Food production has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 50,000.  The use of pesticides, herbicides and hormones in farming and the addition of flavourings, colourings and preservatives in processing have left us with many “products” masquerading as food on our supermarket shelves.

Located on the New South Wales Central Coast, La Tartine is a family owned and managed business baking traditional sour dough breads the way it’s been done for generations.  Using only organic flour, natural levener, filtered water and Guerande salt imported from France, Nick Anthony and his wife Laurence use traditional methods learnt while working at Laurence’s cousin’s bakery in Provincial France.

After 10 years and literally thousands of loaves, the Anthony’s returned to Sydney bringing with them a love for quality bread and expert knowledge.

With the introduction of commercially baked yeast breads, sour dough had lost its popularity.  Industrial baking methods promised shorter kneading and proving times, but creates an inferior tasting loaf which dries out quickly.  A loss of moisture results in a tough crust and harder interior, requiring preservatives and flavourings to compensate.  Other breads may have a longer shelf life but it does not possess the taste or crustiness of freshly baked sour dough loaf or baguette made from high quality ingredients.

Thanks to dedicated bakers like the Anthony’s, sour dough is returning to favour.  The distinct taste of sour dough is the result of lactic acid produced by bacteria fermenting in the dough.  During fermentation, carbon dioxide is also formed and trapped within tiny bubbles causing the dough to expand and rise.  Fermentation also breaks down proteins, making the bread more readily digestible while other acids formed during the process act as natural preservatives.

Along with the traditional unbleached baguette and oval campagne loaf, the team of bakers - now numbering six - offer an array of delicious multigrain, fruit, sesame and rye variations and are available in most organic stores in the Sydney area. La Tartine were also one of the founding stall holders at Pyrmont Markets and can still be found there on the first Saturday of each month as well as at Fox Studios every Wednesday, Redfern on Saturdays, Castle Hill 2nd Saturday, North Sydney the 3rd Saturday and Avoca 2nd Sunday of each month.

As pioneers of the sour dough bread industry in Australia, Nick and his brother Mark have spent many an hour enlightening market-goers on the finer taste and nutritious values of traditional breads.  They are happy to chat about process, ingredients and the best ways to enjoy…. soaked in fine olive oil, smothered in jam, with hunks of robust cheese, or delicately sliced for pate.

An remember, it’s perfectly acceptable to munch on that irresistible end of your baguette while finishing your shopping.  In fact, it’s expected!!

Twelve years ago, with five acres in the Hawkesbury foothills, two goats and a book, Karen and David Borg swapped the corporate life for that of cheese maker and farmer.  At Willowbrae Chévre Cheese Farm, David now runs 100 goats and Karen makes enough fresh specialist cheeses to supply growers markets in and around Sydney.

I found Karen and her eldest daughter Kate where you’ll see them every Saturday, at the Eveleigh undercover markets in Darlington adjacent to CarriageWorks.  A fabulous display of curd cheeses, some freshly made the previous day, a few flavoured with tomato, olive or pepper, others marinated and some matured.  The newest treats on offer are lemon marinated chevre balls rolled in peppercorns. Sensational on a cheese board or tossed through salad.

Apart from wanting to leave her previous career in land development, Karen was attracted to the idea of raising goats for two main reasons, “Not only can you successfully run enough goats on a relatively small piece of farm land  - goats eat less and as browsers, occupy less grazing land than cows - there was also a noticeable shortage of goat’s cheese in the market and what was available, was imported and expensive”.

Although having been a huge fan of their cheese for a while now, I’d never had a nose for goat’s milk and assumed Willowbrae would have that typical strong musky taste.  But it was surprisingly sweet and fresh and without that twang you may expect.

“You need good quality goats to have good quality milk and cheese.  We are often told it is running the buck with the herd that will bring on the musky flavour but it’s actually all in the goat’s diet and how the milk is handled, such as keeping it chilled so that the relatively high omega 3 fatty acid content does not go rancid.”

“As browsers”, says Karen, “goats thrive on a varied diet and have an incredible ability to know what they need and where to find it.  As well as having access to grasses, branches, lucerne and meadow grasses hay and herbs, our neighbours have also taken to throwing fallen trees and clippings over the fence for them.  They especially like rose prunings and willow tree.”  However, there are some things, eucalyptus for example, they are not allowed for whatever they eat affects the flavour of their milk and therefore the cheese.

In Australia we may consider goat’s milk as an alternative to cow’s, but worldwide far more people drinks goat’s than cow’s milk.  Goat’s milk is believed to more be more easily digestible than cow’s milk.  It is naturally homogenised and therefore needs less processing, is higher in Omega 3 fatty acids and tends to be tolerated by those who react adversely to the highly processed cow’s milk.

When asked if Karen ever looks back and wonders how she came to be one of Sydney’s premier chévre cheese makers, she did admit she wonders “why” sometimes.  ”Being a farmer is a full-time, 365 days a year job.  There’s no taking the day off for Christmas, Easter for birthdays.  There’s no concept of leaving work at the end of the day for a farmer.”  Karen does however brighten again as she explains, “You have to have a passion for what you do”.  Judging by the end product, it is clear the Borg family is sincerely passionate about their goats and cheese making.

Willowbrae cheese and milk is available from the following markets

Every Saturday                        Organic Food Market, Lilyfield

Everleigh Markets, Darlington

1st Saturday of the month    SMH Produce Market, Pyrmont

2nd Saturday of the month  Hawkesbury Harvest Markets, Castle Hill

3rd Saturday of the month   Northside Produce Markets, North Sydney

Every Sunday                           French’s Forest Markets

1st Sunday of the month      Avoca Markets

2nd Sunday of the month    Blackheath Grower’s Market

Every Wednesday                  Fox Studio Markets, Moore Park

Honey, a wonderfully rich golden liquid is the miraculous product of bees and a natural alternative to sugar as well as a useful antimicrobial agent and antioxidant.  Although it is available throughout the year, it is an exceptional treat in the summer and autumn when it has been harvested and often at its best.

It was as a young boy of 11 years that Rod Yates of Australian Honey first saw a bee hive… and he was hooked.  He can still recall the sound emanating from the rustic wooden boxed housed at the back of a neighbours’ property, “it vibrated and hummed like a jet engine”.  Rod believes that “all children are fascinated by nature and have an intrinsic understanding.”  Given the right exposure, they can develop an interest that lasts a lifetime.

Establishing the independent packing and distribution company, Australian Honey, was a natural progression for Rod whose journey includes forays into Accounting, Art Education, building the first mud brick house in NSW and completing a design degree at UTS.  he has also been keeping bees on and off for 49 years.

Bees are “flower constant” in that on any one foraging trip from the hive, they will only collect nectar from one type of plant and Rod’s bees have a penchant for Eucalyptus tree flowers. The different and distinctive honey varieties available in Australia are the result of migratory beekeeping.  Colonies of bees are moved by truck to locations where particular trees or plants are about to flower.  Sites are selected so that one particular species dominates the crop at that time.

As with all foods, flavour and health benefits depend on the integrity of producers, distributors and any processing.  Australian Honey packages and distributes honey from beekeepers along the east coast as far south as Tasmania to the northern tip of Queensland.

If you have ever had the privilege to enjoy a honey tasting, you will appreciate the vast array of flavours available in Australia.  None of Rod’s honey is too sweet and never bland.  Varieties include the light golden and subtle flavoured White Box, smokey Mallee, the exotically full flavoured and dark hued Leatherwood.  Yellow Box drizzled on baguette instantly conjures memories of childhood.

But why don’t we see these gourmet honeys in our supermarkets?  ”For whatever reason, major honey packers and retailers in Australia believe they need to manufacture a product with an consistent taste”, an attitude knows as the ‘McDonald’s factor’.  To achieve this, bland varieties are blended and often diluted with other substances.

Competing with inferior cheaply made products leaves beekeepers turning to international markets where honey varieties are prized and where producers can obtain a fair price for what is undoubtedly an arduous labor of love.

Rod Yates recognises the Australia has superior honey for which there is great international demand.  he would also like to see Australians enjoy locally made, sustainable, clean and delicious honey, “I would love to introduce Australians to the complexities of the various flavours of honey and show them the many ways of enjoying it” - as a marinade for meats and fish, used in place of sugar when baking, served with cheese.  One of Rod’s particular favourites is honey ice-cream although a spoon dripping in Leatherwood honey and dipped into thick double cream is a taste sensation!

Jean-Paul Bruneteau is a French-born Australian chef with a passion for Australian native foods.  He has made it his specialty to feature the unique flavours of bush foods in his cooking, often developing new methods of working with these unique ingredients.  In 1996 he published Tukka, Real Australian Food to share his passion with a wider audience.

Jean-Paul has owned and run restaurants in Sydney and Paris.  You can sample his extraordinary food at the Slow Food Botanic Bush Tucker Picnic at The Royal Botanic Gardens on Sunday October 18.

I became passionate about Australian native foods by… discovering how beautiful these flavours were.  I found it impossible to understand why modern day Australians could have passed up such ingredients in the quest to create a genuine Australian cuisine. By unlocking all the secrets these wonderful indigenous foods offered, I also gained a better understanding of Aboriginal Australia.

The food I prepare is different from that of other chefs because… back in the eighties when I started to experiment with a lot of these native foods, I soon learned that these were not ‘European vegetables’.  Their cooking and handling were startlingly different.  This is why I became so besotted with their preparation, to make them more acceptable to gastronomy.

Some of the flavours were so strong; I also understood straight away that people would mishandle a lot of these plants unless I set out to explain how to best handle these wonderful flavours.  That’s why I felt I needed to write my book, TUKKA, Real Australian Food.

I’d recommend anyone in Sydney to grow and eat… the Riberry - Syzygium luehmannii, or a Brown Pine Plum tree, also known as a Podocarpus - Podocarpus elatus, or a Lemon Myrtle - Bakhousia citrodora. These three trees are good ornamentals and will provide an abundance of fruits and flavours for a lifetime; they don’t even need to be watered, or very little.

There’s a whole lot of stuff that’s easy to grow, and that quite naturally doesn’t need much maintenance and especially no pesticide as a general rule.

Tetragon spinach is another one that is easily propagated - sometimes called Warrigal Greens, Botany Bay spinach or New Zealand Spinach, Kokihi in Maori language, its Botanical name is Tetragonia tetragonioides. The seeds are often available in seed shops.

The most satisfying thing about working with Australian native foods is… to have the ability to create whole menus around them and be able to match them with wine and other ingredients like cheese for example. The other as we were just saying is to grow them, even just in pots.  It’s worth it.

Native foods have been good to me as they have taken me around the planet a few times. Discovering, or should I say, having been introduced to their existence by the Aboriginal people, I guess I was fortunate to be able to popularize them to a wider audience.

My biggest frustration in working with Australian native foods is… the charlatans who have been getting on the band wagon for a fast buck, or the ones who have mishandled their culinary use, and as a result, put off quite a few Australians and others who, had they been properly instructed, would have fallen in love like I did.

Greed has been a factor in the emerging industry. Misunderstanding and misconception of Kangaroo and Emu is also an on-going frustration of mine.

The best meal I’ve eaten this year was… almost certainly at Bodega restaurant in Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills. I just love the Tapas Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz put out.  Lots of brilliant flavours and lots of garlic! And wonderful Spanish reds which I love so much. I really can’t think of just one dish that has blown my mind - there are several I have liked.  I’m also a regular at Thai Nesia in Darlinghurst for Billy’s ‘Holy Basil Crispy Salmon’. It’s amazing, like the rest of his dishes.

In the top end of things, this year nothing! If I see another foam, spit, frog froth or call it what you like on my plate, I am going to scream!  And no… you do not turn crayfish or other expensive items into custard and charge a hundred bucks for it and call it Modern Australian Cuisine!  Or serve a square inch of pork belly for the price of a whole pig - that’s obscene.

Australian menus are all out of whack, trying too hard to be something they’re not.  Stick to basic wholesome food and there you will have it. It doesn’t take molecular energy to create a good meal.

My most treasured food memory is… a lemon sole I had in Zeebrudge in Belgium many moons ago.  It was by far the nicest piece of fish I have ever eaten.  It really did change my life.

Another was a Coquille St Jacques (Scallops) Feuilleté where when my fork hit the six centimeter stack of the best puff pastry I have ever eaten, the whole pile fell like a house of cards.  I have never worked out how they got it onto my plate, to me, out of the oven without the thing flying off, it was absolutely amazing!  This was in The French Basque country in the town of Saint Jean De Pied-de-Port at ‘Hotel des Pyrenees’.

Slow Foodies should check out… early issues of Slow Food, a prized treasure on my bookshelves, alongside another collection called “Convivium: The Journal of Good Eating”.  ‘A Continuous Picnic’ is another good read.

The most important thing about the sustainable food movement is… to educate Gen-Y on the importance of eating healthy, unadulterated foods and on how to prepare these foods so we at least can keep a tradition which otherwise will fast slip out of our fingers.

Slow Foodies can make food in Sydney better, cleaner and fairer by… identifying organic food as ‘clean food’ and move into certifying it as ‘Slow Food’ approved. It would be nice to see a tag or a label to identify products like native food products as ‘Slow Food’ family friendly, to make it easier for people to choose well.

Jack and Miriam Neilson own and run Pasture Perfect Organic Pork, raising 100% free-range Berkshire pigs on their certified organic property in northern NSW.  Their products are carried by several Sydney retailers, listed here.

We decided to grow free-range, organic pork because… we had a bit of an epiphany while we were travelling in South America.

We had been fattening cattle in central Queensland, and had decided to stop using chemicals because we were both having bad reactions to them.  Then the property was sold, so we took some time out to travel.  While we were in South America, we realised how badly we’d been eating - suddenly there was all this great fresh food in the markets, and we were eating so well, but also losing weight.

At the time no-one knew their producers in Australia.  There were no farmers’ markets like today.  We wanted to bring that connection back with us - great food, produced ethically.  We figured beef production was already pretty good, as most cattle in Australia are still grass fed, but we thought there was an opportunity with organic, free range pigs.

Pasture Perfect Organic Pork is different from supermarket pork because… our pigs always have access to pasture; they are totally free of chemicals, including antibiotics and even vaccines; and they’re Berkshires, which means they have great flavour.

Demand in the current economic environment is… holding up ok.  We’re not seeing a downturn due to economic circumstances, but we haven’t yet got up to full production.

The most satisfying thing about raising free range, organic pork is… getting out and spending time with the animals.  It’s like watching little kids playing - they’ll run around in circles in the grass, sometimes so hard they lose their balance and fall over.  Then they’ll look around to see if anyone saw them.  I’d describe it as joyous.  They really love being out in the pasture.

The most frustrating thing is… finding business partners who share our passion for making great product every time.  Our cured products are made without preservatives, and it’s our name on them, so getting it wrong could be the end of the business for us. It’s been a long battle to find a processor who really cares.

The best meal I’ve had this year was… a producers’ lunch at Universal with Christine Manfield.  There were producers from all over Australia, as well as top chefs and wine people.  The degustation and matched wines were beautiful.  I felt really blessed to be part of it - we don’t often get to experience fine dining, given where we live.

My most treasured food memory is… really more a set of memories.  I learned to cook by bringing a new flavour back into the kitchen and trying to recreate it from smell and taste, using the herbs and spices on hand, rather than by following recipes.

Slow Foodies should check out… The Weston A Price Foundation and their book, Nourishing Traditions.  It has some great information on how modern conveniences have undermined traditional health and cooking.

The one thing Slow Foodies can do to make food in Sydney better, cleaner and fairer is… to get to know how your food is produced.  As soon as we start closing our eyes, we start running into problems.  Seek out good food, and savour it - really appreciate it!