Yearly Archives: 2019

A sell-out crowd of 114 Slow Food members and friends celebrated Terra Madre Day 2019 in the Kiama Pavilion on Sunday 8 December.

Slow Food Saddleback were hosts this year for this special day of international recognition of Mother Earth and put on a fabulous feast showcasing the area’s finest food and wine.

Guests were greeted with a sparkling white from Simall Wines and appetisers prepared by Slow Food Saddleback members using Buena Vista’s chicken paté, smoked fish and local cheese including sheep curd from Pecora Dairy.

The entrée featured a yellow fin tuna caught by local fisherman Nick Dunster off the Kiama coast, eggs from Kareelah farm, Strong Organics potatoes, salad greens from Buena Vista Farm and David Ball’s veggie patch, blood limes from Tom and Helen Supple at Jamberoo and various ‘secret’ herbs.

 

Sourdough from the Blue Swimmer at Gerroa was served with home-made butter infused with seaweed from Phycohealth.

Schottlanders Wagyu beef rump was chosen for the main course and cooked kebab style over charcoal by our resident barbecuers extraordinaire, Des and Murray. The roasted carrot accompaniment was a feature with Camilleri Berries supplying the carrots and our volunteer professional chefs, Luke Basic from Silica Restaurant and Bar in Kiama and Karina Shepherd from Dandelion and Mallow  wholefood kitchen in Gerringong adding their magic touches.

A cheese tower was prepared by artisan cheesemaker and Slow Food Saddleback member Jan Watson and cheese platters were served in time to be enjoyed while the guest speaker, Mahler Grey from The Pines Kiama, talked engagingly about her recent attendance at Slow Food Cheese 2019  in Bra, Italy. It was inspiring to hear a young sixth generation farmer talk positively and enthusiastically about changes being implemented to try and ensure the farm survives the current climate challenges.

Jan’s cheese selection comprised cheddar from The Pines as well as Buena Vista Chevre, Unicorn Brie and a stunning Chicco Blue artisan cheese from the Valley Cheesemakers.

Following Mahler’s well-received speech, the dessert, a tribute to Margaret Fulton, was unveiled with the stage curtains drawn to reveal a selection of cakes made by Slow Food members. A definite Wow moment, with several guests jumping up to take photos. Fresh strawberries from Berrylicious and the always-popular Pines gelato complemented the sweet treats.

Local beverages were served throughout the afternoon including cider from Darkes, beer from Stoic Brewing, Semillon and Tannat from Coolangatta Estate, Chambourcin from Cambewarra Estate Winery and coffee from Daily Grind.

Slow Food Saddleback members contributed by growing produce, making cakes, butter and appertisers, constructing the entrée and mains and serving the food and drinks. Thanks to all our suppliers who helped to showcase our area, to the three Kiama Showgirl entrants who helped with serving the meal and to Karina Shepherd from Dandelion and Mallow catering for her help in the kitchen and coming up with a great vegan appetiser. Special thanks to Luke Basic from Silica Restaurant and Bar for volunteering his time and expertise both in the lead up to and during the event. 

 

And an extra special thank you to the tireless Tricia for all her behind the scenes work on the day and for taking on the task of decorating the venue.

Check out our Gallery page for more photos – thanks to Cathy Law from The Bugle  for sharing her photographs of the event.

A reminder that bookings for Terra Madre Day, to celebrate the international recognition of Mother Earth, close on Monday 2 December.
 
Slow Food Saddleback Members will share a special three course meal showcasing local produce with welcome drinks and canapes.
Local wines will be served with the meal.

Venue: The Pavilion 2 Bong Bong Street Kiama
Cost: Slow Food Members $70, non Members $85
Bookings (essential)  https://trybooking.com/BGGHQ

Our special guest speaker is Mahlah Grey from The Pines Kiama
who recently attended Slow Cheese 2019 in Bra, Italy
with support from Slow Food Saddleback.

If you have any queries please email slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

Knife skills, BBQ excellence and some beautiful produce made for a wonderful Slow Food Cooking with Fire lunch at Celia and Des’s on Sunday 17 November 2019.

Amazingly it was cool and there was no fire ban just for that day.

The afternoon’s focus was meat but some wonderful dips, salads and desserts contributed to a perfect feast! Chickens were sourced from Buena Vista Farm while Rosebank Meats provided the excellent quality red meat.

As always, many of the ingredients for the dips and salads (including the beetroot for Vicki’s very moreish dip) came from Slow Food Members gardens.

An auction of the lamb carcass carved by Chris from Rosebank Meats and sale of take-away steaks raised $810 for the Jamberoo Bush Fire Brigade. Thanks to all those who participated.

And a huge thank you to Chris and Jo from Rosebank Meats for  giving up their Sunday to share their knowledge.

The last get together of Slow Food Saddleback members and friends will be on Sunday 17 November at Jamberoo.

You’ll learn everything you need to know about sharpening your knives, kitchen knife skills, and carving and chopping barbecued meat.  And, as always, there’ll be a delicious meal prepared in line with the Slow Food principles of good, clean and fair food.

Des will team with Chris Poppett and Jo Taylor from Rosebank Butchery on the carving, sharpening and cooking. Our Member Helen will demonstrate all those little knife skills we need in the kitchen.

We will also see Chris break up a lamb carcase.

Lunch will feature meats straight from the BBQs and seasonal salads. Welcome drinks will be served, then it’s BYO.

 

Venue:                 Celia and Des’s farm
                                193 Quarter Sessions Road, Jamberoo
Date:                    Sunday 17 November at 1:00pm
Cost:                     Slow Food Members – $50, non Members $60

Bookings:           https://trybooking.com/BGIPK

Please book early as places are limited.
Any queries  please email slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

Slow Food Saddleback members and friends enjoyed an excellent meal at Silica restaurant in Kiama following the AGM on Wednesday 16 October.

Having been greeted with drinks and canapes on arrival, Slow Fooders were treated to shared seafood entrees and shared platter mains featuring local seasonal produce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheeses from The Pines, Pecora Dairy and Buena Vista Farm were a fitting finale to  this special Slow Food dinner.  All three cheese producers are regulars at the Kiama Wednesday markets and are creating some fine cheeses – check them out. 

Cressida McNamara from Pecora Dairy was the guest speaker and had an interesting story to tell about what has been achieved at the Dairy and future plans.

THE SILICA MENU
Canapes
Scallop Ceviche with cucumber, chicken jus and almond
Duck Breast with eggplant pickle and fennel
Entrees
Kingfish Sashimi with celery, ginger oil, soy and rice crisp
Braised Octopus with broad beans, pickled onions and fresh herbs
Mains
Spiced Lamb Shoulder with sri racha yoghurt
Braised Whole Chickens with ginger and shallot sauce
Roast Pumpkin with garlic yoghurt, pepitas and herbs
Roast Cauliflower with parmesan cream, pangrattato and parsley
Pickled Kohlrabi Thai Salad with peanuts, basil and nuoc cham
Garden Greens with eshallot, mustard, lemon and almonds
Kohlrabi Remoulade

 

Thanks to Silica management and staff and our local cheesemakers for supporting Slow Food and making the evening such as success.

Judith and David Ball again treated Slow Fooders to a great day on the verandah of their Berry home when they hosted an egg and chicken luncheon on Sunday 22 September 2019. And in line with their philosophy, it combined fantastic food, excellent wines, sharing of knowledge and a touch of fun.

On a perfect spring day guests were greeted in the garden area with champagne (or soft drink options) and a trio of egg crostini prepared by Carolyn. Then it was upstairs to watch an inspiring youtube video put together by Kangaroo Valley Pastured Eggs – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1cyX6pLBYA).  Such a big difference between our local free range egg suppliers and the big commercial ones.

The route upstairs as well as the lounge area was delightfully decorated with a wonderful collection of ceramic eggs, egg cups, cook books opened at egg recipe pages and all things eggy. 

Back down in the backyard  for an egg hunt and a chance for a look at the produce currently being grown in David’s veggie garden. Everyone was tasked to find three different coloured plastic eggs then it was back to the studio where David (complete with props) gave an entertaining talk on the chemistry of eggs. Judith followed by revealing an amazing flow chart showing how eggs are used and making sense of the huge variety of things we do with and to eggs.

The plastic eggs were then cracked open  to reveal an egg joke and a lucky number. The winners could chose a dozen KV eggs or a basket of David’s veggies. But the egg jokes – three eggs each, thirty people…..that’s ninety egg jokes which were all either quite funny or worthy of a loud groan. Well done Judith!

Then on to lunch. First course was a smoked yellow fin tuna, salmon roe (both from the Berry Markets) and egg dish with a sour cream dressing (see our recipe section). 

The main course featured chicken browned on the BBQ by Des having been previously been cooked sous vide by Liz who did a sterling job with the preparation despite being unable to stay for lunch. Accompaniments were whole roasted cauliflower, glazed carrots cooked in the pizza oven and salad greens from the garden.

Judith then served up 30 fabulous lemon souffles – something not too many would attempt! 

A thoroughly enjoyable event which reflected the many hours of thought and preparation that Judith and David put into all the events they host. And a big thank you to the family members who helped make the day such a success. See the Gallery for more pictures.

Slow Food Saddleback is considering adopting as its constitution the Model constitution prepared by NSW Fair Trading.

The Model constitution can be viewed on the Fair Trading website . Click the link below and then click View or download the Model constitution (RTF, 361.55KB).

https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/associations-and-co-operatives/associations/starting-an-association/model-constitution

 

Slow Food Saddleback will again celebrate its year of activities following the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16 October.

We will share a special meal featuring shared platters with local produce and cheeses. You will be welcomed with a drink at the bar and canapés and then we will sit down to enjoy our meal, followed by our special speaker sharing her story.

Our guest speaker is Cressida McNamara from Pecora Dairy at Robertson. Pecora is an artisan sheep milk dairy and recently became the Delicious From the Dairy Trophy Winner for their Raw Milk Feta. 

Come and hear the Pecora story and sample their cheese in our cheese platter. 

Date and Time:      Wednesday 16 October at 6.30pm
Venue:                       Silica Restaurant, 72 Manning Street, Kiama
Cost:                           Members $55, non Members $65
Bookings:                 Try Booking https://trybooking.com/BFRVR
                                      Bookings close Friday 11 October

Prior to the Dinner we will be having our Annual General Meeting at the same venue at 5.30pm. Members are encouraged to attend and be part of the future of the group. Please advise if you are coming to the AGM by contacting Celia at slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com, this will allow for catering at the meeting.

All members are encouraged to attend the Slow Food Saddleback AGM to be  held at 5:30pm Wednesday October 16 at Silica Resataurant (upstairs) 72 Manning Street, Kiama.

Please RSVP to allow catering of some light refreshments by emailing slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com.

Following the AGM we will be enjoying a special Silica dinner with guest speaker Cressida McNamara from the award winning Pecora Dairy at Robertson. The artisan sheep milk dairy recently won a Delicious trophy for their raw milk feta.  Booking details will be available soon.

Nominations for the Slow Food Saddleback Committee

We have a number of nominations already but we require more people to help run the group in 2019/2020. The positions to be filled are: Leader, Treasurer, Secretary and Committee Members.

If you would like more information about what is involved or would like a nomination form (closing date Friday 11 October) please email slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com and one of the Committee Members will get in touch with you.

Dates for November and December

The October egg event was fully booked within a couple of days but we have two more Slow Food events this year.

November 17 – a long table lunch and barbecue at Celia and Des’s Jamberoo farm featuring knife skills and meat preparation tips.

December 8 – a celebration of Terra Madre day at the Kiama Pavilion hosted by Slow Food Saddleback in conjunction with Slow Food Berry2JB, Slow Food South Coast and Slow Food Canberra.

More information on these events soon!

 

With the previously advertised day session for this workshop (see details in earlier post) fully booked we advise that we have changed the date for the evening session to Wednesday 14 August and there are still a few available spots. We’ve also arranged an additional day workshop on Friday 27 September. Both workshops include lunch or dinner and are limited to 10 participants. Bookings are essential.

Date:          Wednesday 14 August 2019
Times:       5:30pm  – 9:30pm 
Venue:       Berry – full address provided on booking
Cost:           Members $65, non-members $75 includes dinner
Bookings:  https://www.trybooking.com/BEHMK

Date:          Friday 27 September 2019
Times:       10am – 2pm 
Venue:       Berry – full address provided on booking
Cost:           Members $65, non-members $75 includes lunch
Bookings:  https://www.trybooking.com/BEHMK

Further information:  slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

 

Further information:  slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

Breakfast at The Blue Swimmer Restaurant in Gerroa (one of our inaugural Snail of Approval recipients) was enjoyed by all. Those award-winning Baghdad Eggs alone are surely worth a visit.

You’ll find details of the Sensational Seeds, Glorious Grains & Nutritious Nuts workshops planned for August below and here are a couple more dates for your diary.

Sunday 22 September: It’s egg time and Judy and David Ball are hosting a  lunch with the focus on eggs. Lots of fun, interesting information, tips and tricks, great food, wine and company and, as always at the Ball’s there’s sure to be a bit of wow factor thrown in.

Wednesday 16 October: AGM followed by dinner at Silica Restaurant Kiama – another worthy recipient of our inaugural Snail of Approval awards last year.

With such a variety of grains and seeds available at supermarkets and health food stores these days it’s getting a bit hard to keep up. So we’ve asked one of our inaugural Snail of Approval recipients to talk us through the maze and show us how to prepare and cook these tasty, high nutritional value foods.

Katrina Shepherd of Dandelion and Mallow Wholefood Kitchen  (https://dandelionandmallow.com.au) will be conducting two workshops on Thursday 15 August at a private home near Berry.

 

The hands-on workshops are limited to 10 participants and you’ll learn all about seeds, grains and nuts, then prepare and share a sumptuous 3 course feast. Choice of a morning session with lunch or an evening session with dinner. All ingredients and kitchen implements as well as comprehensive notes and recipes will be provided. All you need to bring is an apron and wine if you wish – locally made kombucha is included.

With numbers limited early booking is recommended.

Date:          Thursday 15 August 2019
Times:       10am – 2pm and 5:30pm – 9:30pm
Venue:       Berry – full address provided on booking
Cost:           Members $65, non-members $75
Bookings:  https://www.trybooking.com/BEHMK

Further information:  slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

 

The Blue Swimmer Restaurant at Gerroa was an inaugural recipient of our Snail of Approval so it is fitting that we have an event at this popular beachside venue.

With their Baghdad Eggs dish winning the Australian Eggsellence Award last year, breakfast seems a good time to experience the locally sourced produce that is a specialty of the cafe/restaurant.

We’ve chosen a menu that includes a selection of savoury and sweet platters (including, of course, Baghdad Eggs) as well as other breakfast staples such as scrambled eggs and bacon. There’s plenty of choice for vegetarians and a juice and a coffee of your choice are included in the price.

Tables have been booked on the terrace which overlooks Crooked River and Gerroa Beach.

Date:           Saturday 27 July 2019 at 8:30am
Venue:       The Blue Swimmer Restaurant, 19 Riverleigh Ave, Gerroa
Cost:           Members $25; Non-members $30
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/BDUKA  

Numbers are limited and bookings are essential.
Further information: slowfoodsaddleback2@gmail.com

The promise of good food and a good story meant there were no spare seats at the Slow Food Saddleback winter tapas dinner at Kiama’s Art Bar on Wednesday 19 June.

As always, Jamie was a friendly and charming front-of-house host and a welcome drink set the scene for an excellent meal with lots of delicious shared tapas followed by gelato and cheeses from The Pines artisan micro dairy in Kiama.

Guest speakers were Kel and Mahlah Grey from the Pines. Since moving back to the family run farm (established in 1854) Kel and Mahlah have followed a well-researched plan to produce first class produce from their small and lovingly cared-for herd. 

Pines milk and gelato are well-known in the district and are available at a number of local supermarkets and cafes as well as various markets, both locally and in Sydney. Several local restaurants also use the milk and serve the gelato for dessert. Cheese is the latest venture.

For the past two years Kel and Mahlah have been working hard to set up the equipment and infrastructure to start manufacturing and maturing cheese. They are currently producing small quantities of the fresh soft and semi-hard cheese which were offered for tasting on Wednesday night and are now available at the markets.  Kel recently received a scholarship to visit some of the best cheese makers in Britain and is now keener than ever to produce cheeses that reflect the terroir of the farm.

Your correspondent has just returned from Portugal and, listening to Kel and Mahlah speak, couldn’t help but be reminded of the passion of the smaller wine growers in the Douro Valley as they spoke about the unique qualities of their wine and their love and respect for the land producing it.

Kel and Mahlah are more concerned with the quality of each litre of milk than the total number of litres of milk produced. They are also heading towards regenerative farming – encouraging the land to help itself by implementing strategies such as bringing back the trees. In sharing their story Kel and Mahlah showed that there can be a positive future for farming and food production in Kiama and we look forward to seeing the unique quality of the cheeses produced here being recognised worldwide.