THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT
Q: How do meats, fruit and other produce enhance a cheese course?
After a month of refining our taste buds at the NSW Wine Festival (winding up this weekend), we couldn’t help but be inspired by the ability of the gourmet cheese platter to cater to even the most discerning palate. While purists like their cheese with little distraction, most cheese courses use a carefully crafted selection of cheeses, cured meats and fresh produce to achieve a complex balance of flavours and textures. With this in mind, our bulletin this week profiles seasonal produce that will bring out the best in your Autumn cheese platter.
COOKED FRUIT: Slow-baked quinces are delicious, however jam and pastes with a tart or sweet flavour are also suitable
QUINCE:
Available: Mar - Aug
Growing Areas: Goulburn Valley, Granite Belt, Bathurst, Adelaide Hill
Appearance: round - pear shaped with hard, yellow skin
Flesh: hard, golden flesh which turns pale-dark pink when cooked
Flavour: highly fragrant. Very bitter making them unpleasant raw, however this deepens to a sweet, musky flavour when cooked
Selection: pick firm, yellow fruit with only a touch of green. Avoid fuzzy fruit as this indicates immaturity
Preparation: high pectin levels make quince perfect for making jams, jellies & preserves. The slower and longer a quince is cooked, the darker the end colour
FRESH FRUIT: APPLES, pears and GRAPES are platter favourites, however FIGS and FUJU PERSIMMON are also in season and are a colourful, delicious alternative
NASHI: aka Asian Pear, Oriental Pear, Apple-Pear, salad pear
Growing Areas: Goulburn Valley (90%)
Appearance: medium, round fruit with yellow-green slightly rough skin (can be flecked with white or brown depending on variety)
Flesh: creamy white, crisp and juicy flesh (like an apple)
Flavour: subtly sweet with medium sugar and high acid
Selection: choose light yellow-green fruit that are firm
Preparation: fresh and juicy- or cook similarly to apple or pear
BEURRE BOSC PEARS:
Growing Areas: predominantly Victoria however grown across Australia (ex. NT)
Appearance: med to large pear with an elongated neck, green-brown skin and a golden-brown russet that darkens as it ripens
Flesh: juicy, white flesh
Flavour: aromatic, sweet, buttery and juicy
Selection: fragrant and firm, ripe pears give a little when pressed at the stem
Preparation: fresh and juicy, poach in wine and spices
SWEET PERSIMMON: aka Fuji Fruit, Fuju Persimmon or Fuyu Fruit
Available: late Feb - June
Appearance: round fruit with a somewhat flat top and orange skin
Flesh: orange
Flavour: mild, sweet flavour
Selection: Should be bought when crisp and crunchy.
Preparation: When fresh, best enjoyed like an apple, otherwise can be used when soft/mature in cooking
SEMI-DRIED FRUIT: California dates are superb at the moment. Dried muscatel are also a good addition, however these will not be available for some time yet
CALIFORNIA MEJDOOL DATES:
Available: all year
Appearance: rich gold to dark brown, slightly wrinkled skin
Flesh: soft, slightly chewy
Flavour: rich and sweet- caramel tones
Selection: look for plump dates which are slightly glossy and gold-brown in colour. Avoid any with crystals on the skin
Preparation: slice and remove stone, fantastic fresh but can be also be used in cooking, baking, dipped in chocolate or stuffed
ROASTED NUTS: chestnuts are great eating at the moment, however almonds, pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts are also suitable
CHESTNUTS:
Available: Apr - Jul
Growing Areas: North East VIC (70-80%), growers in all states
Appearance: heart shaped tree nut that has a tough, shiny dark brown shell
Flesh: creamy white nut - when cooked is similar to a roast potato in texture
Flavour: sweet and nutty - not suitable raw
Selection: buy heavy for size and firm as this indicates freshness
Preparation: short shelf life (1-2wks in fridge) though frozen nuts can be used for soups/purees. Lie chestnut on flat side and score the outer skin vertically, this stops them bursting when roasting (for your platter) or cooking them remove tough outer shell and thin inner skin (pellicle) prior to eating
A: A cheese course usually consists of 3-5 cheeses with different milk types (i.e. sheep milk, cows milk or goat milk) and textures (i.e. firm, washed-rind or blue) represented. The fruits, nuts and other accoutrement are used to enhance the unique character of these cheeses in different ways. For example, the sweet tones of fruit pastes/jams complement the rich taste of blue or French Brie, while fresh fruit provides a crisp, sweet contrast to salty cheeses and refreshes the palate. Warm, crunchy nuts are also popular (especially in the cooler months) as they provide a crunchy texture and enhance the nutty flavours in some cheeses. Other favourite additions to a cheese course include chewy fruits which complement firm cheeses, salty olives and crostini, crackers or specialty breads which help to cleanse the palate.
AUTUMN HARVEST
Q: How long is the rain likely to last?
Summer is officially gone and with it go the luscious stonefruits, berries and tomatoes that characterise Sydney’s summer menus. So what can we expect from Autumn 2012?
Sydney’s tropical (read: rainy) summer has taken its toll on local produce (especially ground grown crops- herbs, asian vegetables, tomatoes) however consistent supply from interstate has managed to keep the markets relatively stable. Unfortunately, we are now starting to see poor weather impact interstate products and if the rain continues we can expect to see quality and price issues across the board.
On a positive note all this wet weather has brought the elusive Pine Mushrooms to the markets early, not to mention apple, pears, exotic fruits , cabbage lines and root veg are all looking relatively consistent and are good eating.
AUTUMN FLAVOURS:
APPLES/PEARS/QUINCE:
New season apples, pears and quince are abundant in Autumn with almost all varieties of apple and pear available over the course of the season.
Supply: Expected to be consistent bar a significant storms or hail in the growing regions
Inspiration: Vogue Entertaining + Travel’s Spiced Quince and Pears with baked custard
BEANS:
Beans are a staple of Autumn, with Borlotti, Butter, French, Green, Roman and Snake making an appearance.
Supply: With the rains in QLD/Nth QLD this week the market for beans has turned dramatically with supply very tight and price jumping significantly. With supply directly influenced by the weather we hope to see supply and price improve as the weather clears.
Inspiration: Teage Ezard’s Barbecued ox tongue with southern gold potatoes, snake beans and sticky mustard dressing recipe
CABBAGE:
Hitting the markets earlier than usual, cabbage lines – chinese wombok, red cabbage, Tuscan cabbage – fill the gap left by the slowing lettuce lines.
Supply: Hardier than other ground grown crops, supply should remain consistent. However excessive rain or flooding may cause splitting and as a result supply issues
Inspiration: Jacques Reymond’s Spatchcock & Buttered Cabbage with verjus
EXOTIC FRUITS:
Filling the void of the lush mangoes and berries come the passionfruit, custard apples, breadfruit, persimmon, guava and pomegranates & tamarillos
Supply: Some issues with guava supply at the moment but otherwise looking steady for the season ahead
Inspiration: Kim Woodward’s Butter roasted halibut, lobster salad, coriander pasta and passion fruit sauce
NUTS:
Autumn also sees the return of the fresh nuts- with Australian grown pistachios (NOW), almonds (Feb-Mar), Hazelnuts (Feb-Apr), Peanuts (Feb-June) and Chestnuts (Apr- Jul) on the scene!
Supply: When they hit the markets, they hit in force- though they finish all too quickly
Inspiration: Peter Gilmore’s Caramelised Vanilla Brioche French toast
PUMPKIN:
I recently read a quote that said there were four seasons, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin and Winter. With all lines including Butternut on offer in Autumn, who can blame them.
Supply: Sourced locally, pumpkins are traditionally abundant and great eating for the whole season
Inspiration: Rick Stein’s Pumpkin ravioli with sage butter
ROOT VEG:
Autumn sees the root veg come into their own with sweet potatoes, horseradish, turnip, parsnip and spud varieties (Royal Blue, Ruby Lou, Pontiac, Desiree, Burbank, Purple Congo) all coming into their own.
Supply: While supply should remain consistent, root veg are susceptible to splitting and rot with too much rain – so lets hope for some clear skies.
Inspiration: Bar H’s Sashimi of striped trumpeter with mushrooms and ginger, horseradish and soy dressing
More produce highlights for Autumn: Pine Mushrooms, Celeriac, Fennel, Leeks, Spinach and Silverbeet
A: Unfortunately it may last a while yet. The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a wetter autumn than average for NSW and SA and a slightly drier season for VIC and TAS. There is a silver lining however, with the BOM describing their outlook model as having ‘low skill over South East NSW’ at this time of year! So you never know, blue skies could be just around the corner.