Wednesday 14 October 2015

Nothing plain about grain

The thought of becoming gluten intolerant (either legitimately or because it’s on trend) sends shivers down my spine. Giving up the delicious chewiness of a fresh sourdough, the delightful crumble of a shortcrust pastry or a delicate, light and fluffy sponge is hard for me to fathom. Flour is the backbone of so many great foods so I’m ashamed to admit that I had never given its source of origin a thought.

I couldn’t wheat to meet with Craig Neale from Wholegrain Milling- one of only three organic grain mills in Australia. Craig’s mother, Wendy, founded the venture searching for healthier and more wholesome products for her family to consume some 30 years ago. This organic mill now processes 35 different grains including cereals, wheat, rye, spelt, barley, oats, rice, sorghum, buckwheat and some ancient grains.


Craig sources his grain straight from producers down the east coast of Australia (rather than buying from grain storage facilities); however sourcing organic grain has become his biggest challenge. With 70 silos and over $25 million dollars in state of the art milling equipment, Wholegrain Milling has plenty of capacity to ramp up but they’re hamstrung by producers. So rye the difficulty?

Obviously, the certification standards that producers need to meet in order to claim the organic title are onerous. This results in more costly farming practices. According to Craig, the biggest struggle for organic farmers meeting regulatory requirements is the unpredictability and inconsistency of Miss Mother Nature combined with pricing pressure. Craig believes that there is a knead for minimum pricing standards to be introduced to ensure there is a long term susgrainable supply.

Craig mills 10,000 tonnes of organic grains annually, making up approximately 30% of the organic grain market. He suggests that demand is somewhere around 70,000 tonnes, approximately double what is available. This year, for the first time, he will use all of his reserves, milling 14,000 tonnes in an attempt to keep up with consumers.  Craig is also one of few that produces a 100% stone ground flour, a product that artisan bakers hunt down for their sourdough as it retains texture and colour from the grain.


So what does this ‘organic’ label actually mean? There’s definitely a price difference, a kilo of Craig’s organic flour retails at about $3 per kilo versus approximately $1 for some of the stuff at your local supermarket. With that, you’re ensuring that you and your family are consuming wholesome products where no synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers have touched your food.

Some Farmers’ Favourite facts on flour;
  • Flour dust that is suspended in air is explosive, some say it’s more explosive than coal dust
  • Flour is made by grinding cereal grains (predominately wheat) or other seeds
  • There are many types of flours, the higher the protein content, the stronger the flour. High protein flours are great for crusty or chewy breads. Lower protein flours are ideal for cakes as the flour is softer
  • 90% of wheat grown in Australia is by sole proprietors or family partnerships
  • Australia accounts for less than 5% of the world supply of wheat
  • Wheat is grown in all states of Australia, with the majority grown in WA. Wheat is predominately grown in a narrow crescent, known as the wheat belt which curves from Central Queensland  through New South Wales, Victoria and southern South Australia


Sunday 28 June 2015

Calming the camels

Move over chia, quinoa, goji berries and kale, hipsters are now delighting in camel milk as the latest superfood on the market. That’s no typo; camel milk is now a ‘thing’.

With high demand in the Middle East and Asia, camel milk is claiming all types of benefits from assisting with digestive problems, behavioral issues, diabetes and food allergies. I’m told that only a 100mls of the super tonic a day will keep the doctor away.



I recently visited Michelle Phillips at Muswellbrook Camel Milk, the only licensed camel milk producer in New South Wales. Michelle invested in 20 head of feral camels late last year; 10 females, nine baby camels and one stud. I was astounded at the way she handled them, there was no yahooing or motorbikes mustering- these beauties have been tamed with patience and care.

When I first heard of camel milk I initially thought of a funky smelling, brownish brew, with undertones of camel spit and a few lice thrown in for good measure. What a revelation- the liquid (white) gold tastes just like ordinary milk. The only two differences I could spot was a very subtle salty taste and the price- $30 bucks will buy you only one litre!



With only five of the camels currently producing two litres each a day, you can see why it is a precious commodity (cows produce approx 35-50 litres per day). Michelle, who breeds, milks, pasteurises and bottles on site is a believer and urges people to give it a go.

The jury is still out for me, however the milk was certainly more palatable than I expected.

Some Farmers’ Favourite facts on Camels and their milk;
  • The gestation period for a camel is 15 months
  • Watch out- camels can kick in all four directions with all four legs
  • Male camels come into season, not females. When he’s ready for some lovin’ he makes a funky sound, like a broken insinkerator, out one side of his mouth
  • There are only two breeds of camels, two humps or one. Don’t get excited, you can only get one hump in Australia.
  • Camels have three stomachs unlike cows that have four
  • It’s said that camels can go for months without water!


Saturday 20 June 2015

Going the whole hog


You may be aware that I married a butcher who is in the midst of building his dream smokehouse. Michael and I are lucky enough to call the Upper Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s finest food bowls, home. We decided that we needed to find a glue to connect our smokehouse with our farm. Pigs of course! Given the smokehouse will produce top line artesian smallgoods; any old pig simply would not do. After extensive research, we landed on free-range Wessex Saddlebacks. A rare, slow growing, black pig with a white belt that’s very chic in the paddock to plate foodie world right now. This rare breed originates from the west country of England (Wessex) but is said to be extinct in its homeland.


We ventured out and purchased two gilts (female pigs that have never produced a litter before, although our two girls are now up the duff) and a boar, Boris Big-Balls. Rather than producing pork from a bogas backyard venture we paid a premium, purchasing registered stock with traceable bloodlines. We are now in the process of becoming one of the few registered breeders of saddlebacks in the country.

Good meat is attributed to much more than just the breed. Environment and diet are critical factors. Free range pigs with plenty of space to fodder, quality shelter and fresh drinking water was a given so we then turned our minds to the food. Spain is undoubtedly famous for their jamon (Spanish for ham, although it’s more like a prosciutto), so we looked to the great for inspiration. Top class pigs used for jamon were traditionally finished off on a diet of nothing but acorns and olives. Our specific breed of pig traditionally scavenged their food in forests with a diet consisting of acorns and chestnuts. We have therefore agreed our next endeavour is to plant a number of oak trees around our pig pens to foster natural foraging of acorns. We’re also looking to plant a small apple orchard of different varieties and some nut trees for piggy treats – stay tuned on this.

Some farmers’ favourite facts on pigs below
  • A pig’s gestation is very easy to remember- 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days
  • A boar is a male pig with his family jewels still in tact
  • Pigs are said to have the intelligence of a 3 year old
  • Pigs have eyes in the back of their heads, okay they don’t actually have eyes in the back of their head, but they do have a wide 310 degree angle of vision
  • Pigs are not able to focus both eyes on the same spot
  • Grower pigs eat about 3% and drink about 10% of their body weight daily
  • Pigs cant sweat, they typically bury themselves in mud to cool
  • A ‘baconer’ is for exactly that, delicious bacon. Pigs used for bacon weigh in at approximately 60-80kgs after they've been slaughtered, whereas a backfatter is bigger. A spit pig generally sits between 15 and 30kgs post slaughter and a delicious suckling is generally 12kg live weight