Delicious Australia – (04)April 2019

LEF

TOVER

PEARS

FUTURE

PROOF

DEFININGAUSTRALIAN

food is difficult. How do you

distil a food culture built on

imported cuisines and the

produce available across

ourvastlandscape?

It may not be easy to box up, but

Australiancuisinedoeshaveaplaceinthe

culinaryuniverse,thankstothechefsand

producers whose dedication to working

with the land while honing their craft has

ledtoauniquesenseofplace.Thisglobal

acceptance of Australia as a serious food

player has encouraged more Aussie chefs

to look inwards. Even a globe-trotting

NigellaLawsonsaidhertopfooddiscovery

of2018wasfingerlime,anAustralian

native.“Ihadfingerlimeforthefirsttimein

Sydneyanditwasveryexciting,”shesaid.

“WecangetthemintheUKifyouwantto

spendasmuchasanewcar,butit’soneof

thejoysoftravellingtohave something you

can only getin situ.”

Whilesomeofusmayhavetriedfinger

limeatQuay,warrigalgreensthanksto

KylieKwong,ordabbledinalittleDavidson

plumchutney, wild native ingredients

remain a largely unexplored frontier.

BraechefDanHuntersaysit’sthechef’s

jobtobringaculturalunderstandingof

what to do with unfamiliar ingredients so

they are delicious, not gimmicky. His latest

collaboration with Melbourne chocolatier

KokoBlackbringsnativebotanicalsand

single-origin craft chocolate together, a

combination he says works because the

intensityof flavours are on par.

“Theface-screwingtartnessofDavidson

plum rounds out the deep cocoa fattiness

of dark chocolate, while the snap of

caramelised whipstick wattle seeds brings

texture to the smooth creaminess of milk

chocolate,”hesaysafterexperimenting

with more than 50 native ingredients.

delicious.com.au/food-files

For more tips on making the

most of ingredients.

I’M ALWAYS AMAZED

howa little patience can

transform the woody flesh

of a pear into something as

soft and sweet as custard.

Rightnow,pearsareattheirpeak,soit’s

a great time to poach them for future use.

Preheat oven to 100°C. Remove rubber

sealsfromlargepreservingjarsandplace

in boiling water. Place clean jars in the

oven for 30 minutes. Place 3kg caster

sugarand4Lwaterorwineinasaucepan

with a vanilla bean and seeds, a cinnamon

quillandastaranise,andbringtotheboil,

stirringto dissolve sugar completely.

Reduce heat to medium. Peel 5kg pears,

cutintosegmentsandremovecores.

Poachpearsinthesimmeringsyrupuntil

justtranslucent(about8minutes),then

immediately transfer to sterilised jars. Fill

withsyruptoabout3cmfromtopandseal.

Placeawirerackinatallstockpotandadd

the jars. Fill with boiling water until jars are

submerged, then boil for 15 minutes.

Allowjarstocoolinthepot.Unopened

pearswilllastforupto1year.Serve

preserved pears in baked tarts or by

themselves with a scoop of ice cream.

STORE AND SELECT

Pearsripenfromtheinsideout,so

ifthefleshisverysoftontheoutside,

the pear is probably over-ripe. Choose

pearswithafirm(butnotrock-hard)

exterior. Store refrigerated if ripe, or

at room temperature to ripen further.

GO WITH

Walnuts, pecans, blue and goat’s

cheese, endive, nutmeg, cinnamon,

brown sugar, cream.

Searchdelicious.com.au for ‘Spanish

pear tarts with Pedro Ximénez syrup’

Oneglobalfoodtrendis

uniquely Australian. Just ask

Nigella, saysShannon Harley

ILLUSTRATION

ALICE CLEARY

INSIDER.

@blackstarpastry @misspamplemousse

Follow Christopher Follow Shannon