Country chefs’ celebration cakes
TOP CHEFS AND RESTAURATEURS PAY TRIBUTE TO COUNTRY STYLE AND THE SUPPORTING ROLE IT HAS PLAYED IN GROWING REGIONAL DINING.
COUNTRY STYLE’S STORIES
about food producers and growers and — over the past 11 years — the restaurants, kitchen gardens and recipes of the many talented men and women who’ve appeared in our Country Chef features, have all played a role in the seismic cultural shift that has taken place in regional dining in the past three decades. In that time, we’ve tracked the rise and rise of country restaurants. We’ve noted the percolating coffee barometer of change and have joined other destination dining enthusiasts who hotfoot it out of the city in search of serenity and adventure, restaurant hit list and food festival tickets in hand. To celebrate 30 years of Country Style, we invited NSW country chefs Martin Boetz (Cooks Co-op, Sackville), John Evans and Sonia Greig (South on Albany, Berry) and Lisa Margan (Margan, Broke), along with city-based chef and farmer Matt Moran, to join us for a celebratory glass of bubbles and wedge of cake at Matt’s Sydney restaurant, Chiswick, to reminisce — and look to the future. As it turns out, Lisa is also celebrating a milestone. “My winemaker husband, Andrew, and I moved to Broke 30 years ago,” she says. “So much has changed. Back then, there was only really Robert and Sally Molines’s The Cellar restaurant, where I apprenticed. Now, the Hunter has it all, from hatted to casual dining — and a few really decent bakeries.” “The growth of the country dining scene is certainly the biggest thing happening in our industry,” says Matt. “One of the many things driving it is that chefs want to be in direct touch with food producers.” Everyone agrees that country dining is all about provenance. For Lisa, that means stepping out the restaurant door to her three-hectare kitchen garden and orchard. For Martin and John it has meant seeking out the farmers and fishermen on their doorstep, which is not always easy to do. “You really have to look for them,” says John. And when you do, it’s worth it, according to Martin. “It’s a much deeper connection dealing directly with the person who grows the food rather than the middle man,” he says. Listening to the talk taking place around the table is like dropping in on a bush telegraph for foodies. Which, if you think about it, is what the Country Chef feature does so well — broadcast the latest food news and experiences. For chefs, that means seeing what their colleagues are up to and, for readers, getting the insider tips. “We have people coming into the restaurant holding the magazine, so we know that’s where they read about us,” says Sonia. “Shining a spotlight on the different regions gets people excited about travelling there, and that’s so important.” Cooks Co-op is at 2 West Portland Road, Sackville, NSW. 0409 363 253; cooksco-op.com. Margan is at 1238 Milbrodale Road, Broke, NSW. (02) 6579 1246; margan.com.au. South on Albany is at 3/65 Queen Street, Berry, NSW. (02) 4464 2005; southonalbany.com.au. For information about Matt Moran’s restaurants, including Chiswick, visit mattmoran.com.au
“It’s a much deeper connection dealing directly with the person who grows the food rather than the middle man.”
MANDARIN CAKE
Makes 1 To create the layer cake below, make 2 cakes separately. Do not double the recipe. 480g small mandarins 4 large eggs 1 cup caster sugar 100g butter, melted, cooled 1 cup plain flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 3½ cups almond meal 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger 1 tablespoon milk
Place mandarins in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20–30 minutes or until mandarins are soft. Drain and cool. Chop mandarins and remove seeds. Process, with peel, in a food processor until smooth. (You will need 1 cup of mandarin puree for this recipe.) Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 22cm round springform pan, then line base and sides with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, whisk eggs and caster sugar for 4 minutes or until thick and pale. Add melted butter and 1 cup mandarin puree, and gently fold until combined. Sift flour, baking powder and salt over mandarin mixture. Add almond meal, ginger and milk, and gently stir until combined. Spoon into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 1 hour or until light golden and a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. MASCARPONE CREAM Whisk 500g mascarpone and 100g sifted icing sugar mixture until smooth and combined. CANDIED ORANGES Preheat oven to 150°C. Thinly slice 2 oranges. Arrange orange slices over base of a large baking dish. Stir 3 cups caster sugar and 3 cups water in a saucepan over a medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Pour sugar syrup over orange in baking dish. Cover surface of syrup with baking paper. Bake for 1 hour or until orange slices are translucent. Cool. LEMON CURD Whisk finely grated rind of 2 lemons, 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup caster sugar and 4 large eggs in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water (ensure bowl doesn’t touch water) for 10–15 minutes or until thick. Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in 230g diced unsalted butter, a few cubes at a time, until incorporated. Cool. Store in fridge. MANDARIN & MASCARPONE CAKE To create cake pictured, repeat recipe to make 2 mandarin cakes. Place 1 cake on a cake stand. Top with mascarpone cream and remaining cake. Arrange candied oranges over cake. Cut into slices and serve with lemon curd.