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Image courtesy of OzHarvest

Before we leave on the run I sit and chat with Hayley Everuss, State Manager of OzHarvest Adelaide and Emily Bryson, Operations Administrator, who are both very passionate about what they do. I discover there are all sorts of reasons why donors call. Often, they initially contact OzHarvest in a bit of a pickle with excess food they don’t know what to do with. For example, one company had two palettes of jam that had been cooked a little too long. It was not fit to be sold but was still perfectly good to eat. ‘Last year,’ continues Emily, ‘the local cherry crop was a bumper one…the fruit was extra fat and juicy. OzHarvest got a call from a grower who couldn’t sell some of his cherries as they they just weren’t good enough for the extraordinary market conditions; they were small for the season, and couldn’t compete.’ OzHarvest arrived to find boxes and boxes of perfect, gorgeous cherries, 250 kg! Right at Christmastime, the agencies just loved them. ‘Especially for the drivers who get to deliver the much appreciated food, it’s a bit like being Santa Claus,’ says Emily.

Image courtesy of OzHarvest

On another occasion, a local organic milk company made a production error, bottling 4-5 palettes worth of full-cream milk in skim bottles. With the cost of rebottling too great, they rang OzHarvest…And then there were the eight palettes of beautiful truss tomatoes that arrived in South Australia en route to Perth. ‘Although destined for Western Australia, they did not comply with the state’s quarantine regulations and were going to rot in the warehouse,’ says Emily. OzHarvest came to the rescue.

We jump in the truck. Tim rattles through the city and heads down Port Road to Welland. Our first stop is a business that distributes to health food shops. The new donor explains that he was driving behind the big yellow truck in traffic, and when he thought about how much food he had wasted in the past, he decided to give the charity a call. ‘There is only so much yogurt and tofu you can take home and eat,’ he says. We collect a few litres of organic milk and weigh it in the back of the truck.

As we drive to our next stop, the Lirra Lirra Cafe at Urrbrae Agricultural High School, Tim tells me that the runs can vary greatly. ‘Every day is different, you never quite know what you will find. Once we picked up 100 kg of flavoured frozen yogurts in stainless steel cups due to an oversupply. Everyone loved them!’ Donors range from hotels, cafes, bakeries and supermarkets to catering companies and produce markets. ‘We pick up from a cooking school every Friday and it can be anything up to 500 kg of food. The average pick-up there is 200 kg, and it’s all excellent quality.’

As we bounce on the seats, high above the traffic, Tim tells me that he started as a volunteer with OzHarvest and became a part-time driver because he wanted to immerse himself more in a charity. ‘My role is not just about delivery, it’s about relationships, raising awareness and providing a service to those in need,’ he says. As far as I can see, everyone wins and OzHarvest has filled a massive gap that existed in food waste. ‘Donors are happy to have their excess produce used, and charities are even happier to receive,’ says Tim. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer and for those who would like to find out more, a Volunteer Information Session will be held on 8 August at 6 pm in the Central Market Kitchen.

Tim with the food collected from Lirra Lirra Cafe

We pick up a variety of goods at Lirra Lirra cafe including salads, cooked meals, drinks and sandwiches. There’s 24 kilos all up, around 70 meals. Our next stop is a backyard garage in suburban Malvern, where Keane’s Organic Food run their business. Here, we load up a whopping 47 kg of beautiful fruit and vegetables. Today’s run is to be delivered to a mobile food service program operated by St Vincent de Paul Society that feeds the homeless and hungry of Adelaide from a van.

Produce from Keane’s Organic Food

Enlightened, it’s time for me to jump off the truck but Tim still has a couple of stops. Next is a bakehouse in Goodwood that OzHarvest picks up from five days a week. ‘There’s always some surplus, in case they have a big day. Typically, there will be two trays of pastries and around 16 kg of freshly-baked bread rolls. There’s often hot cross buns around Easter time.’

If you would like to support OzHarvest in raising awareness to help fight food waste, you might like to attend ‘Be a Souper Hero’, a free Lunch for 500 on Monday 29 July from 12 noon to 2 pm on the Goodman Lawns of the Adelaide University, North Terrace. Lunches will be held simultaneously in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane and the delicious food will be made from rescued ingredients that would otherwise end up in landfill.

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Michael George Angelakis migrated to Australia in the 1920s from the Greek island of Symi in the Aegan and began fishing the rough waters of the Great Australian Bight in a borrowed dinghy. Today, in its fourth generation, the Australian owned, family operated company is synonymous with seafood and a leading supplier of quality seafood in Adelaide and the state, as well as poultry and game.

The Seafood King, Michael Angelakis and Charlene from WEA

This week, I managed to escape the ‘moving madness’ for an afternoon to attend a Seafood Master Class at WEA with Michael Angelakis – third generation fishmonger in the family with 45 years knowledge in the school of fish. The ‘Seafood King’ is a well-known Adelaide identity with a big personality and a TV show Out of the Blue. In the series, he delights in cooking up local seafood in different parts of the Australian coast and the world against beautiful backdrops with his mate Michael Keelan.

The WEA offers a wide range of courses in food and wine and today there are 70 guests clamouring to hear Michael talk about fish and to see him cook, a few too many for my liking, but such is his popularity. We start with delicious appetisers cooked up by the WEA tutor for ‘Practical Indian’ paired with wine from Zerella in McLaren Vale.

The first hour is dedicated to learning about the preparation of fish and seafood. ‘The most important thing is to understand your product,’ says Michael. ‘It’s all about enhancing the natural flavour.’ With the help of his sous chef we are shown how to fillet, clean and prepare a range of South Australian produce including octopus, King George whiting, tommy ruffs, prawns and blue swimmer crabs. ‘A great combination is sherry and crab.’ He delivers advice on how to cut to get maximum recovery, and cautions to never throw away anything.

Blue Swimmer Crab

Tools are held up, from a fish scaler and magnetic knife protector to the exquisite Mike Hunt knives from Streaky Bay, snug in their leather pouches. As Michael demonstrates, he explains how the fishery works on the cycle of the moon and tells us about the world’s largest wholesale fish market, Tsukiji in Japan, where the public can apply to attend the live early morning tuna auctions.

Handmade Mike Hunt Knives

He jumps from anecdote to anecdote and the class is salt and peppered with tips such as ‘Just […] grill or bake salmon trout, don’t do anything else, and wipe fish down after filleting, never wash.’ He reinforces time and again that the greatest lesson he has learnt is to keep everything simple so that the dish takes on the flavour of the Coorong or wherever it is from…don’t mess with the natural flavours. ‘Many of the top chefs I know use four or five ingredients tops in their recipes, like swordfish with parsley, olive oil and garlic.’ He goes on to explain that one of the hardest fish to fillet is garfish but it’s one of the nicest eating fish. ‘Dad used to simply roll them in seasoned flour, grill them, and eat them off the bone.’

I was happy to hear him sing the praises of Kinkawooka ‘good to go’ mussels. I love buying a packet of these sweet, pot ready mussels from Boston Bay. Sold cleaned, debearded and packed live in their own juices, these premium black mussels have a shelf life of 10 days, meaning you can buy them ahead of time and they can sit in your fridge for a few days if necessary. At Boston Bay and in the surrounding pristine waters you will also find Australia’s largest commercial tuna fishing fleet and premium prawns, abalone and crays. It’s the hub of wild harvest and aquaculture fisheries in South Australia and I was lucky enough a few years back to be sent to do a story on the region, accompanying an abalone diver and seeing the tuna fleet first-hand.

After a short break, the second lesson in the school of fish is the demonstration of four recipes, with tastings.

The first is Barbecued Octopus, which sets off the smoke alarm! An Angelakis family recipe with the flavours of the Agean Sea, the octopus is marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, pepper and salt before being charcoaled. ‘It’s a signature dish we have cooked around the world, including for the King and Queen of Sweden,’ says Michael.

Cajun Fish Steak

Next up is Cajun Fish Steaks made with kingfish. Michael believes that once you know something about the spices of a dish and where they come from that you start getting images of food, see the romance of  food, and understand the history. Plates are circulating around the room as he speaks followed by a trail of cayenne pepper and sweet paprika.

Then comes Atlantic Salmon wrapped in Prosciutto. As he pan fries the fish Michael warns to leave the middle raw as it continues to cook when you take it off the heat. ‘Never overcook fish!’ This is a simple yet impressive dish that is great with garlic mash and Asian greens or asparagus.

We conclude with a couple of Drunken Prawns, a flashback to the wine bars and taverns of the 70s, when they were served in ramekins. The prawns are marinated in garlic (he never crushes, just thinly slices), olive oil, bay, red chilli and lemon juice before being flambéed in whisky or brandy. There is a sudden, bright flash of fire to finish that matches the Seafood King’s vibrant energy, and I head home with my recipes, inspired to cook.

Pity the pots and pans have just been packed.

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Anita at the Barossa Fine Foods stall in the market

The sprawling Adelaide Central Market is a food Mecca for multicultural cuisine and fresh produce, and a much loved South Australian icon. On Friday evenings it’s a wonderful, lively place to be. Families and friends fill their baskets for the weekend and meet up to slurp bowls of spicy laksa, but last Friday night my friend Anita and I had a different agenda.

Away from the buzz, we climb the stairs to the Central Market Kitchen in eager anticipation of our Smallgoods Appreciation Class with Barossa Fine Foods. The family-owned company, with a stall in the market below,  handcrafts products to traditional recipes and is Australia’s most awarded smallgoods maker.  For those not familiar with the term, these gourmet meat products are also known as charcuterie and aufschnitt.

There are just six of us in the class. We sit around a table, each with our own wooden board topped with 11 different products to try. Alex Knoll is taking the class this evening, one of four brothers who learned from his father, from knowledge passed down from his father, who learned from his great-uncle. The family hailed from Germany where there was a rich history of smallgoods, and where compromise was not an option. When the family arrived in Australia they were used to strict industry guidelines concerning charcuterie, Alex explains, but in Australia the industry worked in hot sheds, and the meat wasn’t as fresh as it could be.

Alex’s father Franz is the creator of many of the products, a man truly passionate about smallgoods. As we try the rare roast beef Alex tells us that his father is always perfecting. ‘If the pepper is different in a batch, perhaps lighter in flavour, he will change the amount of pepper. It’s a labour of love…We have to think of the consumer, take the ego out of it.’ Traditional methods are used, but if it doesn’t work for a particular piece of meat, the process is adapted. The idea behind the rare roast beef, which is incredibly good, is the taste of a Sunday roast the day after. ‘It’s about food memories and recreating the Sunday roast.’

Next, we sample the Spiral sliced ham with rounds of French Provincial style sourdough. There are moans around the table. It’s an American invention where the cured, smoked and cooked ham is sliced on the bone. Maple syrup is added before it is smoked and it has all the characters of being cooked on the bone yet with the ease of carving. ‘We wanted to give our customers Christmas ham every day of the week,’ says Alex. He talks about the resurgence of the charcuterie board as we tuck into duck terrine (2010 champion in the gourmet category at the Sydney Royal Fine Foods Show), and he tells us that hotels and pubs are now buying a better calibre of smallgoods.

As Alex explains ingredients, processes and traditions, we sample three wines from Hentley Farm, a boutique, single estate vineyard in the Barossa Valley. The smoked Wagyu goes well with their 2012 ‘The Stray Mongrel’, a blend of grenache, shiraz and zinfandel (don’t Australians just have the most inspiring names for wines!). Alex relays that he bought too much Wagyu so they had to create a product to use it up. Of course the special thing here is the marbling that gives a silky soft, tender texture. ‘It tastes a bit like cheese and bacon rolls,’ he laughs. He warns that you do have to be careful of the word Wagyu, which has become a food trend. ‘There are so many variations that don’t meet the criteria.’

Alex peppers the class with anecdotes but the story of Louis XIV is my favourite. This mini pork and beef salami is fermented and aged until half its weight is lost, which makes it shelf stable with intensive flavours. In France, it is known as saucisson sec, and eaten sliced, often as a simple aperitif. Franz had tasted saucisson sec on a trip to France and became so obsessed that he ate it at every opportunity. He even brought back an empty package in order to try and recreate it at home. ‘It took a long time to get right,’ says Alex, ‘nine months or so. We wasted nothing in our family and that meant we ate a  lot of sausage!’ At the Adelaide Food and Wine Show a couple of years ago a Frenchman requested a taste of some Louis XIV. He moaned and groaned and when he was asked if anything was wrong he said, ‘This is not Louis XIV, it is saucisson sec! Every day after school I would run home and cut some off to eat. Thank you so much for taking me back to France.’

‘When my father finally got it right, it was all worth it.’

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