FOOD + WI N E
A journey through the seasons
Green And Gin 700ml, $99.95 RRP
again after harvesting. Daniel uses the green ants to flavour Seven Season’s Green Ant Gin, and it’s a taste that needs to be experienced to be believed; a zesty, makrut-lime-like flavour. As part of his Indigenous food company, Something Wild, which supplies Seven Seasons with its produce, Daniel uses native bush apple in his Bush Apple Gin. The inherent sourness of the fruit works beautifully. Harvested around December in Larrakia Country during monsoon season. The bush apple gin is described as, “crisp and refreshing with berry qualities and spicy orange blossom, balanced with the juniper you expect in a gin.”
Exploring the unique botanicals of Seven Seasons' gin Seven Seasons spirits are no ordinary beverages. Nuance and romance is brought to their botanical gins by adding native Australian ingredients such as green ants and bush apple. exactly the same with the fruit. There are things that tell us we can harvest something or go out and hunt, like little flowers that pop up which mean it’s turtle season. They’re signs that we as Larrakia people have been brought up to learn,” says Daniel.
Founder of the business, and former AFL player, Daniel Motlop explains, “Larrakia is one country within Australia, my grandmother’s country, so what I’ve done with the company is set it up around the seven seasons that we Larrakia live by.” “Whether it be magpie goose, kangaroo or barramundi, we hunt in seasons. And it’s
Bush Apple Gin 700ml, $99.95 RRP
Seven Seasons spirits are the real deal, both owned by and made with produce harvested by Indigenous Australian communities using sustainable practices perfected over millennia. This is authentic, fair and ridiculously tasty liquor. Seven Seasons are committed to sustainability. For example, they harvest their green ants in a way that the larvae and Queen stay safe within the nest and are able to thrive
Seven Seasons seven-seasons.com.au | @sevenseasonsspirits
CHEESE AND BUBBLES WINS WORDS: Kris Lloyd, Cheese Maker, Woodside Cheese Wrights I’m sure if you ask anyone, anywhere in the world, to recommend the perfect match for cheese, they will tell you – wine. I like to think I have a moderate palate for cheese, and courtesy of a wine making family, I have tried a few wines in my time and I can say with absolute confidence that a glass of white or red is not cheese’s only best friend. From my own experience, the strong flavours of red wine wipe out the delicate flavours of many cheeses. On the other hand, many white wines can boast high acidity, which interferes with the natural acids that occur particularly in goat cheese.
"Bubbles take the cake." That’s right, in all my years of trying and testing; I enjoyed cheese most when accompanied with a crisp flute of Champagne. I find the high fat content in cheese can often leave your mouth with an almost ‘sticky’ feeling. This is where the carbonation of the sparkling comes into play, creating a dialogue with that cheesy residue that wipes your palate clean. It leaves you wanting more cheese, FI FT Y+ S A
which makes you want more bubbles… A slippery slope I know but nonetheless a rather enjoyable one. In general, a good sparkling wine is slightly more aromatic and yeasty with only a crisp, momentary bite of acidity in the mouth. While they can vary toward a more full-bodied and lush taste, there is a level of crispness and intensity always present, courtesy of the hundreds and thousands of tiny bubbles, which is why I believe it complements cheese the best. Lighter, brighter sparkling wines and Champagne pair well with creamy cheeses that have high butterfat content. Test it out with a double or triple cream Brie and you will be able to feel the bubbles cut through the mouth-coating richness. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, try our Patrice (a super smooth rich and buttery cheese) paired with a yeasty sparkling, some fresh strawberries and I assure you it will blow your mind. If you are more partial to a full bodied sparkling then try traditional Champagne that has undergone a secondary ferment in the bottle. That time spent delivers complexity and toasty, bready notes that work well with slightly more pungent cheeses, try washed rinds with 46
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this you’ll find the Champagne echoes the splendid nutty notes found in these cheeses. And let’s not forget Prosecco! The Italian speciality that has undergone a secondary fermentation. Prosecco tends to be dryer than other sparkling wines working brilliantly with Chevre (goat cheese) of all forms as it lifts the sweetness in the cheese. Whether the cheese is rinded or fresh, the acid development in the cheese is truly complimented by the yeasty nature of the wine. A great bubble does not need to cost you the earth. Look beyond Champagne and you will discover a host of well made options including many produced in Australia. So, here’s cheers!
woodsidecheese.com.au | @woodsidecheese IS S UE 03 .