Serves 4

750g Loligo Squid, cleaned (see notes below)

1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes, medium heat

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns

Salad ingredients

2 cups finely shredded carrot

1/4 cup finely shredded daikon (white radish) or small red radish

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon caster sugar

generous pinch of sea salt

Soak shredded daikon and carrot in separate bowls of chilled water for at least 15 minutes

Make salad dressing by combining vinegar, sugar and salt, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Heat Szechuan peppercorns, salt, chilli and black peppercorns in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat until salt is lightly browned, stirring constantly to prevent burning.  Pound to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle.

Drain carrot and daikon well.  Toss together with salad dressing.

Pat the Squid dry with paper towel.  Heat a large frying pan, grill plate or barbecue.  Lightly oil barbecue and cook Squid over a high heat for 1-2 minutes, turning once.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper mix.  Serve with salad.

To prepare squid, grasp the arms and pull firmly to separate head from tube trying to not break the ink sac as the ink stains.  Cut below the eyes and discard head and guts, push beak (mouth) out from between the arms.  Remove quill, peel skin off by grasping side fins and peeling aroudn the tube.  Wash and use tentacles.

Cut tubes open, lay out flat and wipe the inside clean with paper towel.  Slice into strips or score with diagonal cuts to make a diamond patter, then cut into larger chunks.  Trim any hard suckers from the tentacles or drop legs into boiling water for 60 seconds.  Drain and strip suckers off with the back of a knife or with paper towel.  Cut think legs in half lengthways.

Notes - Lare Squid can benefit from being tenderised by gently hitting with a meat mallet before cooking.  Salt and pepper mixes are available from selected delicatessens and food stores.

For more squid recipes visit www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au

Professor Iain Suthers, Sydney Institute for Marine Science believes simple is best for this naturally flavoured fish.  ”This is an old method - hardly a recipe - shown to me by Bill, an 88 year old oyster grower from Wallaga Lake back in 1980.  He had ‘em laid out, scales down onto the coals, as we lay back in the sand dune drinking from a flagon of muscat.”

Serves 2-4

1 whole Sea Mullet.  Alternatively use Australian Salmon, Tailor, Blue Mackerel, Silver Trevally and Pilchard

Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

lemon wedges and green salad to serve

Rinse the fish and pat dry with paper towel.  Lay the fish flat and fillet one side only on the top (dorsal) side from behind the head to the tail, gently pushing the knife against the rib cage to release the flesh, or simply cut through the ribs on one side. Separate the fillet from the base of the tail but do not cut through the belly of the fish.

Gently pull the fish open like a book and clean out the guts (although the roe could also be cooked or smoked).  A band of fat along each side of the backbone (depending on the season) may be left to melt and baste.  Rinse the fish and pat dry.  Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly oil a preheated barbecue or chargrill and cook the fish, scales and skin side down, over a moderate heat.  By coring the fish with a heatproof baking dish, lid or lightly oiled foil, there is no need to turn the fish.

Cook for 20 minutes or until flesh turns opaque and flakes easily when tested with a fork.  Cooking is perfect when the skeleton and ribs can be lifted free intact.

Remove the fins (and head) and serve fish with lemon wedges and salad.

Notes - The skin protects the Sea Mullet flesh during cooking but can be removed before eating to reduce the oiliness and the stronger flavour found in the darker meat beside the skin.

P.S. Pilchards are now called “Australian Sardine”

Our local seafood is just as seasonal as fruit and vegetables!

What swims around in our local waters is more prolific at different times of the year.

This informative evening will highlight what is available and in good supply at the local Sydney Fish Market and local seafood suppliers around town in May. There will be the opportunity to try your skills at preparing and cooking different varieties and then to enjoy a shared table of prepared dishes with local wines.

Our presenter is the experienced Brigid Treloar who has been a freelance food consultant for over 20 years. The author of eight cookbooks, many of them translated into other languages, she also contributes to newspapers and magazines, reviews restaurants and judges cookery and recipe competitions. She has made many TV appearances and can often be heard discussing food on the radio. Brigid has presented specialist cooking classes in Sydney, interstate and overseas and is an educator at the Sydney Seafood School. Brigid advises many of Australia’s food companies on product and recipe development, food styling and photography and provides recipes and cooking information for company websites.

As we sample Krinklewood’s biodynamic 2009 Verdelho, we’ll learn how to prepare some very simple and delicious recipes:
Char-grilled local Squid with salt and pepper seasoning
Chermoula Sea Mullet Fillets
Pink Ling Skewers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

We’re excited to include Iain Suthers, a Professor in the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences at UNSW, and now based at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. Iain has published over seventy papers and book chapters on a variety of marine subjects concerning fisheries and oceanography, including a recent book on plankton. Plankton is the base on which the entire ocean food chain rests. Iain will tell us about the growth rate of fish as the key to sustainable fisheries, as well as the work of SIMS and ocean climate.

There will be Pukara Estate olive oils to try and Steve Jones of Broken Bay Oysters will be telling us all about this important local seafood species.

The evening is held at the Electrolux Kitchen Showroom which gives you the great opportunity to browse and test some of the newest cook tops and ovens.

When: Thursday, May 06, 2010 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Where: Electrolux Kitchen Showroom , 163 O’Riordan Street,  Mascot,  2020 Sydney.  View map.

Cost: $50 members, $55 non members, $35 students and pensioners. For bookings.

via Nature Conservation Council of NSW website

Dead Sharks ain’t Art

An arts event and auction raising funds to stop all forms of shark slaughter. Threatened and endangered sharks are killed for their fins off the coast of Australia in huge numbers. Already 90% of the world’s sharks have been wiped out.
Join the Nature Conservation Council of NSW for an evening of good company and bid on some amazing auction items, including specially commissioned artworks and a weekend scuba diving trip for two.

All money raised will go towards the NCC’s work to get  increase protection for sharks

When: 6.30pm – 9.30pm, Tuesday 11 May, 2010

Where: Mori Gallery, 168 Day Street, Sydney

Drinks * Nibbles * Guest speakers * Raffle * Live and silent auction & much more …

Limited capacity – please RSVP by Friday  May 7
Ph. 02 9279 2466  or email: marinevol@nccnsw.org.au

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