Early on what was a VERY chilly Saturday morning, the delightful Stefano Manfredi took to my kitchen garden with baskets, a colander and a knife. And so the preparation for the day’s activities began…
In the meantime, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips and the last of last year’s garlic were simmering away in a pan which eventually had us all swooning with delight (with the addition of Pepe Saya’s amazing truffle butter – more on this later, but thank you Pepe!) and finished with fresh Australian truffle direct from Duncan Garvey’s Perigord Truffles. What a great thrill for us all, to have the opportunity to hold and smell (let alone eat), real, fresh truffle.
This ravishing Root Vegetable Puree with Black Truffles was mopped up with thick chunks of still warm Mission Loaf which Stefano had collected early that morning from the Sonoma Bakery on his way through to Glenmore….
Fennel & Clementine Salad was an excellent palate cleanser before plating up that delicious gnocchi….and I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo of the Torta before we gobbled it all up!
The day was so cold that we brought the tables inside to eat our hearty lunch in front of the blazing Dairy fire (I always knew it would happen one day!). And in the end, everyone left with a swag of recipes, a brown paper bag filled with just-dug Jerusalem artichokes AND…
A round of Pepe Saya’s beautiful hand-made, cultured butter, as well as their own little round of truffle butter to use at home for experimenting with the day’s recipes. What a TREAT! Do have a look at the Pepe Saya website, to see and hear from Pepe, how he makes his beautiful butters, right here in Sydney (as well as how you can order them for yourself). And again Pepe, THANK YOU for your time and such a generous box of goodies for our participants!
But last of all, a heart-felt THANK YOU to Stefano for sharing his smile, his knowledge….for engaging us all in the most delightfully relaxed manner; for inspiring us, parting with so many little tips….and not least of all, for preparing the yummiest, scrummiest of lunches for us all to enjoy together!
And to those of you who keep asking me……YES, he says he will be happy to do it all again……NEXT year! So keep an eye on those newsletters!