Australian Gourmet Traveller - (08)August 2020 (1)

News

MITEY FINE SPREAD

Reinventinga classicisn’teasy– butwhen

it’sdonebytwofoodies,whocountchefsas

someoftheirclosestfriends,theprocessis

a littleeasier.Thisis howOomitecameto

be,a newmiso-based“mite”spread,created

byKatieGrahamandMagdalenaRozeout

ofByronBay.“Acoupleofyearsago,we

bothhadtheideaofcreatinga 100percent

naturalsavourymitespread,andweboth

toldDarren(Robertson)aboutit. Wedidn’t

knoweachotherthen,soDazconnectedus

andthenwedecidedtocollaborate,”says

Oomiteco-creator,KatieGraham.“Thank

goodness,becauseit turnsoutthatit’sone

of the most challenging products to make.”

Sincethenthepairhavetestedandtrialled

manyiterationsofthespread.Thefinal

product– anorganic,naturalmiso-based

spread– drawsinspirationfroma certain

ubiquitousbreakfastspread,butditches

anyartificialpreservativesandthickeners.

Fornow,youcanonlygeta tasteofOomite

incafésandrestaurants,withchefsgetting

creativewiththesaltyumami-packedpaste

inbothsavouryandsweetdishes.“Wesee

it asa reallygreatopportunitytosupport

hospitalityinthesechangingtimes,”Graham

explains.ByronBay’sBarriois usingit as

a marinadefora smokedbeefbrisket

(pictured), while David Lovett from Ethel

FoodStoreinBrunswickHeadshasput

Oomiteincheeseandhamscrolls,and

evenchocolatebiscuits.Bondi’sRocker

andThreeBlueDucksaresimplyspreading

it onsourdoughtoast (with butter, of course).

oomite.com.au

Fireand stone

Youcannowhavea sliceofoneofAustralia’smost

laudedrestaurantsin yourhomepermanentlywith

thelaunchofAtticaStudioCeramics.Thepieces

areeachhand-thrown,shapedandfiredin thekiln,

allwithina studioatthebackoftheRipponlea

restaurant.Forthebestpartofa yearsincethey

startedmakingtheirceramicsin-house,thepieces

wereusedexclusivelywithintherestaurant,butnow

thelaunchofAttica’sonlinestoremeansyoucan

buyyourownpotterypiecetokeep.Thecollection

includestworanges;FromtheDiningRoomfeatures

theceramicsdesignedforspecifictasting-menu

coursessuchasa terracotta-colouredpillarbowl,

whichtypicallyserveshoneyants(it canalsobe

usedasa saltbowl,if youdon’thappentohave

thegreendelicaciesonhand).WhileTheAtticaat

Homerangefeaturespracticalbutter-andwhite-

huedstonewarepieces,whichhavebeenmade

withtheAtticapick-upanddeliverymenusin mind,

andincludea lasagnetray,anice-creamscoop

and a full dining set.shop.attica.com.au

PepeSayahascreatedtheultimatepancake orcrumpet

accompaniment,withthedebutofitsownmaplebutter.Ballsof

theculturedbutterare rolledinvanillabeanbeforebeingdunked

into pure Canadian maple syrup.$12 for 200g, pepesaya.com.au

24 GOURMET TRAVELLER