5 Alternating from side to side, fold fingers of pastry over the rhubarb filling to create a braid effect. Brush with egg, sprinkle with Demerara sugar, then bake on a lined tray for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 170°C, then bake for a further 20 minutes, until very crisp. Cool on a wire rack, then serve with vanilla yoghurt.

RHUBARB AND RICOTTA JALOUSIE

• 1 bunch rhubarb, trimmed

• 1 cup caster sugar

• 1 orange

• ½ cup breadcrumbs

• ¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

• 300g puff pastry

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 400g full cream ricotta*

• ½ cup Demerara sugar

• vanilla yoghurt, to serve

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A MURDERMOST FOWL

THE STORY OF HOW ONE FAMILY’S PET BECAME DINNER

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THERE IS A YAWNING CHASM BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR DINNER. IN THE PAST HUNDRED YEARS, AN EVER-WIDENING GULF HAS EMERGED BETWEEN THE WORLD’S PROSPEROUS ECONOMIES AND THE REAL ORIGINS OF FOOD. SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE OUTSOURCED, PACKAGED AND SANITISED MEAT, DEVOLVING IT FROM THE REALITY OF DEATH. TODAY THERE MAY BE NO BLOOD ON OUR HANDS, BUT PERHAPS THAT VERY FACT SHOULD BE CAUSE FOR A GUILTY CONSCIENCE.

Bathed in warm afternoon light, he lay almost motionless on her lap, eyes barely

open as she held him close and gently caressed his neck. Against her pale hands, the deep vermillion blush of his cheek seemed almost to glisten as he breathed softly and she in turn cooed.

The knife was an old cast-off, its plastic handle and once-sharp blade possessing no particular value - the kind of tool found in bottom drawers, condemned to scrape paint, extract weeds or scale fish, any use but its own. A cursory honing had re-established an edge with the barest sense of purpose, yet it was sufficiently fine for the task.

The blade entered deliberately, pressing down yet only deep enough to barely pierce the skin. Behind the scrape of grey steel, a bright stream coursed across his cheek, vibrantly red. It spilled over his brow and stained the pitch-black curls that lined his downturned eyes.

Blood pooled between the blades of grass, and soon his vivid comb had paled. Anaemic. Drained. Exsanguinated. One final shiver and his head slowly dropped, mouth ajar, prostrate upon her knee.

The rooster was dead.

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The keeping of chickens has emerged as a social merit badge for upper-middle-class

neighbourhoods. Hydrangeas and roses have been systematically uprooted, ceding ground to the hutches and pens that accommodate Australorps, Rhode Island Reds, Cochins, Bantams and myriad other feathered guests. No modern yard is complete without the rattle of eccentric clucking and the availability of fresh eggs.

But is this really urban agriculture, or is today’s inner-city fascination with backyard chickens just an expression of the collective-individualism that drives and binds the aspirational classes in our wealthy world? Daubed as an impotent celebration of ‘natural living’, domestic poultry farming has grown with the identifiable spirit of contretemps that permeates each rolling wave of upwardly-mobile social trends. It is, as always, about being that little bit different.

Chickens now roam where gazebos and hot tubs stood a decade before, and where newer inclinations will reside in the decades to come. Surely few but the most dull-eyed and naïve will contend that chicken-rearing has really come home to roost. After all, once a critical mass of chicken owners is inevitably achieved, this will recast the novel as the mundane, driving out those for whom a hint of the agrarian is worn as a differentiating social accoutrement.

However there is (as in most productive trends) a kernel of truth that lies at the heart of this fad. Keeping productive chickens in an urban setting is good for you and good for the planet. And in pursuit of these ambitions the truly committed poultry aficionados will remain.

Of course, the real value of chickens is only realised when their owners are prepared to extract from them all the value that they offer, and that means seeing chickens as more than

EACH OF US AREINESCAPABLYCHILDREN OF THE INDUSTRIAL FOOD REVOLUTION

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just egg layers, depositors of manure and reducers of greenhouse emissions, but also as a source of meat. It necessitates a return to the values and ideals that underpinned our relationship with agricultural animals for all but the last 50 years.

We want you and your backyard chickens to be part of an exciting project”.

This deliberately imprecise call-to action was posted in Autumn to readers numbering in the thousands. Within days it had been shared widely through social and conventional media, hurried on to an exponential array of recipients by proud poultry owners keen to remind friends and family about the home-scale farming taking place in that once-redundant patch at the far corner of their yard.

In all, more than seventy-six thousand people followed the link and read the instructions that re-directed them to a more complete explanation of the plan. For rather than simply celebrating their fowl, at the end of this particular trail was an invitation to be part of a return to the authentic roots of domestic agriculture, and put one of their hens in the pot for dinner.

Photographed, described and published.

It was a solicitation to murder, an incitement for a backyard snuff story.

In the end, only three readers responded positively to this idea, and of those only two were prepared to commit to carrying out the procedure personally.

Hundreds expressed an understanding of why the idea held value, and many articulated a wish that they too might have the courage to harvest their own meat. But in the end, an emotional connection to their animals or blood-guilt anxiety about complicity in the process of death held sway and almost all demurred.

The same people who convivially carve store-bought chook at the table find the idea of home-killed poultry unpalatable. It’s an absurd contradiction. How can we draw such profound distinctions between the ethical value of different beasts? Can we really suggest that a factory animal warrants getting it in the neck, while by contrast the feathered friend cavorting

in your yard deserves more than simply a commutation of its natural sentence, that it has somehow earned the privilege of familial standing?

When and how did we lose our willingness and ability to harvest meat? If the capacity to provide food for ourselves and our family is integral to our humanity, then have we become less human for the loss of this skill? And are the fears that drive us away from home-killing warranted or simply imagined?

Joanne Stocker is a born-again carnivore. A lapsed California hippie-vegan, her broad

smile and unwavering deliberateness reveal the Earth Mother tendencies that define her. She eschews the excessive ornamentation preoccupying so many women of her age, and instead wears small roughened patches on her fingers, testament to honest labour.

Along with husband Rod and their two girls she lives on the city fringe, in a lately-pastoral zone that is rapidly contracting under the onward march of urbanisation. A half-dozen black-faced sheep, dogs and several-dozen chickens occupy the small paddocks that make up their acreage.

This is cottage-home existence with late 19th century hallmarks, the kind of deliberately-chosen lifestyle that consciously uncouples from modern convenience. Home-baked bread and biscuits fill the pantry, and their own sheep are processed by the local abattoir and butcher.

Yet even for the pocket-handkerchief farmer, home-killed meat is usually one significant step too far. While poddy lambs might eventually be sent out for slaughter, death is kept at an emotionally safe distance.

Until recently.

Joanne’s decision to kill a chicken for meat came about because of three co-existing ideas. She believes profoundly in the importance of deriving food from its source. This is not some newly-acquired mantra, but a long-practised ideology and a central tenet to the rhythm of her life. Additionally, Joanne chose a rooster because its eggless nature holds little value on a productive block, and because only the best

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

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roosters can be allowed to breed. Lastly, Joanne felt obligated to take ownership of the fatal transaction that makes meat available – if she was not prepared to kill, then she should return to her former vegetarian ways.

The decision at which Joanne arrived was not made in isolation. By choosing to elect for herself the role of executioner, she was encompassing her family as fellow travellers, willing or otherwise. After all, this chook was destined for their shared dinner table. Such decisions carry the potential of significant discord, as a variety of strongly-held views often emerge on emotionally-charged subjects such as this. Navigating the matrix of ethical standpoints on meat production is potentially fraught, and rifts, splits and conflict are all real possibilities.

Yet in the end she would be abetted by Rod, and the girls were largely indifferent.

The Stocker’s flock comprises three principal breeds – ISA Browns, Sussex and Australorps – and as a side business they sell excess offspring chicks to families starting or expanding their own backyard pursuits. The ISA browns are renowned layers, yielding up to 300 eggs in their first year. Sussex and Australorps are also prolific egg producers, however their thicker muscle structure and higher fat content makes them dual-purpose birds, suitable for meat production as well.

Consideration of breed type must underpin any choice to keep domestic poultry, as productivity rates and usage suitability varies enormously. Many of the heirloom chickens fancied for physical shape, feather style or colouration are low-frequency layers and yield stringy, dry and unpalatable meat, sometimes even unsuited to slower immersion-cooking techniques such as braising or stewing.

From the cook’s perspective, home-raised chicken meat is distinct in a number of ways when compared to that of commercial production. The intensely-juicy chickens stocked by butchers and supermarkets are the result of careful breeding over the past hundred years. These are usually sub-species that are not widely available and in any event would not

be suited to domestic rearing. Put simply, you can’t expect that home-killed chicken will taste or feel the same as that which you can buy. But isn’t that the whole point? Domestic chicken can have a nuance of flavour and unique texture that reflects what artisanal poultry is supposed to be, not what industry players have decided unilaterally that we ought to consume.

As such, if choosing the path of home-killed fowl, commencing with a suitable breed is integral. Cornish Cross or Leghorns are ideal if egg-laying is not a significant factor. If a dual-purpose chicken is required, then Australorps, Faverolles, Sussex and New Hampshire Reds are all excellent choices.

And then the specific bird must be selected. Most chickens will be slaughtered as pullets or cockerels (before they reach one-year-old), for as chickens mature their meat structure condenses and forms compact and more-clearly defined structures. This makes the bird stronger and more capable, especially if free-ranging, however the meat yielded is noticeably stringier. Further, contrasting the culinary value of male and female chickens reveals important disparities. Testosterone drives rooster behaviour, but also helps build fibrous muscle mass, meaning that male chickens are unavoidably tougher to eat. Additionally, the more any animal moves, the denser its meat will become as a by-product of the lactic acid created by muscle usage. As such, while free-ranged chickens are naturally-textured, their barn-reared or commercial cousins will have meat that is more supple.

Ideally, if a young rooster is to be eaten, it should be well-fed, free-ranged and killed by six months of age.

So it was that the tall black Australorp cockerel, a bossy and charismatic member of the group, found himself separated out of the smaller fenced yard, apparently having earned the privilege of wandering free in the more expansive paddock.

Yet that sun-draped afternoon, with its iridescent blue sky and placid wisp of wind, held a surprise he could not have imagined.

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Three distinct, yet equally important, arguments are traditionally mounted

against the idea of home-killed chicken.

When conducted by an amateur, detractors claim, slaughter will be inhumane and cause suffering to the animal.

It is also inferred that domestic killing is an unhygienic way to produce food, possibly allowing dangerous pathogens to become incorporated in the meat. Surely factory processing exists in order to ensure food safety?

Lastly, the visceral reality of slaughter may be too traumatic, especially for children, and could generate enduring emotional issues around the consumption of meat products and other fresh foods.

But in reality, what stifles the conversation around this topic, inculcates a profound mood of reservation, and prevents more bird-keepers from garnering their own meat is the belief that killing, plucking, eviscerating and finishing a bird is, well, just a little bit gross. In principle, most people simply find the entire process too confronting.

And to be honest, it is challenging for a novice. Difficult, perhaps, but not wrong or complicated. And only the first time.

The home-slaughter of animals for domestic and personal consumption is legal in Australia. There are, naturally, guidelines around the humane execution of this task that must be observed, yet the process is still considered sufficiently routine that the RSPCA Australia provides advice on technique through their online Knowledgebase. Those entrusted with the welfare of our national animals concur that domestic poultry owners can manage this task.

One important ethical caveat must be made clear: no death is entirely painless or free from anxiety. That inescapable fact lies at the heart of our biological need to consume meat. Our intent, therefore, must be to minimise suffering to the smallest degree possible, and good technique can result in almost trauma-free slaughter.

If the fact that killing animals for food generates stress or discomfort in the creature is

unacceptable to you, then vegetarianism is an entirely acceptable alternative choice. However, if meat is to be a part of any person’s diet, then that consumer must eventually reconcile the nature of the transaction which makes that meat available. You simply can’t have it both ways.

Minimising suffering is the key aim for all animal processing, commercial and domestic, and can be achieved. Reducing the animal’s disquiet or stress prior to killing is an important first step. Slow movements, steady hands and quiet voices are all critical. Many people who home-kill chickens will use a cone-shaped piece of plastic or metal in which they can place the bird, with its head protruding from the smaller end. While it may seem reminiscent of medieval torture apparatus to the layperson, that sense of constraint swiftly calms a chicken. As an alternative, wrapping in a towel is also effective. After this, gently rubbing the neck of the bird has a significant calming effect too.

Rapid death is the next milestone, and to this end decapitation is no longer recommended. Traditional stories of headless chooks running around the yard are frowned upon, and rightly so. Piercing the carotid artery in the neck to begin the bleeding process (essential to keep the meat from spoiling), then immediately severing the spine is quick and relatively painless. This can be achieved with a strong grip and a firm twisting action.

When it comes to food hygeine in home-killed poultry, ensuring that the meat yielded under these conditions is safe from harmful microbes is a three-step process.

Firstly, never slaughter any chicken that appears evidently unwell. The reasons for poor condition can vary, and could possibly be transferrable to humans through meat consumption. In practice such transmission is very unlikely, but avoidance seems a logical precaution.

Secondly, when making an incision to remove the intestinal tract and other organs from the plucked and scorched chicken, take great care not to pierce any of the soft tissue underneath, as gut-borne bacteria can potentially adhere to the meat. Some pathogens carried in faecal

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matter are genuinely dangerous, however, avoiding that issue is comparatively easy. Birds to be slaughtered should be given water but no food in the 24 hours leading up to processing, as this allows the intestinal tract to be effectively emptied. The incision should be made around the cloaca with the chicken resting on its back on a cutting board, performed with a sharp knife, and always shallow (about 2-4mm in depth). In the event that some organ was pierced in this process, then prompt, careful and thorough rinsing in fresh water will be sufficient.

Lastly, once the chicken is fully dressed (an ironic term as by now the chicken is entirely denuded) it must be chilled rapidly. Immersion in lightly-salted iced water is a good strategy, otherwise, it must be refrigerated immediately. The chicken will usually be around 20-25°C, and must fall to 4°C within 2 hours in order to ensure food safety.

If these three steps are followed, then meat hygiene is not an issue.

The emotional impacts of slaughter are perhaps the most significant issue to resolve, and also the most difficult to address. Each person’s individual psychology is simply too layered and unique for many generalisations to be drawn. Some will find it challenging, others impossible. Many, perhaps even most, will be indifferent or genuinely enthusiastic about this holistic and natural means of providing food to a family or community.

The practice of home-killing chicken is not new. In the greater history of humankind outsourced commercial meat production is the novel aspect. While small and medium-scale chicken farms have existed for millennia, the first to operate on an industrial scale only began after the Second World War. Australia’s first purpose-bred meat chicken was not developed until 1959.

Before this, almost all chickens were domestically-killed, and knowledge about the technique required was considered part of ordinary home economics. Until the first suburban expansions of the 1950’s, a significant number (some sources suggest a majority) of Australian homes kept chickens. They were

used for eggs, to process food waste, to provide manure and to roast occasionally for dinner. In this era, chicken meat was considered a luxury, and most families would consume no more than a dozen chickens in any given year. Today chicken is most-eaten meat in Australia, with the average diner putting away 35 chickens in just twelve months.

Historical observations such as these are more than mere context, they provide an alternative viewpoint from whose perspective the issues of home-killing appear very different. The argument against domestic slaughter on emotional grounds usually presents the practice as aberrant behaviour, somehow outside normal parameters. Yet if our aversion to killing is largely new, then do its opponents contend that our historical food gathering behaviour from time immemorial until very recently was unnatural? And how should we understand the fact that this blood-averring philosophy has come to dominate so absolutely, in spite of our traditional and intuitive willingness to kill and process our own meat?

Perhaps it’s part of a much wider cultural transformation, a broader sanitising protocol that has affected every part of who we are. Today we outsource so much of the grit, grime and effluent of daily life. We no longer change our own engine oil, and ovens are self-cleaning. We shower more than ever, lather ourselves with anti-bacterial solutions, and fill our rooms with germ-killing sprays whose long-term effects are yet to be proven. Meanwhile we wax, shave, trim, fill, implant and customise our bodies into forms that resemble less and less who we were born to become. In the context of such a mind-state, is it really surprising that we have evolved away from the sanguine?

But interestingly, it is the argument against home-killing on the basis of its potential effects on children that crumbles most readily under analysis. Children approach the process of animal death with interest and curiosity, and resolve the ethical questions around it with significantly less complication than do adults. The same observation can also be made of adults who grew up in an environment where meat processing in one form or another was

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commonplace – it’s neither good nor bad, it’s just how you go about getting a chicken for the kitchen.

An abundance of professional and lay literature exists around the subject of helping children deal with the death of a pet. Much less (in fact perhaps only the one peer-reviewed article) exists on the commensurate effects of deliberately-induced animal death for food. That so little attention is given to the latter subject seems to support one of three conclusions – that the rarity of modern urban home-killing means that little attention is given as a consequence of reduced necessity; that children react in comparable ways to both circumstances hence the observations and advice given for the loss of a pet are equally valid for home-killed meat; or that the death of an animal for consumption presents a different and more normal context that does not warrant independent investigation or advice.

Regardless of which conclusion is preferred, the available professional analysis of how young people cope with the loss of an animal are broadly consistent. Children must be comforted if upset, but always encouraged to understand that this is a normal, appropriate and anticipated part of life.

This exact conclusion can be also be drawn in the matter of all meat production, including home-killing. Humans eat meat, and that food comes from animals, animals that we have to kill.

That does not mean that the children need necessarily be included in the process, or even encouraged to observe. That is a decision made by each parent on the basis of their individual child’s maturity, interest and emotional wellbeing.

After considering this subject Joanne and Rod chose not to have their young girls experience the process in all its gory detail. Not yet, perhaps when they are a little older. However, they were informed about the decision to cook one of the family’s chickens in advance, helped with preparing it for the oven, and happily sat at the table tucking into second helpings. No special consideration was given to their age, instead, Joanne and Rod had full confidence that, although their children were young, they were emotionally capable of managing the information. All of the girls’ questions were

answered to their satisfaction, and before too long the conversation turned quickly to what had happened at school.

That black Australorp cockerel is not the only chicken Joanne Stocker has butchered.

Since him there have been others, and there will be more. Home-killed poultry has become a natural part of the rhythm of their chicken keeping, no more unusual than the eggs, or the manure, or the abundant chicks.

Nestled in their productive homestead, Joanne and Rod maintain the kind of intuitive relationship with their animals that has guided humans since before the advent of agriculture. All of their creatures are valued, respected, well-treated, and regarded as an important resource.

This approach to the keeping and use of chickens is the crucial factor that differentiates the real urban agriculturist.

And how did the rooster taste? Well, in an era where the consumption of chicken meat has eclipsed all other sources of protein, and become the redundant default choice for most Australians, that roast bird was appreciated in ways that have been largely lost. It was savoured.

The meat was distinctively flavourful, with a mild gamey aftertaste, and while the flesh as not as tender as is the nature of commercial poultry, it was not at all unpleasant or distracting. It simply tasted and felt like a delicious and natural chicken.

Real food, cooked by real people.

K HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CHICKEN

This article would not have been possible without the help of Joanne Stocker and Rod Evans, and their girls Jade and Ruby.

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Choose a hen or rooster from a meat-appropriate breed that is less than one year old. One full day before slaughter place the animal into a separated cage or fenced area where water is made available but food is not.

Three-quarters-fill a large pot (at least 30% bigger than the bird) with water and set over a high heat to boil, then turn the heat to low. The water will need to be 72°C when tested with a thermometer.

Tie a slipknot on a length of string strong enough to support the weight of the bird, then secure the other end to a hook, rafter or other hitching point above the work station. The slipknot should be at eye level.

Pick up the chicken gently, as you would for any other procedure, then wrap its body firmly with an old bath towel, leaving only the neck and head visible.

Laying the chicken with its head downwards, stroke the neck gently for at least one full minute.

Use a sharp knife to make an incision across the side of the neck, just below the cheek. This will pierce the carotid artery and produce a steady blood flow.

Grip the chicken’s neck with both and hands twist sharply in opposite directions to break the spinal column and kill the bird.

Allow the bird to continue draining until the flow of blood slows or stops completely.

Using the sharp knife, remove the head completely.

Immerse the chicken in the hot water for 90 seconds, then rinse with cold water. This loosens the feathers.

Place one leg through the slipknot and allow the chicken to hang – working at this height makes

removing the feathers simpler and induces less strain on the back.

Use a pulling and snapping technique to pluck out the feathers. A pair of pliers may be employed to remove any feathers that stick or are difficult to extract. The ease with which feathers can be removed is related to breed type and age.

Use a blowtorch set to medium flame to scorch the skin lightly. This burns off any remaining fine feathers or feather-stumps.

Cut off the feet at the knee joint. These can be cooked, but are often discarded. Do not feed to pet dogs as this may cause them to regard your chickens as a source of food.

Find the cloaca – it’s located just below the tail – then make a careful and shallow incision from this opening down towards the breast bone. Do not pierce the soft tissues beneath. This will reveal the internal organs.

Use fingers to carefully remove the internal organs in one piece. The lungs may adhere to the cavity wall and can require additional prising to pull out. If desired, the liver, heart and giblet can all be set aside for cooking.

Rinse the chicken thoroughly inside and out in cold running water, then pat dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.

Immerse in iced water or refrigerate immediately. The chicken should chill to 4°C within 2 hours.

The chicken will need to be refrigerated for at least three days to allow the rigor mortis to settle and for the meat tissue to become tender.

If processing a cockerel, immersing the bird in a light saline solution (1 part salt in 20 parts water) for the three days while refrigerated can help make the meat more tender.

HOW TO PREPAREa chicken for cooking

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• 2kg chicken*

• sea salt flakes and freshly-milled black pepper

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 brown onions, diced

• 2 celery ribs, thickly sliced

• 10 cloves garlic, peeled

• 3 fresh bay leaves

• 1 sprig rosemary

• 2 tsp cornflour

• juice of 1 lemon

• boiled potatoes and chopped parsley, to serve

*For a home-killed rooster, overnight brining will help to tenderise the meat. Dissolve 400g salt in 1L boiling water, then add 3L cold water. Immerse the rooster (weighted down to ensure it does not protrude). Drain and dry thoroughly before proceeding with the recipe.

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SERVES 6

1 Preheat oven to 160°C. Pat the chicken dry inside and out and tuck the wings underneath, then season generously with salt and pepper. Pour the olive oil into a preheated French oven set over a moderate heat, then place the chicken in breast-side down and cook for 5 minutes, turning several times, until lightly-browned.

2 Carefully turn the chicken over and arrange the onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves and rosemary around. Place a sheet of lightly-damped non-stick baking paper on top, then fit the lid. Bake for 1½ hours, until a thermometer reads 78°C when tested at the hip. Transfer to a roasting pan, cover with foil and set aside for 15 minutes to rest.

3 Strain the juices into a small saucepan and set over a low heat. Mix the cornflour with 1 Tbsp water, then whisk in and simmer until thickened. Stir in the lemon juice. Carve the chicken and serve with the potatoes, parsley and gravy.

FRENCH POT ROASTCHICKEN

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mushrooms

WILD AT HEART

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MUSHROOMS ARE ONE OF THE MOST DELICIOUS, GASTRONOMICALLY-VERSATILE, AND NUTRITIONALLY IMPORTANT FOODS IN OUR WORLD.BEST OF ALL, COMMERCIALLY-HARVESTED MUSHROOMS ARE AVAILABLE YEAR ROUND IN PERFECT CONSISTENCY, MEANING THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS A GREAT CHOICE.

THE REALSUPERFOOD

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GROWIt is possible to grow mushrooms successfully at home, usually from a ready-to-use box kit available through major hardware retailers. These domestic growing systems mimic with good precision exactly the manner in which commercial producers raise and harvest their crops. A stable growing medium (the dirt or compost) is inoculated with mushroom spore (the fungus equivalent of seeds), then left in a cool, dry and relatively airtight space. The addition of warmth and water will initiate the growing cycle. Once the mushrooms begin to form, a casing of peat moss scattered over the surface of the emerging mushrooms maintains appropriate moisture content to ensures more even growth. Mushrooms can usually be harvested continually from week two until week five. Spent compost can then be dug into your garden to enrich the soil.

IN THE DARKMost commercial mushroom farmers (and the instructions you’ll find on home kits) grow their product indoors, away from light. Yet contrary to popular belief this is not essential. Mushrooms will grow just as effectively in lit or dark situations – after all, wild mushrooms get plenty of sunshine. The reason for the darkness is purely financial. If a crop does not require light in order to grow well, why pay for the power needed for illumination? There is some evidence that exposure to UV light can slightly darken the colour of a mushroom’s surface, but this change is minimal and in fact can represent significant nutrition development within the mushroom itself.

VARIETIESThere are a dozen key varieties of mushrooms grown in Australia, although several more are produced in boutique amounts, wild-harvested, or imported. The white mushroom (Agaricus) is the mainstay of our mushroom industry. These mushrooms double in size from buttons to cup size in a few days, and then on to large flat size in a further week or more. These various sizes are all the same species of mushroom at different stages of development, and have similar flavours. Swiss Browns are also Agaricus

mushrooms, but their particular varietal has a noticeably darker skin and (some chefs will argue) a more pronounced flavour. Portobella mushroom are the mature stage of the Crimini, a darker and more full-flavoured varietal that is very popular in commercial cookery. Many of the Asian varieties of mushrooms require higher humidity levels and as such, are usually grown together, sometimes in disused tunnels. Shiitake, enoki, chestnut, shimeji, King Brown, nameko and oyster mushrooms (in white, yellow and pink) are plentiful on the Australian market. In addition, Australia now has a thriving truffle-growing market, and pine mushrooms are readily-available throughout Autumn and early winter. Other edible wild mushrooms include slippery jacks, Grey Ghosts, Blewitts, chicken-of-the-woods, hedgehogs, she-oak flats and almond mushrooms. Of course, great care and experience is always required when foraging for mushrooms.

BUY AND STOREMushrooms are a fresh product and lose plumpness through shipping and storage. Ideally mushrooms should be purchased on the day you intend to cook them, or if buying ahead of time, store in a paper bag to ensure perfect moisture levels. Too dry and the mushrooms will shrivel, to damp and they will become greasy.

PREPMushrooms do not need to be peeled, in fact the skin contains a high density of nutrients and should always be kept. If mushrooms are dirty, scrub with a clean pastry brush. If wild-harvested or heavily coated in compost, soak in water for 5 minutes, rub gently with a clean cloth, then dry thoroughly. Once washed, mushrooms should be cooked immediately.

COOKMushrooms can be eaten raw, as a purée, or cooked in many ways. Their high water content means that they can benefit from additional cooking time to concentrate their flavour, or from very high barbecue temperatures to create smoky and highly aromatic flavours. The porous structure of mushrooms mean they are also well-suited to marinating. Slice and barbecue

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large mushrooms until just tender. Sauté with aromatic ingredients like garlic and fennel seed in a generous amount of butter. Steam with a soy and sesame oil mixture, or braise gently in chilli-spiked tomato broth. Raw mushrooms also add texture and strong flavour notes to salads.

HEALTHMushrooms contain almost no fat, are extremely low in carbohydrates and contain no gluten. In addition, a significant amount of quality scientific research has been conducted all over the world into the specific health benefits of mushrooms. The focus of this work has been broad across a range of areas including general wellbeing, cancer prevention, immunity, weight management, skin health, heart health and blood pressure. In each of these areas the consumption of mushrooms has been shown to have significant benefits. Ten major studies each found that women who consume mushrooms have less than half the risk of breast cancer as those women who do not eat mushrooms, while a comparable effect has been shown in men’s prostate cancer. Mushrooms are rich in naturally-occurring glutamates (not to be confused with MSG) an organic compound that triggers satiety and reduces the desire to eat. A 2009 study demonstrated that eating mushrooms helps you to feel full for longer, thereby managing weight-related health issues. Mushrooms are also one of the best sources of ergothioneine, an essential antioxidant for boosting immunity, and are one of the few foods that contains it.

VITAMIN DVitamin D deficiency is a significant public health issue faced by nations around the globe, with far-reaching consequences that affect many areas of wellbeing. Insufficient vitamin D is linked to poor bone health, heart disease, colorectal cancers, diabetes, hypertension and rickets. During winter, 60% of Australian women are vitamin D deficient, as are 40% of Australian men. While this situation improves by a third over summer, the ongoing problem is grave. Mushrooms can provide all of your vitamin D needs. Mushroom skin is able to naturally produce Vitamin D, just like human skin. As such, once harvested, exposing them to around 1 hour of quality sunlight will generate 100% of your RDI in just 100g (3 button mushrooms).

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• 1l milk

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 4 cardamom pods

• 200g fine polenta

• 75g unsalted butter

• ¼ cup finely-grated Parmesan cheese


• 6 large Portobello mushrooms

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• 4 eschalots, finely sliced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• ½ bunch thyme leaves

• ¼ bunch sage, finely sliced

• ½ cup dry sherry

• 2 cups baby kale leaves

• 100g Taleggio, sliced

• poached spring onions and thyme sprigs, to serve

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SERVES 4

1 Pour the milk into a large saucepan with 600ml water, the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom. Set over a moderate heat, then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Strain out the aromatic ingredients. While simmering, add the polenta in a steady stream and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Set over a saucepan of barely-simmering water and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often. Beat in the butter and Parmesan, then season with salt.

2 Slice the mushrooms thickly and toss with half the olive oil. Cook on a hot ribbed skillet for 2 minutes each side, until lightly charred. Set aside. In a large frying pan, sauté the eschalots, garlic, thyme and sage in the remaining olive oil over a moderate heat for 3 minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and sherry, then fold in the kale leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

3 Top the polenta with Taleggio and cook under a hot grill until browned, then serve with the mushrooms, poached spring onions and thyme sprigs.

CREAMY POLENTA WITH SKILLET PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS

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THE FOUR WINTER PASTA DISHES

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• 400g spaghetti• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs• 4 eschalots, finely diced• 8 cloves garlic, minced• ¼ cup extra virgin olive

oil• finely-grated zest of 2

lemons• ½ tsp chilli flakes


• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

• ½ bunch thyme leaves• 1 cup Pecorino, finely-

grated• lemon wedges, to serve

SPAGHETTI AGLIO E OLIOServes 4

1 Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of rapidly-boiling salted water according to manufacturer’s instruction, until al dente, then drain well.

2 Meanwhile, cook the breadcrumbs in a large frying pan over a moderate heat, until toasted, then set aside. Sauté the eschalots and garlic in the olive oil in the same frying pan for 3 minutes, until just softened, then mix in the lemon zest and chilli. Season generously with salt and pepper.

3 Mix in the spaghetti, breadcumbs, herbs and cheese, then serve with lemon wedges.

• 1kg lamb shoulder, diced• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil• 1 leek, finely diced• 12 cloves garlic, minced• 500g button mushrooms,

chopped• 1 Tsp celery seeds• 1 Tbsp dried porcini

mushrooms, chopped

• 2L beef stock• sea salt flakes and freshly-

milled black pepper• 400g orecchiette, cooked• 1 cup finely-grated

Parmigiano• 4 cups baby spinach

leaves• 1 bunch mint leaves

ORECCHIETTE WITH LAMB AND MUSHROOM RAGUServes 4

1 Fry the lamb pieces in half the olive oil, until well-browned. Set aside. Sauté the leek and garlic in the remaining olive oil for 3 minutes, until softened, then mix in the button mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, until dry.

2 Return the lamb pieces with the celery seeds, porcini mushrooms and stock, then simmer gently for 2 hours, until the meat is tender, and the sauce thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

3 Mix the orecchiette into the lamb ragu with the Parmigiano, spinach and mint leaves. Serve.

• 400g penne pasta• 2 lemons• 1 red onion, very finely

sliced• ½ cup black olives, halved• ½ cup green olives, halved

• 1 bunch sage leaves• 2 cups firm ricotta• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil • sea salt flakes and

freshly-milled black pepper

RIGATONI WITH RICOTTA, OLIVES AND LEMONServes 4

1 Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly-boiling salted water according to manufacturer’s instructions, until al dente, then drain well.

2 Meanwhile, cut the lemon zest in thick strips and blanch in boiling water. Peel the lemons, cut into segments, then mix in the onion, olives and sage.

3 Add the ricotta and all of the olive oil to the cooked pasta and toss to coat, then fold in the zest and olive mixture. Season with salt and pepper, then serve.

• 1 bunch parsley leaves• 1 bunch mint leaves• 1 bunch thyme leaves• 2 tsp capers• 8 cloves garlic, sliced• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil• sea salt flakes and freshly-

milled black pepper

• 400g pappardelle pasta• 4 Italian sausages• 2 white onions, finely

sliced• 1 cup roasted red

capsicum, sliced• 1 cup finely-grated

Parmesan cheese

PAPPARDELLE WITH SALSA VERDE AND SAUSAGEServes 4

1 Combine the herbs, capers, 6 cloves garlic and ½ cup olive oil in a blender and purée until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

2 Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly-boiling salted water, until al dente, then drain well.

3 Meanwhile, remove the skins from the sausages and crumble into small pieces. Fry in the remaining olive oil over a moderate heat in a large frying pan, until crunchy, then add the onion and remaining garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Mix in the capsicums, pasta, Parmesan and herb sauce, then serve.

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LANDof milk and family

by John Fairley

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LANDof milk and family

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What will it take to preserve a connected life for families on the land, and what

will the consequences be if we don’t?

One effect is certain. We will lose the identity that has helped Australian farms to excel, leaving us with corporate or foreign-owned factory farms. Would these operations share our degree of pride in the work, our love of the land, or our care for the environment and animals? Or are those businesses, removed from the rhythm of the earth and its work, simply focussed on money?

My family has a heritage in the land that goes beyond just the cash return.

In 1856 the first Fairleys arrived in Australia and made their way to Picton to become tenant farmers. In fact the very hill behind my house was their first purchase. Since then, seven generations of Fairleys have farmed that same piece of land. Over time the holding grew to approximately 2000 acres, a very significant patch, although we have sold some parts over the years to enable family transfers. The property is now 850 acres, and my brother Peter owns one half, myself the other. My son Tom is the seventh continuous generation of our family working this land, something few (if any) other Australian farming dynasties can lay claim to.

As a family we feel privileged being able to work together. For us it comes back to that old saying, “it takes a tribe to help raise the young”.

So while we mentor our kids we help the older members along as well. Dad is retired but loves to come up two days a week and look at the cattle, be with his dog and do whatever he likes. Sometimes that’s just nothing!

But it’s not all roses. Managing the challenges of a family working together can also be very

difficult. Presently my Dad is 79, I’m 57 and Tom is 26. Our experiences and our views of the world are different. Our approaches to farming and business can be at opposite ends of the spectrum. But we find a way. Sometimes those differences just reflect how we feel about our place. I remember when Dad handed the farm to me, he told me he could imagine how the local indigenous Australians felt when we ‘boat people’ came and took over their place, their land.

That was a hard day for him.

But one of the biggest challenges that farming families face when trying to keep their land together is the way the family itself grows and changes through the generations. If it’s not managed well, it can be very political. Through marriages we find husbands or wives introduced, many of whom will become involved in the businesses. We Fairleys have our own way of doing things, and it can take a long time for that culture to be understood by those who join us. But then again, we also need new perspectives and outside thinking at times, so it’s a balancing act.

Over the course of many years I’ve come to understand what I believe it takes to preserve family life on the farm, for us and for families on the land everywhere. It’s about maintaining connections. The people that were born and bred on that patch of earth have to feel a desire

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to stay with the land that arises from a deep and emotional attachment.

Then they need to find ways to adapt, evolve, change and thrive, to put up with each generation wanting to change things and do it differently. It’s about continuity and change, woven together.

And it’s not just people that change, the business of farming changes too. Just selling commodities does not work in the modern economy so we needed find ways to change our business, and we had to change with it. We used to be dairy farmers, selling milk for a farmgate price, but I knew we could do more, and better. So we built a factory on the farm and Country Valley was born. It’s milk, and it’s great milk, and it’s our milk. Our business survives because we value-add our own product, so we are not price-takers at the whim of the markets.

It is not easy, but there’s something remarkable about being part of this living family history. At times we argue and get upset, and then other times we celebrate our wins. But in the end we always appreciate our workplace and lifestyle, as a family. It’s the secret to our success.

John Fairley.

ARTISAN DAIRY CONTINUES TO THRIVE

RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF OUR MAJOR CITIES,

CRAFTED BY HAND, JUST AS IT HAS BEEN FOR

GENERATIONS.

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John Fairley

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Bob Fairley

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MY FAMILY HAS A HERITAGE IN THE LAND

THAT GOES BEYOND JUST THE CASH RETURN

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SERVES 4

1 Soften the gelatine leaf in cold water. Meanwhile, heat 150ml full cream milk in a small saucepan with 120g caster sugar and the vanilla seeds until the sugar dissolves. Drain the gelatine, then whisk in to dissolve. Add the remaining full cream milk, then pour into four individual serving dishes. Refrigerate for 6 hours, until set

2 Pour half the low-fat milk into a second saucepan with 60g caster sugar and the reserved vanilla bean and set over a moderate heat until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool slowly. Add the remaining low fat milk, then freeze in a shallow tray for 4 hours, until firm.

3 Prick the cumquats with a pin and rinse lightly. Put the remaining sugar in a saucepan with 500ml water and bring to a boil. Add the cumquats and turn the heat to low. Cook very gently for 2 hours, until softened, then allow to cool.

3 Dress the jellies with cumquats, then scrape the granita with a fork and pile on top to serve.

MILK JELLY WITH VANILLA-MILK GRANITA AND CUMQUATS

• 1 leaf gold strength gelatine

• 500ml full cream milk

• 680g caster sugar

• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and bean reserved

• 400ml low-fat milk

• 500g cumquats

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ALL IN A LATHERThe art of handmade soap

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Soap is an ingenious contradiction. Made principally of oil, it is nonetheless our single most effective way of removing

both grease and dirt.

The first soaps were discovered by accident, as part of the ritual preparation of textiles and hides for ceremonial dying. Traditional pigments were water-based and would not penetrate the greasy surface of wools and other natural fibres.

Babylonians priests noticed that rubbing these fabrics with wet wood ash gently lifted the oil, leaving a permeable surface beneath.

Wood ash contains a caustic compound called lye, the intensity of which depends on both the timber variety and the heat at which it is burnt. When dissolved in water the lye becomes activated, and will reshape the chemical structure of oil if beaten in thoroughly.

The process is called saponisation, and the stable emulsion that forms we know as soap.

Soap dissolves when wet, forming a lather. One end of the soap molecule is hydrophobic and binds to the grease and dirt. The other end is hydrophyllic and reduces the water’s surface tension, allowing the freed oil and dirt to float in suspension. Taken together, these twin effects will lift then trap grease, before mixing it into a stable solution within the water.

As such, the most important stage of all washing is to rinse, for it is only in this last phase that the emulsified grime is actually removed.

Soap can be made from any oil, and needs only a strong alkali and pure water as its other ingredients. The caustic used is extremely strong and can cause serious burns, hence full safety equipment should always be used. However, if appropriate precautions are taken, and the recipe followed strictly, homemade soap is a simple and achievable project.

CASTILE:Olive oil soap

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CASTILE:Olive oil soap

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EQUIPMENT• Large plastic mixing bowl

• Spatula

• 1L measuring jug

• 500ml glass measuring jug

• Digital scale

• Stainless steel spoon

• Digital thermometer

• Stick blender

• Moulds

SAFETY NOTEDo not ever use aluminium equipment or tools when making soap as it will react dangerously with the alkali, causing high heat, bubbling and noxious fumes.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT• Chemical proof gloves

• Long sleeved shirt

• Face mask

• Safety goggles

INGREDIENTS• 1500ml extra virgin olive oil

• 185g lye*

• 450ml distilled water

• 2 tsp rosemary essential oil

• ½ cup picked rosemary leaves

LYE NOTE*Must be pure sodium hydroxide, always check the label. Often sold as drain cleaner at hardware stores.

Put on all personal protective equipment and find an outdoor or extremely well-ventilated space in which to make soap.

Stir in the essential oil, then fold in the rosemary leaves, mixing to combine thoroughly.

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THE RECIPE

Pour the oil into the large mixing bowl and pour the distilled water into the glass measuring jug. Mix the lye into the water. This solution will have a strong chemical reaction producing heat and fumes. Do not inhale fumes, and keep out of reach of children or pets. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Check that the temperature of the oil and the lye solution is the same. They must be within 5°C of each other for the process to work.

Pour the lye solution into the oil and stir to combine with a spatula. Use a stick mixer to blend until the combined liquid begins to thicken and a light trail is left behind when drizzled. This is called ‘trace’.

Pour into silicon or plastic moulds, tapping well to remove air bubbles. Cover with a towel and set aside to cool slowly, at least 4 hours.

Turn out the soaps onto a wire rack. This allows the leftover water to dry out, ensuring that the soap is hard enough to hold and will create good lather.

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Your soap is ready when it feels dry to touch, this can take up to six weeks depending on humidity. Soap should be stored in a cool, dark place to maintain freshness.

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LENNOX HASTIEOUT OF THE PAN

GUEST CHEF PROFILE:

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In the manner of classic portraiture, Lennox Hastie’s eyes seem to follow you around the

room. Deep pools of black, piercing and serious.

The man himself is taciturn, flecked with an understated reserve that broods openly. Plainly-evident pent-up energy lies barely concealed beneath his deliberate politeness – in Hastie it’s something not quite contained, a productive anxiety waiting to be unleashed. He seems to derive little pleasure from being promoted.

Yet unlike so many of his contemporaries, his careful distance does not infer a potential for anger or mock-violence, but rather an excusable disregard for the formalities of publicity.

He tolerates interviews rather than indulging in them. Carving time out of his kitchen to talk about cooking, as opposed to doing it, is counter-logical in his estimation.

“Young chefs should forget about TV and instead worry themselves about how they’re going to prep seven boxes of spinach”, he says with no hint of irony. It’s OK, I don’t take it personally, and I don’t disagree with him.

In fact, it’s refreshing.

Such disconnection from the tropes of modern culinary obsessions is not unexpected in a man who spent five years perched on a remote mountain in northern Spain. His plan to commit a year with the celebrated chef Victor Arguinzoniz at Asador Etxebarri stretched into half a decade. But time passes more slowly in the Basque hills south-east of Bilbao and is calculated in ways that defy precise modern measurement. The land, its people, and its food

are ancient and considered. Hastie left when the mountains were finished with him.

The food for which Asador Etxebarri is renown is a pure enunciation of that elemental philosophy of truly great cooking – when you do less, the ingredients can do more.

Less indeed.

Lennox’s training was not so much in the power of technique, but in the how to unfurl the potential of ingredients through the smoky lick and embrace of traditional wood fire. Crafted meats, seafood fresh from the water, garden-picked vegetables, each lapped, charred or infused with the coals of a precisely-chosen timber, one whose volatile flavours are matched to the qualities of the ingredient at hand. There is no chance in this formula, but nor does it lend itself to recipes. This form of cookery is deeply intuitive, and conferred only through patient study and mentoring.

There is less romance to be found in the gritty backstreets of lower Surry Hills, but the surrounding swath of concrete and bitumen has not diminished Hastie’s smouldering passion for primal cooking.

Firedoor is a beautiful space, open and collegiate. Large windows brush the room with the filtered blue light of reflected urban skies, emphasising the rusted hulk that dominates the rear of the kitchen. Like an ancient tanker, this purpose-built oversized wood-burning oven lies marooned, and seems both out of place and out of time. In an era of obsessively-contrived cookery, the simple act of burning wood might

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cast an affected glow. But there’s nothing pretentious about this restaurant, or this chef. Quite the contrary.

Remarkably, that oven is rarely used for cooking. Occasionally a basket of sprout leaves might be flashed in the searing heat, but for the most part it is designed to prepare the coals from six distinct timber types, over which the meats, fish and vegetables will be separately grilled, as and when needed.

Coals of this quality cannot be purchased, hence Lennox and his team painstaking manufacture their own. Timber cooked to 1600°C is the first ingredient in Hastie’s cuisine.

The menu at Firedoor is as elemental as the methods used to craft it, and Hastie’s descriptions are purposefully abrupt. Dishes are listed solely by key components, with no inference of the magic that brings them to life. Anticipation builds, surprises are granted.

In all of Lennox Hastie’s concoctions bold and idiosyncratic flavours emerge, often by use that is out of step with the approach of more traditional or parochial cooks. Beef tallow is used to give depth of character to seasonal cauliflower; a smattering of lipidic cured pork jowl enriches the smoky char of grilled leaves; carrots roasted to uncustomary sweetness one played out in the form of a dessert.

Firedoor is clever, not least so because Lennox Hastie’s immersion in food is equally thoughtful and creative. His dishes honour the labour of farmers and artisans, wrangled with the lightest scalding touch into remarkable food.

“Young chefs should forget about

TV and instead worry themselves

about how they’re going to prep

seven boxes of spinach”

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1 Prepare a fire using quality hardwood (apple is ideal) and allow it to burn down into embers. Set a grill 10cm above them.

2 Split the cos lettuces and cut the radicchio into quarters. Cook over the embers for 2-3 minutes each side, until softened, aromatic and lightly-grilled. Season with salt.

3 Arrange on plates and drizzle with oil and vinegar, then dress with the guanciale and pecans.

GRILLED LEAVES, GUANCIALE AND PECANS

SERVES 4

LENNOX HASTIE’S

• 2 heads baby cos lettuce

• 1 head white radicchio

• 1 head radicchio Treviso

• sea salt flakes

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 Tbsp organic apple cider vinegar

• 80g guanciale*, shaved

• 1 cup fresh pecans, lightly toasted and chopped

• garden radishes, to serve

from the same family as pancetta and prosciutto. It is made by salting the pork jowl, a layered and fatty cut from the side of the neck. It becomes rich and intensely-flavoured after processing. Guanciale can be hard to find (you’ll need to track down specialist Italian providores or butchers) but it’s worth the effort. If unavailable, use the best quality flat pancetta your local deli stocks.

GUANCIALE IS A TRADITIONAL ITALIAN CURED MEAT,

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LIFEAT THE EDGE OF THE DESERT

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The first olive trees were planted in Australia not long after white settlement. Small and

mostly unsuccessful groves were part of the mix of trees and crops established by new settlers throughout the Sydney basin. An aspiration to replicate the European countryside defined the approach pioneering immigrants took in crafting farmland from the coastal scrub, riverlands and grassy plains.

Where indigenous communities had built symbiotic relationships with the land, its plants and its fauna, white colonists sought to impose dominance, asserting their authority over the natural rhythm of the country.

Not surprisingly, all too often such an approach was unsuccessful.

Nearly twenty years would pass before the first olive groves of significance were established near Parramatta in Sydney’s west. In a period of grim food insecurity, these trees were planted for pickling. Yet as regional farming developed and crop yields quickly increased, attention turned to the as-yet untapped oil potential.

By the 1830’s French and Italian olive varietals were widely planted through the NSW colony,

and also in farms surrounding the recently-established ports of Melbourne and Adelaide. It was in these drier southern regions that the olive trees found a conducive climate, one more similar to the Mediterranean nations from which they had been uprooted. Mineral-rich sandy soils, long hot summers and a notable absence of humidity encouraged well-developed fruit and substantially higher yields.

In the foothills of Mount Lofty, east of the Adelaide township, Australia’s first noteworthy grove took shape. By 1875 there were more than 10,000 trees under cultivation on a single property, comprising a mix of the most important Old-World varietals, including Frantoio, Leccino, Picual and Taggiasca.

Despite being an industry in its infancy, Australian producers were creating outstanding olive oils, of which some were even award-recipients in open European competition. That achievement was doubly remarkable given the distance these colonial oils had to travel, and the fact that they were transported across the rancidity-inducing heat of the equator. On the back of public acclamation, premium Australian oil producers began exporting to Europe.

AUSTRALIANS CONSUME MORE OLIVE OIL THAN CITIZENS OF ANY COUNTRY OUTSIDE THE MEDITERRANEAN, NEARLY TWO AND A HALF LITRES PER YEAR BY EVERY ONE OF US. IT IS A RISING TREND AND SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLOWING. HOWEVER, OUR LOCAL OLIVE OIL INDUSTRY IS FACED WITH A SERIOUS OBSTACLE DERAILING ITS PROGRESS AND UNDERMINING ITS FUTURE – THE FAILURE OF SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS TO RECOGNISE AND PROTECT ITS VALUE.

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Today olive oil production is still concentrated in the southern parts of Australia, Victoria accounts for more than 60% of all flows. South Australia and NSW (mostly the southern regions of those states) produce another 18%, while the remainder comes from W.A., Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT.

A range of varietals are planted nationally, but production centres on five principal olive types. These are trees that have proven well-suited to local agricultural conditions and consumer preferences – Barnea, Frantoio, Leccino, Coratina, Picual and Arbequina. While the terroir of regional distinctions will individuate every harvest and olive type, general varietal characteristics are worth noting. By and large these olives are astringent and intensely-flavoured oil fruits, features that match the flavour-forward approach of Australian cooking.

Developing this distinctly-Australian olive oil profile has been the product of a synergistic relationship between local cooks and oil producers over a long period of time. After several decades of refinement and transformation a style has been distilled that achieves market equilibrium. It is usually robust and highly-aromatic, with obvious fruit notes and phenolic attributes. The best evidence of consumer satisfaction is distribution data – despite its relatively-higher price point, more than 70% of all Australian oil is sold right here, to Australian chefs and cooks.

As a top-line economic problem, Australian olive oil appears to be on the cusp of another great leap forward: significant amounts of unrequited market demand exist, productive capacity is increasing, and opportunity abounds to develop substantial new international markets.

And yet there remains a long shadow over the industry, one that stupefies and confounds analysis. Beyond issues that may arise from consumer intransigence or the impending threat of climate change, there is a more immediate, significant and solvable problem at hand. 95% of Australia’s olive oil is Extra Virgin grade – prized in the kitchen, and nutritionally-dense. Yet the commercial value inherent to that product is broadly unprotected. Australians are routinely sold inferior, adulterated or deliberately misrepresentative oils masquerading

as Extra Virgin, a process of fraud that drives down demand for quality and commoditises the sector. At the discretionary stroke of a pen the Federal Government could resolve this problem permanently. However, in spite of years of comprehensive and well-reasoned argument, no action has been taken. This amounts to an ongoing failure that deprives our farmers of income, and Australian consumers of their rights.

Moree in central-northern NSW is a large country town like many others, a

junction point on the north-south and east-west passageways that bisect the state. It’s a crossroads for trucking, and the streets echo day and night with the rattle of B-doubles and the tumbling purr of air brakes as a stream of heavily-laden trailers approach the sweeping twin-curve of highway on the town’s southern edge.

But Moree is also an agricultural centre, and a hub for the broadacre farmland that surrounds it. From a farmer’s perspective the region is remarkable - wheat, barley, nuts and legumes, cattle, sheep and goats. The district is a food bowl that lies on the north-western edge of one of Australia’s most productive pastoral regions that stretches to the Hunter Valley in the south and eastwards to the coast. It encompasses a range of dynamic industries contributing billions to the economy.

For now at least.

Not all players in this part of Australia are large-scale. Alongside the comprehensive farming for which the region is famed is a geographically-small, but qualitatively-significant, olive oil industry. However, in spite of its far-reaching success to date, no certainty exists as to its future.

A rattling dust-covered bridge crosses the Gwydir River on the outskirts of Biniguy,

little more than half an hour east of Moree. In the paddocks to either side contented cattle are busily chewing down the verdant grasses that have sprung up after recent rain. But this green is deceptive and it belies the soil beneath. Here the land is dirt - sandy and impoverished.

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It’s a far cry from the rich and black volcanic plains of the greater region. Those dark soils are what enabled the cotton and cropping industries to flourish, but localised differences in soil, climate, topography and rainfall are, after all, what makes farming challenging and specialised. In the depleted earth surrounding Pallamallawa where graziers and pastoralists found little but testing circumstance, two local women identified an opportunity.

Olive trees thrive in harsh and unrelenting landscapes. Where other plants crave enrichment, olives prefer to do it tough, flourishing not in spite of adversity but because of it.

Gwydir Grove Olive Oil is a neat snapshot of the industry in Australia. When Margi Kirkby and Jenni Birch planted their first trees in 1996, Australian olive oil was peripheral. Yet in the subsequent decade a combination of increased national wealth, diversified culinary interests and targeted government rebates for agricultural investment encouraged a range of new entrants into olives and other boutique crops. Production quadrupled, and the sector’s commercial viability increased commensurately.

Twenty years later, 80,000 heavily-laden trees cover that same swath of land, stretching towards the horizon in every direction. The business of Gwydir Grove has matured too, and is now recognised as one of the most prestigious oil producers in the country. It thrived under close, careful and deeply-personal management, a quality typical of successful small agricultural enterprises. And in spite of structural changes over the years, this is an approach that still informs their manner of growing, production and distribution.

Beyond the classic oil profiles for which Gwydir Grove has been noted since its inception, Jenni and Margi have also tailored their product to meet consumer demand, reflecting their twin strategy in their understanding of small business management – integrity in the base characteristics of the product for which the company is known (premium-quality olive oil), and a capacity to innovate in order to meet changing tastes and the potential of new market share.

Like many oil producers Gwydir Grove also manufactures table olives, olive pates and vinegar, labour-intensive but profitable alternatives to classic oil production. Additionally, they create agrumato-style oils using traditional Italian techniques, co-processing citrus with the olive fruit for a zesty and individual flavour profile that has received professional accolades and achieved significant market success. By pressing locally-grown lemons, limes, mandarins and blood oranges along with their tree fruit, Jenni and Margi have also retained the sense of regionalisation that is a key part of the narrative driving consumer sentiment about their artisan production.

But the success that Gwydir Grove has achieved in the last decade should not distract from the greater challenges that it and many similar businesses face. For every award conferred (including Champion Oil at what many regard as the nation’s premier competition – the Sydney Royal Fine Food), there are myriad practical obstacles.

And beyond the rudimentary operational difficulties of farming in the 21st century, three principal threats disrupt the entire olive oil industry, even leading producers such as Gwydir Grove.

Consumer indifference and the commoditisation of quality. Climate change and the loss of irrigation water. Legislative inaction in response to global market issues and fraudulent labelling. It is about this last issue that all Australian food lovers should be motivated to action.

Every advanced economy has a set of rubrics governing the nature of consumer, industrial

and commercial interactions. These ensure that parties to any contract are given confidence that the item or service under negotiation conforms to certain practicalities and will achieve the purposes for which it is intended. Such rules enforce safety, quality and market credibility.

We know these as Australian Standards.

While consumers uniformly regard the rules established under that framework as a key assurance in their purchase decision-making,

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most are ignorant of the fact that not all of these standards are enforceable. In fact, many are voluntary.

Standards Australia is an independent and not-for-profit body charged by the Commonwealth Government with responsibility for certifying the creation of key technical information regarding the introduction and application of products and services. These can range from the highly technological (methodology for the electrical wiring of refrigerators) to the prosaic (the hygienic transportation of meat). Any product or service whose nature requires certainty can come under the auspices of Standards Australia.

Thus the idea of ‘non-compulsory’ standards seems somewhat at odds with the intrinsic nature of the service. After all, what guarantees are provided when the requirements of a Standard are optional, and no disclosure of a failure to comply is required? Yet under the organisation’s charter, responsibility for mandating the application of any given benchmark lies not with the initiating body itself, but under the purview of relevant regulatory officials and the appropriate Ministers of Federal Government. Only once an order for the Standard to be enforced has been officially made, and that regulation has been appropriately gazetted, need suppliers of the item in question adhere to its requirements.

Enacting that change is relatively straightforward. Bruce Billson, the Federal Minister for Small Business, has responsibility for Consumer Affairs. He may, in concert with at least 4 equivalent State Ministers, make a direction under s.135 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 that an Australian Standard is henceforth to be compulsory. Face-to-face dialogue between Federal and State counterparts to address precisely these kinds of consumer issues take place twice annually (known as CAF meetings), a routine that easily permits adequate time for such elementary processes to be achieved.

During the previous Federal Parliament, while Minister Billson was resting upon the opposition benches, he was defiantly vocal about the need for his predecessor to make precisely such a decision about olive oil.

Yet in government he has taken no action at all. Nor does any forward progression seem imminent. Australian oil producers large and small are mystified and infuriated by the abandonment of principle. It appears evident that major importers and retailers (with their vested interests in the status quo) have expended significant amounts of influence in Canberra to stymie good intention. There is no rational explanation for the Federal Government’s relinquishment of their previously-stated position on this subject.

In the absence of an order to make an Australian Standard compulsory, it represents little more than an idea of what Australian consumers should expect in best-case circumstances.

Yet within an open-market, such aspirations are routinely disregarded by companies seeking to maximise profit. Indeed olive oil has been described by industry experts as the most adulterated food in global trade. Even a casual inspection of the numbers can confirm this – 25% of global olive oil production is of Extra Virgin quality, yet 65% of global trade is in precisely that grade. Astounded? You should be. That amounts to billions of dollars worth of fraud, a crime whose profits are comparable to that of the illicit drug trade.

The olive oil industry is one example of a market whose product is routinely corrupted, either by disruptive refinement, inadequate handling, or deliberate and malicious product substitution. But to be clear, these shortcomings principally affect oils imported into Australia, and only very rarely those produced domestically. More than 95% of Australian olive oil is Extra Virgin grade when tested, and the remainder is sold appropriately.

Australians should be angered by the evidence that our local food industry is being deprived of regulatory support in matters of market certainty. Not only do these acts of quality-dilution and product substitution undercut the commercial viability of our domestic oil manufacturers, but they defraud the public as well. Consumers who unwittingly purchase substandard olive oils are simply not getting what they pay for in flavour, culinary performance or nutrition, despite the premium price tag that must be met.

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True Extra Virgin olive oil is a remarkable food, and the health benefits touted for it

are significant. But to get the heart-protecting anti-oxidants, cancer-fighting phytonutrients, improved bone mineralisation and reduced systolic blood pressure, the oil in question must meet the criteria for which it is promoted – it must be Extra Virgin. Yet the vast majority of olive oils imported into Australia that are labelled as ‘Extra Virgin’ fail the basic tests for that standard.

In Australia, the testing of olive oils is done by a world’s best practice facility, the Australian Olive Research Laboratory, established in Wagga Wagga, rural NSW. Funded by the State Government’s Department of Primary Industries, its capabilities are so highly regarded that the AORL now routinely provides documentation and validation services for international oil producers in addition to its domestic work.

In 2010, the Rural Industries Research and Development Council (RIRDC) tested a range of olive oils imported into Australia labelled as ‘Extra Virgin’ and found that more than half failed to meet the standard. That means that less than one-in-two foreign olive oils sold to Australian consumers as premium-quality are what they claim to be.

Further, olive oils sold as ‘Light’, ‘Natural’, or ‘Pure’ are anything but – such labels are deliberately misrepresentative. These are heat- or chemical-extracted adulterated oils whose organic structure and dietary benefits have been depleted through modification or contamination. These provide few if any of the health benefits for which extra virgin olive oil is famous. Damningly, they are commonly bereft of flavour too. Such products are best described as base refined vegetable oils from an olive source. They are nothing more than excessively-expensive alternatives to other cooking oils such as canola or blended-vegetable.

Refined or adulterated oils such as these are not permitted to be sold as ‘olive oil’ in most world markets. This ban does not simply exclude them from the Extra Virgin sector, but from the olive oil market generally. Instead,

they are sold as vegetable oil. It is only the Australian government’s inexplicable failure to demand consumer protection that has allowed international conglomerates to dump vast quantities of substandard oil that would be unsalable in Europe into our local market. These corporations show contempt and disregard for the integrity and wellbeing of our cooking population.

And the situation gets worse. In foodservice supply to our restaurants, hotels and cafes, bulk oil labelled as ‘Extra Virgin’ or ‘Tuscan Blend’ have been proven to contain more than 90% canola oil, and only a small proportion of olive-extracted oil, occasionally at Extra Virgin standard.

These three facts constitute fraud on a massive scale.

As Australia consumes more than 45 million litres of olive oil each year, those duplicitous sales yield hundreds of millions of dollars in dishonest earnings. Corruption at this level can only be seen through one perspective: it is a form of organised crime, and a system of smuggling. The key distinction between fraudulent olive oil and cocaine is the near-complete indifference of our nation’s statutory and enforcement bodies about what happens in the food market.

Other than Bruce Billson, Federal Minister for Small Business, there are two statutory

entities who could contribute to a resolution of this dilemma – the ACCC and Food Standards Australia and New Zealand. To date neither has elected to act in a meaningful way.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has responsibility for protecting the interests of local shoppers, by ensuring that markets are fair, cartels are disrupted, and the provision of products adheres to the requirements of federal law. The deliberate perversion of the olive oil trade clearly comes under that remit. Yet to date the ACCC has largely opted to stand by, engaging in action when proof of deliberate misconduct has been provided by third parties, usually the Australia Olive Association, such as in the foodservice example cited above.

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However, the ACCC has vastly more power to act. Section 70 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 gives the Commissioner all the authority needed in this matter.

“70. (1) Where there is a contract for the supply (otherwise than by way of sale by auction or sale by competitive tender) by a corporation in the course of a business of goods to a consumer by description, there is an implied condition that the goods will correspond with the description, and, if the supply is by reference to a sample as well as by description, it is not sufficient that the bulk of the goods corresponds with the sample if the goods do not also correspond with the description.”

In plain English, this articulates a requirement that what you purchase corresponds with what it claims to be. Oil sold as ‘Extra Virgin’ that does not meet the Australian Standard for such must be removed from sale, with accompanying penalties levied against the offending party. This rule holds, even when the Standard has not yet been mandated.

The power of enforcement in these issues is given to the ACCC. Yet routinely, the organisation does not pursue such matters, citing difficulties of proof or a lack of resources. Those limitations are real, as the Commissioner and his staff must allocate a relatively small quantum of capacity across a much larger spectrum of cases. One stumbling block for the ACCC is the issue of intent, a complex element when a case is to be taken to court. Importers often claim that their oil met the Australian Standard when it left its point of origin (even if scant evidence is usually provided) and insist that the oil has simply diminished during transport or warehousing –oils have a long (but not indefinite) shelf-life and are susceptible to heat and light.

But there is a logical contradiction at the heart of this proposition.

That claim seeks to transfer responsibility from the exporting manufacturer to the importing retailer. For the ACCC to accept this argument means that they are in consequence representing the interest of Australian consumers not at the point at which we actually engage with the market, but at some other intangible junction to which we are not a party. As a comparable

example, this is not dissimilar to ordering a vehicle through a local retailer, only to have the foreign manufacturer refuse to honour its warranty for major faults in workmanship on the grounds that the car must have been damaged during shipping. Such claims are little more than absurd misdirection.

In the ACCC’s worldview, it appears, the olive oil industry is not significant enough to engender support.

Where enforcement action has been taken, such as against Olio Oz (The Big Olive) in 2012 and MOI International in 2013, individual fines were levied between $10,000 and $14,000 per offence, a fraction of the profit earned through their acts of dishonest dealing, and no finding of guilt was made against the offending parties under Australian Consumer Law. This inadequate response provides no disincentive to future fraud. That the penalties imposed were insufficient is inarguable as fines of up to $1.1 million are available under the Act.

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) could also step into this matter with considerable authority. Almost 20% of imported olive oils sold in Australia were, when tested by the AORL, classified as ‘lampante’, an Italian term meaning ‘lamp oil’. These oils are not fit for human consumption, and thereby ought to be encompassed under FSANZ’s brief. Yet the nation’s food safety specialists reject that obligation, shielded behind two discrete claims.

More than 95% of Australian

olive oil is Extra Virgin, while

more than half of imported oil

fails even basic tests for quality.

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The first is to insist that rancidity of oils is a food quality issue, not one of food safety, and as such remains solely a consumer law concern. The second is to assert their lack of statutory enforcement powers.

FSANZ’s primary argument is inadequate. All fresh foods have a shelf-life (including oils), some longer than others. The key element of differentiation is whether the food in question becomes unpalatable, inedible or toxic upon the expiration of that period. All three outcomes can be measured, and all three ought to be enforced. FSANZ could simply require that an accurate ‘Best Before’ date be used for all olive oil products carrying the ‘Extra Virgin’ claim. On that basis, many of the inferior imported oils could simply no longer be sold in Australia as they are approaching rancidity even before export.

The secondary contention is true, however lacking the power to make law does not equate with a lack of power to make meaningful and formal representations to the Federal Minister who does possess that authority. Any such approach from FSANZ would carry significant gravitas, especially if such representations were made publicly.

And so the parameters of the regulatory problem facing the olive oil industry are plain to see - 1 crisis, 3 potential solutions, no action to date.

Australia’s Federal Government will eventually have to end their procrastination

and finally make a determination about what they intend to do with (and for) the national olive oil industry. But what would be the actual impacts of a decision to make Australian Standard 5264-2011 mandatory?

Minimal costs, and yet the benefits to growers, processors and consumers would be meaningful.

Mandatory application of the standard has no bearing if validation is not demanded, so in consequence a testing regime would be necessary with that cost met by the processor or importer who makes claims about product quality when it is first introduced into the Australian market. The fee will eventually be built into the retail price of the oil. K

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Currently the cost of a single sample test conducted by the AORL to demonstrate adherence to the Australian Standard is $124.45. In terms of a batch of oil measuring several thousand litres, this expense is less than a rounding error. It is insignificant.

By contrast, the tests required to prove adulteration are vastly more convoluted, and require different methodology. Unsurprisingly they also much more expensive, at almost $1400 per sample.

Hence a simple economic argument can be made for all purveyors to prove the quality of their product. This is not only creates more balanced and fair market conditions, but it also offers greater efficiency than identifying, detecting and proving that a suspect oil is defective.

While the implementation of this type of regulation runs against the grain of our conservative free-market government, it must be noted that objections to regulation are only appropriate in situations where equality of trade can be achieved without interference. Our olive oil economy has shown itself to be systematically incapable of natural fairness, a condition that necessitates a role for government, regardless of political colour.

And the benefits?

Consumers would be able to purchase with certainty the health, nutrition and culinary outcomes they seek.

The retail price of certified Extra Virgin olive oil would rise marginally, probably no more than 20%. This would transform Australia’s olive growers from their current position of bare subsistence to one of acceptable profit. Such a change would not constitute an inflationary rise, but is simply a market correction to the current artificially-deflated price. In today’s market Australian Extra Virgin olive oil is often priced below real cost as local producers struggle to compete with inferior, defective and misrepresentative lower-price imports. Revitalising the financial case for growing olives would create a more stable and competitive oil industry.

Greater certainty would encourage more players

into the oil market, a change that would (over time) see increased production and more price leadership amongst local oil companies. In the long run, the market will always offer lowest possible price.

That greater production would allow the extremely high-quality Australian Extra Virgin olive oil to meet some of he unrequited international demand. There remains real potential for new industry, particularly from a crop whose capacity to survive climate change is so much greater than many others.

Lastly, there is the great intangible benefit of knowing that we accord appropriate respect to the farmers who drive our economy and feed us. Australians regard our rural communities with great respect. Now we must demand that our government does the same.

Consumers are relying on regulators to ensure that the information with which

they are presented at the point of purchase is accurate. In the face of deliberate deception, consumers have no recourse. Two products each labelled as ‘Extra Virgin Olive Oil’ and differentiated solely on price present an economic choice, not a qualitative one. Until the Federal Government ensures that our rights are protected by the simple act of mandating an already-existing standard, both farmers and shoppers will continue to be fleeced.

And what is the cost of acting? A negligible increase in Extra Virgin Olive Oil prices while ensuring that Australian consumers are given the chance to purchase with confidence. The cost of not acting may well be the future of the local olive oil industry.

This article would not have been possible without the help of Margi Kirkby, Jenni Birch and the team at Gwydir Grove Olives, the

Australian Olive Association, Rob McGavin and Cobram Estate.

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• 2 cup pitted green olives, chopped

• 1 cup pitted black olives, chopped

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 sachets (21g) dried yeast

• 1kg baker’s flour

• 630ml cold water

• 2 Tbsp wheatgerm

• 18g fine salt

• ½ bunch parsley

• ½ bunch rosemary leaves finely chopped

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

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MAKES 2 LOAVES

1 Preheat oven to 160°C. Mix the olives and garlic, then scatter on a lined oven tray and bake for 45 minutes, until dry to touch. Set aside to cool. Turn oven up to 210°C. Meanwhile, combine the yeast with 1 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp water in a small bowl, stir well, then set aside for 10 minutes, until foamy.

2 Combine the yeast mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer with half the flour and the remaining water then beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 10 minutes until thick and sticky. Cover with cling film, then set aside for 3 hours, until risen and collapsed*.

3 Add the remaining flour and wheatgerm to the bowl, then mix with the dough hook on low speed for 5 minutes, until a smooth dough appears. Add the salt, herbs and olives (reserving 1 cup olives), then mix for a further 3 minutes. Cover with cling film, then set aside for 45 minutes, until doubled in size.

4 Divide in two, then roll each out to form a long triangle approximately 50cm from point to base and 30 cm across. Scatter with the remaining olives and press in firmly, then use a pastry knife to cut incisions in the dough and stretch apart gently. Cover and set aside to proof for 40 minutes, until doubled in size.

5 Brush with half the olive oil, then place in the oven. Mist generously with water, then bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 190°C, then bake for a further 25 minutes, until deep-golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack, brush with the remaining olive oil, then allow to cool.

*For best results, do this stage in the fridge overnight.

OLIVE FOUGASSE

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ONEKIND ROUNDIEGive your home a hint of elegance with Onekind’s Roundie cushions. Six fun and functional designs give a modern feel to lounges or bedrooms. From bold stripes in buttercup yellow and storm grey to super-cool denim, these cushions feature covered buttons in contrasting colours to add a personal touch. Mix and match to really make a statement. onekinddesign.com.au

BODUM TRAVEL PRESSThis is the ultimate must-have for life lived on the go. Available in a range of cool colours and sleek stainless steel, Bodum’s Travel Press is the ideal way to enjoy a pick-me-up as part of your busy life. Simply add ground coffee or tea leaves to the cup, top with boiling water, then stand for 4 minutes. The built in silicon press means there’s no sediment, just a perfectly-brewed drink ready to travel whenever you are. bodum.com

GARDNER KNIVESThe ultimate statement piece for the serious foodie, Barry Gardner’s knives are hand-crafted in Seppeltsfield, South Australia from premium steel. Barry uses traditional forging techniques to create his unique blades, layering and folding in a style known as Damascus steel. Finished with a range of native Australian timber handles, and inlaid with semi-precious stones, these knives are showpieces you’ll want to cook with every day, and proudly display. gardnerknives.com

LEILA JEFFREY PRINTSWest Australian photographer Leila Jeffreys is one of the nation’s premier nature artists. Her fascination with native birds has been captured in stunning definition and colour as part of a remarkable series of images. From predators such as goshawks and brown falcons to the colourful galah cockatoos and eclectus parrots, the range of her work is breathtaking and has been showcased internationally. Limited edition prints are available. olsenirwin.com

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1 Combine gin, elderflower liqueur, Pimm’s, vermouth, blackberry shrub and egg white in a cocktail shaker with a generous amount of ice. Place crushed ice in a highball glass.

2 Shake the cocktail enthusiastically for 1 minute, then strain into the glass. Top with soda water, then garnish with thyme sprigs.

BLACKBERRY, THYME AND ELDERFLOWER SHRUB

• 30ml gin

• 15ml St-Germain elderflower liqueur

• 15ml Pimm’s No.1

• 15ml dry vermouth

• 45ml blackberry and thyme shrub*

• 1 tsp egg white

• 150ml soda water

• thyme sprigs, to serve

MAKES 1

* To make blackberry and thyme shrub, combine 500g blackberries, 2 bunches thyme sprigs and 500g caster sugar in a bowl and refrigerate overnight. Strain though a fine sieve, then combine with 300ml apple cider vinegar. Can be refrigerated indefinitely.

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