The Good Life
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Mushrooms By Victoria Cosford For a food that’s nearly all water, it’s surprising how much flavour there is in a mushroom. Buttons, fields, browns, exotics – each variety has its distinctive nature, its own special texture and taste. medicinal properties commonly associated with shitakes, native to east Asia, these are The flavour ascribed to fungi is umami, one always highly sought after, with customers of the five basic tastes along with bitterness, booking their orders at least a week ahead. sweetness, sourness and saltiness: faintly Their popularity may also be owing to their feral, meaty, earthy. White mushrooms are flavour and texture, the large fleshy spongy the mildest, although once the button is left cap tasting faintly woodsy – and they are to grow into what’s commonly known as a great in stirfries or Asian broths. field mushroom, acquiring gills, the flavour heightens. Same with the browns, the small Other exotics, less frequently available, are ones known as Swiss transforming into meaty the enoki with their long skinny white stems luscious Portabellos when fully grown, calland tiny caps, the oysters whose tan caps ing out to be studded with garlic slivers and grow oddly alongside their fat stems, shimejis roasted or grilled just as you would a steak. like a tight-knit bunch of little flowers, chestIndeed, mushrooms are known as the ‘meat’ nuts and wood-ears. of the vegetarian world. To my mind the best mushrooms are the king At the local farmers market the Witches Broomstick stall has been dispensing mushrooms since they began. Up at Nunderi – a pretty little hamlet amidst rolling hills just back of Murwillumbah – Carol and Donna Harper are the mother-and-daughter team responsible for their supply, grown in purpose-built sheds on the property.
Gary (holding the trophy) and Luke (holding a celebratory champagne), flanked by judges Royston Bennett and Steve Fleming.
A trifecta of sausages Story and photos by Vivienne Pearson Ocean Shores butcher Garry Leeson has taken out third place in the poultry section of the National Sausage King competition held recently in Hobart. This means he holds a trifecta of awards, previously having been runner-up (2015) and overall winner (2014).
It’s mostly whites and browns but at certain times of the year there are also the ‘exotics’, shitakes in particular. Possibly owing to the
Coopers, who would have guessed? By Simon Haslam
Steve explains that each sausage is scored out of 50 points by a range of judges, including industry experts (TAFE teachers and chefs), experienced sponsors and consumers. The latter surprises me but, as Steve points out: ‘At the end of the day, it’s what sells that Gary’s Chickadamia sausage (yep, that’s chick- matters’. en and macadamia flavoured, along with Steve and Royston work for AMISTSuper, the spinach) impressed the judging panel with Australian Meat Industry Super Fund. ‘We its taste, texture and originality. Two of the spend our days in butcher shops,’ they say. So judges, Steve Fleming and Royston Bennett, what makes a good butcher shop? ‘Presentavisited Gary last week to further congratulate tion is important, as is their involvement in him on his win. the community but it’s all about the butcher,’ says Steve. ‘Customers judge a butcher on Does a cute name such as Chickadamia help their product and how they share their a sausage win? ‘It’s not one of the scoring knowledge and tips. It comes down to the elements,’ says Steve. ‘But a good name is person.’ important as it will stick in the mind of the consumer.’ The winning sausage of the Open Gary is so dedicated to his work that he takes section this year was an entry from South his only annual holiday around attending the Australia, called a Mississippi, courtesy of its competition. He says the sniffer dogs at the smoky bourbon flavour. Hobart airport thought all their Christmases Of the competition overall, Royston, who has had come at once when he walked by with his carefully insulated package of sausages! been a judge for nine years, says the quality was the highest he’s ever seen. So how was his holiday? Let’s just say it was a winner. Steve, who has judged for five years, says he eats his fair share of sausages over a typical Ocean Shores Butcher: Shop 12, Ocean year. ‘I reckon it’s around 1,600 a year,’ says Shores Shopping Centre, Rajah Road. Steve. ‘Quite a lot are at competitions, and Mon–Fri 7am–5pm and Saturdays 7am– then there are my social ones on top of that.’ noon.
A lot of alcohol marketing is about the branding, and the ‘story’ behind the drink, as much as the taste. For example, the new northern rivers gin, Brookies Gin, has a marketing story that’s all about the very worthy work done by the Brooks (of Brookfarm muesli) in regenerating rainforest. You could expect that story, and the implication that you’re drinking those very rainforest botanicals, to leave a nice taste Liberals and right-wing conservatives, who in the mouth of gin drinkers. presumably don’t drink a lot of Coopers, will take up the slack after the Coopers boycott, Not so the aftertaste of the recent Coopers and drink up stocks of the new Bible Society campaign. Who would have known that commemorative Coopers Light. decades of profits from the sale of Coopers to poor, leftie, gay-friendly South Australian university types like myself were providing a huge source of funds for the Liberal party? Who in Coopers thought their key demographic would like an ad, featuring Liberal MPs Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie, supporting the right for Christians to have an anti-gay marriage debate? They must be hoping that the Bible Society members,
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oysters, with their thick stem, their faintly nutty sweet taste, their firm texture after cooking, their surprising resemblance, once cooked, to sea scallops or abalone (although not oysters). In foaming garlicky butter splashed with a touch of olive oil to prevent it burning I like to swiftly toss the stem slices around until golden all over, pile them on toasted sourdough with a handful of freshly chopped parsley, sea salt and black pepper, and dine like a king.
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The Byron Shire Echo March 15, 2017 27