May 252022
 

Thanks to the people who have contributed to this week’s newsletter: Jaimie Sweetman, Jian Liu, Julian Merkenich, Sarah Mathers and Simone Boyd.

If you are Gmail user and didn’t successfully receive our newsletter last week, read this short guide on how to stop Google’s blocking of our future newsletters.

The more people contribute to this newsletter the better it will be but, for some reason, contributions have fallen off over the last month or so. If you have any news, tips, questions or photos that you think some of the readership might be interested in, now would be a good time to send them in. Simply email them to me (guy@localfoodconnect.org.au).

The Medlar tree (by Jaimie Sweetman)

[Jaimie Sweetman is Head Gardener of the Edible Forest located on the Yarra Valley Estate in Dixons Creek. Tours of the Edible Forest, often led by Jaimie, take place on Fridays and Saturdays – read more and book your place on a future tour.]

The medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) is one of my absolute favourites, especially at this time of year. I love this tree because it is harvested in winter when not much else is.

The medlar is an ancient species and was once extremely popular in Europe during the Middle Ages. In fact, you would apparently have found them in most medieval monasteries and castles. Can you recognise the fruit from old paintings?

The medlar is in the same family as apples (the rose family). When apples started to be widely cultivated, medlars were largely forgotten about. This wasn’t because they don’t taste good though; rather, it was because they quickly perish once picked and thus need to be eaten straight off the tree or turned into preserves.

Medlars need to go through a cold period so they can ‘blet’ on the tree. [Editor: ‘Bletting’, meaning the softening of certain fleshy fruits, such as medlars and persimmons, beyond ripening, until the desired degree of sweetness/palatability is attained.] The recent few nights of cold here in Melbourne should see them ready this week. The cold softens them and some even say they become like rotten fruit. They taste like stewed apple though and can be turned into jams and jellies to preserve.

Read about more of Jaimie’s unusual edible plants on our website.

Also, read Robin Gale-Baker’s guide to growing medlars.

Some unusual pumpkins

Simone Boyd, who is both a newsletter reader and the owner of the online veggie seed shop, Heirloom Naturally, has produced 4 videos about unusual pumpkins:

Bohemian Futsu
Galeux D’Eysines Rouge Vif D’Etampes

Tea cosies

The 2022 Fish Creek Tea Cosy Festival recently took place. One of the exhibits was the composting teapot of St Johns Riverside Community Garden in Heidelberg and it was apparently awarded an Honourable Mention. Its name is Brewster.

According to ABC News, a Guinness World Record was broken at the festival, namely the largest every tea cosy. At 5 metres high and 20 metres in circumference, it smashed the previous record (3.9 metres high). It was knitted by a team from Frankston and will now be deconstructed into rugs. Read more.

On the subject of tea cosies, my wife tells me that, if you stich up the spout and handle openings then they can look quite fetching as hats. I’ll try and find a photo!

Finally, St Johns Riverside Community Garden should be congratulated on their recent receipt of a grant from Banyule Council for $5K for landscaping the entrance to the garden.

Every newsletter needs a good picture

Tatiana Shkondina recreates famous paintings using food and then photographs them. Feature artists include Dali, Hokusai, Klimt, Magritte, Malevich, Mondrian, Picasso, Rousseau and Warhol. The picture right is Van Gogh’s Starry Night (1889) and was made with rice, blueberries and pasta. Look at some more of her creations.

Vegan gado gado (by Jian Liu & Julian Merkenich)

In this recipe, the traditional ingredients of boiled egg, prawn crackers and fish sauce are replaced by lightly fried chickpeas, rice noodles and soy sauce respectively.

The steamed ingredients

Ingredients
Cauliflower, chopped into small chunks
Potatoes, chopped into small chunks

Prepare a steamer.

Steam the cauliflower and potato for 20 minutes.

The fresh ingredients

Ingredients
4 small tomatoes, cut into small cubes
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 small head cabbage, shredded
½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch spring onions, sliced

Prepare all of the fresh ingredients.

The fried ingredients

Ingredients
2 pieces dry tofu
½ cup chickpeas
½ cup oil
2 sticks rice noodles

Break up the rice noodles into 1 inch lengths.

Heat the oil in a large wok. You may want to angle the wok slightly to make the pool of oil deeper. If you place a chopstick into the oil and it bubbles, then you’re ready.

Throw a handful of broken noodles at a time into the oil and wait a few seconds for them to puff. Place the fried noodles onto your skillet to soak up any residual oil.

Remove the noodles from the skillet, put it over medium heat, and fry the tofu and chickpeas.

The sauce

Ingredients
½ medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small chilli, sliced
¾ cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup coconut milk (or any plant-based milk)
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons lime juice (or lemon juice)

Place the onion, garlic and chilli (i.e. the aromatics) into a small pot with a few tablespoons of water.

Saute the aromatics until they are softened and fragrant.

Add the peanut butter to the pot and mash with a spoon.

Add the soy sauce, coconut milk and sugar and mix with a spoon until you have a rich sauce.

Continue to cook the sauce on low heat for a minute.

Turn off the heat and mix the lime juice into the sauce.

Mix everything together

Put the fresh and steamed ingredients together in a large serving bowl.

Top with the sauce.

Stir until thoroughly combined and everything is coated in the sauce.

Add the fried ingredients on top.

Serve.

Read more recipes by newsletter readers on our website.

Which link was clicked most times in the last newsletter?

The most popular link in the last newsletter was Angelo Eliades’ article on how to save tomato seeds.

Joke (or pun) of the week

Wanna hear a joke about pizza? Never mind. It’s too cheesy.

As a bonus, at their 2022 AGM, Nillumbik U3A (University of the Third Age) voted the following as the best ever joke published in their newsletter:

I recently visited a monastery and, as I walked past the kitchen, I saw a man frying chips. I asked him “Are you the friar?” He replied “No, I’m the chip monk.

In passing, note that around 120 members of Nillumbik U3A are also readers of this newsletter.

Read more jokes.

Regular activities over the coming week

Farmers’ markets
Food swaps
Community gardens

Not food-related by interesting

Make a garden in a glass bowl; Saturday, 4th June, 10.30am-12.30pm; free; Hurstbridge.

Join local makers Heather Doyle and Kath Armour, founding members of Boomerang Bags Nillumbik, to make a miniature garden in a beautiful glass bowl. All materials will be supplied. You will also have the opportunity to create a mosaic on a stone base to put into your glass garden. If you have any figurines, decorative objects, or special treasures that you would like to use in your work, take them along.

Upcoming face-to-face events – introduction

You can view various calendars on our website by type of event: All once-off events, Cooking, Everything else and Free.

You can also view various calendars on our website by Council area: Banyule, Boroondara, City of Yarra, Darebin, Manningham, Maroondah, Moreland, Nillumbik, Whitehorse, Whittlesea and Yarra Ranges.

Upcoming face-to-face events – not cooking

Volunteer thankyou BBQ + gall wasp workshop; Monday, 30th May, 4-6pm; free; Preston.

Organised by Oakhill Farm. Presenter: Angelo Eliades. After the workshop, you will share a meal using Oakhill-grown veggies. You will also meet other volunteers, celebrate all that has been achieved at Oakhill, and chat about future plans.

Step to employment in hospitality (7 sessions); 7 consecutive Fridays from 3rd June,each 11.30am-5pm; free; Brunswick.

Organised by Brunswick Neighbourhood House. Learn the skills essential for working in the hospitality industry. Includes Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) and Safe Food Handling certificates, coffee making, and more. Enrol by either phone (9386 9418) or email (info@bnhc.vic.edu.au).

How to control the Queensland Fruit Fly, with Angelo Eliades; Tuesday, 23rd June, 7-8pm; free; Watsonia.

Organised by Watsonia Library. In this workshop, you will learn about the best ways to manage them, how to achieve the best control outcomes using a strategic pest management approach (IPM), what products to use, as well as how and when to use them. Angelo will also demonstrate how to make your own fruit fly trap.

Complete urban farmer (14 sessions); weekly, starting Thursday, 21st July, 9am-3pm; $880 ($10 per hour); CERES.

Presenters: Justin Calverley and Donna Livermore. The topics to be covered will include: permaculture; fruit production; soil preparation; beekeeping; composting, worm farming and fertilisers; vegetable growing; propagation; seed collection; pest & disease management; bushfoods & berries; chooks; and community gardens.

Beeswax wraps; Saturday, 23rd July, 10am-midday; $75 ($38 per hour); CERES.

What you will learn: how to make and maintain their own beeswax wraps; learn skills that are transferable to the home environment; and bundling techniques. Presenter: Emma Grace. You will learn how to make and maintain their own beeswax wraps for keeping food fresh and hygienic without the use of single-use plastics such as cling-wrap. This is a hands-on workshop where participants will make their own washable and re-usable ready-to-use beeswax wraps.

In May
In June
In July
Regular events

Upcoming face-to-face events – cooking

Masterclass – make your own pizza and pasta; Tuesday, 7th June, 6.30-8pm; free; Coburg.

Learn how to make pizza and pasta. You will learn how to stretch and roll the dough and also how to make fresh spaghetti.

Chocolate discovery class; Saturday, 9th July, 11am-midday; $48 ($48 per hour); Yarra Glen.

This class includes indulging in a range of chocolate and truffle tastings, the chance to learn about how chocolate is made, and finding out about the inspiration behind each of their specialty ranges with their European Chocolatiers. Your chocolate education concludes with the chance to create your own personal chocolate bar and delve in giant lollipop making fun.

Sourdough bread baking; Saturday, 23rd July, 9am-5pm; $180 ($23 per hour); CERES.

What you will learn: how to make your own bread; how to make your own handmade pizzas; and more about sourdough. What you will get: handmade pizzas for lunch; your own bread to take home and some leaven; and recipes. Presenter: Ken Hercott.

Feta and haloumi cheese making; Sunday, 24th July, 10am-4pm; $170 ($28 per hour); CERES.

What you will learn: how to make your own fetta and haloumi cheese; how to make ricotta cheese; and about different cheeses. Presenters: Janet Clayton and Charlene Angus from Cheeselinks.

In May
In June
In July
Regular classes

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