Slow food and local are two terms that are increasingly popular nowadays. I recently visited Daylesford in Victoria where I was lucky enough to meet The Lake House’s Alla Wolf-Tasker and her daughter Larissa who told me that within a few kilometres they have five organic farms selling them produce. One thing however I didn’t realise was that for a Sydney restaurateur, this sort of access is rare and more often than not, quite hard work. Steven Krasicki is Altitude’s executive chef and putting together a Hat’s Off dinner as part of the Sydney International Food Festival proved a little tricky-like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, chef style.
He tells me “When it comes to local fruits and vegetables its more what’s at the market on the day so the difficultly was in the way that we did the dinner because it was a menu that was dictated by what was available. This means any last minute changes were inevitable due to the supply. i.e. when it comes to locally caught fish, when the seas are rough or there’s bad weather the boats don’t go out and there’s a lack of supply.”
Tonight I am dining with the lovely Joanna from the Shangrila Hotel. The room is spectacular with floor to ceiling windows to take advantage of that view. Oh yes that breathtaking view. There are three breads to choose from, a wholemeal ciabatta, a white ciabatta and rye. I do recall some fantastically experimental breads the last time I dined here like a blue cheese bread and a sun dried tomato bread and they were so good that I had several serves thus putting my main meal in jeopardy. These ones are good but I’m still kind of pining for the other breads (although my dresses are breathing a sigh of relief I suspect).
Leather jacket brandade served with Thomas Braemore Semillon, Hunter Valley
Our first course is a brandade of leather jacket fish served with delightfully smokey heirloom tomatoes and rocket. Steven uses a mixture of tomatoes including black russians and Oxhearts and they are smoked using gum tree leaves from one of the chef’s family property on the North coast. The brandade which is a purée of fish, oil, milk and salt is usually done with salt cod but this leather jacket version is very good indeed with small flakes of the fish interspersed through the creamy, velvety brandade. He tells us that when the delivery of tomatoes arrived they were all wrong, in that they were too firm so he called his buyer and they hand picked one box out of 20 or so boxes.
Ballotine of spatchcock served with 2010 Benwarin Verdelho, Hunter Valley
Our next course is a ballotine (boned, stuffed and rolled) of spatchcock which is stuffed with carrots is lovely and tender and sliced into rounds. There are also some purple and yellow carrots that are lightly pickled and crunchy and the pickled nameko mushrooms are a good match for the earthy spatchcock.
Grilled Coffs Harbour Snapper served with 2008 Phillip Shaw No. 11 Chardonnay, Orange
This smelled divine as it was set down on the table. There is a fillet of Coffs Harbour snapper with a crispy skin that lay on a bed of tender slices of Hawkesbury squid and baby zucchini ribbons with the aroma of thyme. “I did some research on which farmers and growers were producing fish that fell under sustainable and ‘slow food’. From here I tried to pick the best there was available on the day and this time of year” Steven tells us.
Butter poached Riverina Veal served with 2003 Salet Shiraz, Currarong
Our last savoury course was butter poached Riverina Veal. Yes. Butter. Poached. Now those are happy words. The veal is incredibly tender and is accompanied by a Mayflower potato mash, two globe artichoke halves and green garlic which is harvested before the plant is mature. My only complaint? I wanted a whole bowl of this mash. Sadly, Steven tells us that it is the very tail end of the Mayflower potato and that we received one of the last boxes of this delicious potato.
A plate of Small Cow Farm Cheese served with 2006 Mayfield Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Orange
Steven explains that the cheeses are all from the Small Cow Farm in Robertson using milk from adorable small Irish Dexter cows. And yes they are small and are typically waist height! There are three types of cheese on the plate, a petitevache camembert style (the longer slice), a petitvache brie style and “wicked brie”. It is accompanied by a truffle honey and divine Lavosh crackers and I particularly like the brie and camembert.
Banana and strawberry split
The banana split is not your typical banana split. It has grilled banana batons, a fat dollop of fluffy cream at the base and finely sliced strawberries and a petite scoop of very vanillaey bean ice cream. The vanilla used is an Australian vanilla from Plantations of Australia. “Plantation beans can only grow at certain distances from the equator and therefore we can’t get them from NSW. The vanilla we bought in was mailed from Queensland” he adds.
Poached peaches served with 2007 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon, Riverina
Finding all of these ingredients wasn’t easy. In fact, he called on fellow chefs and families to supply much of the produce. One of the examples was Fay who is one of the commis chef’s mother and supplied the lavender from where she grows it on the South Coast. The peaches are from Camden Valley and are poached until tender but not mushy. They are paired with rhubarb sticks, a bed of whipped cream with crumble which gives it a light crunch and creaminess and a scoop of lavender ice cream.
Admittedly this dinner isn’t cheap (all Hats Off dinners are $160 per person), and this would be best enjoyed by a wine lover who could enjoy the matching wines with the food. And the view. Oh yes did you see the view?
So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer to eat local produce?
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26 Comments | Add your own
I think I am very spoilt, on the North Coast most of the food I buy is from within 20kms from home, we have two great farmers markets so I buy fresh, seasonal, local produce. We get our fish from the boats as they come in, and we are often given bags of fruit or vege when friends who have too much of a product. One year we had miles of mangos and bananas another raspberrys and avocado.
Alot of the restaurants of Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Byron all embrace the local philosophy and produce dishes using majority local produce with just a few imported extras.
My favourite imported extra is french cheese. We just don’t do smelly cheese like the French.
Sounds like a wonderful meal! And what a view!
Slow food as a concept is popular here in London but the official slow food movement is not as big here as it is in Australia and Italy (the home of slow food)
Do I believe in using local produce? How can I not, being a ‘foodie’, ‘greenie’ and student of nutrition for over 20 years!! Living in a semi-rural area SW of Sydney’ because of circumstances, does not agree in many ways – but we are lucky with natural foods. Our local IGA Supermarket has made a point of purchasing many seasonal vegetables, such as lettuce, silverbeet, zucchini etc from farms around us; the organic, free-range eggs are laid but 10 kms away and buying commercial honey (sugar oft added) simply is not on. Rarely do I buy oranges from California or avocadoes from Mexico. What goodness is left in such produce after being picked half-ripe to travel half-way around the world and be sold at expensive prices at the store! Thus viva farmers’ markets and gate sales! And aren’t the taste and texture from another world? What beats strawberries grown naturally and picked by you straight for the table!
Aaahhh, what a view indeed. I’ve not been to Altitude although my brother has & is still raving about it. Another incredible meal Lorraine & I absolutely love eating & buying locally but its not always the easiest thing to achieve, I love my weekly visits to my local Farmers Markets. (Not surprised it took a huge amount of time & planning to put this menu together though… hats off to them for sure):)
We are members of Slow Food. I think anything that makes us think about the food we eat is a good thing. You should go to Salone del Gusto in Turin in 2012. Your food looks delicious – as usual.
Oh definitely! Food sourced locally and in season is so much more delicious than any other. And you feel better eating it because you’re supporting local producers and the environment.
I especially love my Dad’s vegie gardens, where he turns out potatoes, pumpking, tomatoes, beetroot and more.
We have a mini garden, with tomatoes, pumpkin, melon, lettuce, rocket and herbs, but don’t tend to produce enough for my liking.
100% stunning shots…glamour! And big thumbs up to organics in Adelaide and our family farm at no-horse town Purnong (approx 20 permanent residents). At xmas we had organic farm-grown figs, strawberries, fennel, japanese artichoke, beans, tomatoes…and whatever you want my dad can grow!
I am a very big fan of local produce. A menu that changes according to what’s available locally is my ideal. I would love to grow all my own food in my backyard.
Oh my, that view is absolutely fabulous. Makes the price tag worth it, especially as the food looks like it lived up to the price.
I definitely prefer to eat local. It is tough to eat this way all the time though – i.e. when you’re in a rush. I love the look of this dinner. & the not so average banana split too – fabulous!
Heidi xo
Wow, that food looks amazinggg. The pictures you took are beautiful!
Of course I do prefer it, but it’s hard for it to be practical at this point in my life. I do wish Canberra would start some sort of CSA scheme, that would be wonderful and I’d definitely be in!
P.S. I wish there had been more blue cheese bread for you too
Oh my gosh, everytime i come here i get so hungry. Do you need anyone to follow you around and carry your camera bag? I apply to that position!
When you photograph scenes in your Australia, it looks like the most beautiful bunch of places..
My American ignorance thinks of
only the outback and poisonous
creatures, and crock jerky.Thank
you for such a gorgeous journey.
Eating local is wonderful. I love that it is not only fresher but I am putting my money right in the farmers hands rather than the conglomerates. In the US it is very common now for farmers and restaurants to work hand in hand, with the restaurant building their menu around what was brought in fresh that day. Many restaurants also have their own farms – small (sometimes a small rooftop herb garden) or large.
what a delightful meal indeed!!
Finding local produce is like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!! Every Wednesday, there is a farmer who picks and sells his biodynamic produce- and sells in the carpark of local farm/supply store. Its a common drop off point for locals/hobby farmers to bring their wares to sell.
Your Altitude dining experience has enlighten me of produce un common to me.
May flower potatoes, using green garlic as oppose to mature garlic, Irish dexter cow produce,nameko mushrooms;I also found the ballontine with the carrot stuffing and the pickled carrot medley component an eye opener- yellow carrots, purple carrots, i imagine they are more earthy in flavour??
I didn’t know you could poach veal in butter…
Oh and the view-post card perfect!!
The altitude is a place where I imagine many proposals have been made!!!
Hmm, the leather jacket fish looks kinda decent. I actually don’t like leather jacket fish due to my bad experience in preparing it…
Wow LOrraine…stunning food…stunning scenery…I want some cheese now…and it is 12.28am!!!
I do prefer local produce when it’s available. Just last week I bought some lush strawberries, they actually tasted like strawberries, not insipid replicas.He also had the sweetest figs( Oh how I love thee) and super fresh zucchini. The farm is a ten minute drive from home and it’s like finding Gold!!
I love how many Australian chefs are embracing the Slow Food movement and understanding the simple philosophy that Local Fresh produce is Best!
The view is killer there!
I wonder if I could book for tomorrow night at their bar? It is probably full tho..
Oh my, that view is really magnificent, Lorraine! The food looks pretty fantastic too…butter poached are happy words indeed!
feed me! i like the looks of that unique bananner split–nice share!
I much prefer local produce, but I do think you need to be practical. I like to get as much as I can locally, but even our farmers markets have producers who travel 12 hours to get here, so is that local? It is for Canberra! I do refuse to buy products that are cheap overseas imports and was really cross yesterday when I looked at the sticker of a lemon I’d got and it was from the USA. I also only buy Australian produced tinned pineapple and tomatoes. The extra cost is very little and I’d rather support ‘local’ farmers anytime.
By the way, my dad raised Dexter cattle for years and they are lovely, the calves are tiny! So cute!
When I lived in the country I loved all the local produce (especially the wine!) I’m a bit lazier in the city & have never really investigated what is available locally, I should make more effort!
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