School’s back in, in the Valley
This time of the year is full of fresh new beginnings – the cherries are in blossom, tomato seedlings are being planted and puffy jackets are being swapped out for … well, don’t put your puffy jacket away just yet.
One particularly exciting spring event is the reopening of the Agrarian Kitchen cooking school in New Norfolk after an 18-month hiatus. Situated in Willow Court adjoining the Eatery is a sparkling new kitchen and dining room where you can experience a day of picking fresh vegetables and, under the tutelage of chef and owner Rodney Dunn, turning them into a delicious three-course lunch.
On the menu the day I visit are dolma wrapped in silverbeet (rather than vine leaves), stuffed with cracked wheat, silverbeet stalks and warming spices. These are baked on a bed of tomato passata – carefully bottled from the previous harvest – then topped with housemade feta and a yoghurt sauce. My cooking partner and I are in charge of this dish and working in this light-filled, purpose-built kitchen is a dream, with utensils, a spacious work area and expert advice on hand. While we’re wrapping dolmas, other students are prepping roast pork stuffed with herb paste, lightly pickled turnips, radishes and kohlrabi with parsley oil and fresh mozzarella (pro tip – you’ll need a big pot!).
All the vegetables come from the walled garden that used to be the exercise yard adjacent to the ward for criminally insane men. Now, it’s a warm microclimate in the chilly Derwent Valley that serves as a haven for numerous herbs, vegetables, heritage wheat and compost – a topic that gardener Josh is happy to discuss at length. There’s an emphasis on soil health and sustainability here and all waste from the restaurant and cooking school goes back to the garden to be turned into compost over the course of 12 months. The proof of this approach is in the tasting – everything we eat is packed with flavour and Dunn reckons they grow the best basil in Southern Tasmania.
If you’d rather let the professionals do the cooking, set an afternoon aside for lunch at the Eatery, housed in a former ward and complete with original lino floors and timber windows. The set menu ($140) means you get to taste the best of what’s in season and don’t have to make any difficult decisions. You can match drinks (alcoholic or alcohol-free $70) or make your own selection from the wine list.
We begin with a plump Angasi oyster swimming in a pool of bright dill oil and follow that with a rye cracker topped with “long spined sea urchin”. This dish is not as painful to eat as its name suggests and is in fact a creamy dip full of the flavours of the ocean. My meat-loving husband is thrilled with the fatty lamb ribs that come with housemade garum and a hot sauce that’s been fermenting for five years. The wait was worth it.
Tender spring asparagus from the garden is the star of the next course, as is the alpine cheese that is made in-house. Make a visit to the bathroom during lunch to admire the fridges full of charcuterie and multiple varieties of cheese alongside shelves laden with bottled fruit, fish sauces, garums, vegetable misos and more. My pantry shelves pale in comparison.
A pleasingly pudgy burrata (fresh mozzarella filled with cream) is wonderfully more-ish and, having learnt how to make this fresh, handpulled cheese in the class, I’m keen to give it a shot at home.
Our first main course is a rustic dish of braised wheat with shredded rabbit and rings of green garlic – the wheat has a subtle bite to it and the young garlic fairly shouts “spring!”. Roasted lamb off the rack melts in the mouth and is served with lightly sauteed cabbage – every dish from start to finish is executed beautifully and makes the most of the raw ingredients.
Three petite desserts complete our meal (well, except for the additional cheese course we couldn’t resist – we are only human after all) and each is a perfect mouthful or three of flavour. I especially enjoy the tang of buttermilk in the cherry gelato.
Dunn and his wife Severine Demanet were breaking new ground when they opened the Agrarian Kitchen Cooking School in 2008 and it’s a privilege to experience a little of their world through the restaurant and relaunched school. Whether you’re a local or hosting guests, a day in the Agrarian Kitchen is well spent.