Shiitake Blog: Botanical Cuisine Potluck Review & Recipe

Our very first Botanical Cuisine Potluck in Melbourne last Saturday went really well and I want to send out a big thank you to the many people who made it along (despite the torrential rain!).

To begin, all 40+ attendees introduced themselves & their dishes… Wow, what a feast of so many mouth-watering concoctions!… After that we all tucked in and stuffed our faces with all the good stuff… At around 5pm, we cleared the table for the Surprise Seasonal Box Challenge… For this, three work-stations were set up, each with one chopping board, one knife, and one seasonal box of mystery ingredients (containing 6 different types of produce, most of which were very kindly provided by Peninsula Fresh Organics: 1 turnip, 1 beetroot, 1 bunch of silver beet, 1 persimmon, 1 green apple and 1 field mushroom). Additionally, there was also a central container accessible to all three work-stations containing coriander, dill and fennel, coconut oil, Celtic sea salt, a few kitchen implements, and display platters.

To choose the contestants, 3 teams of 2 participants were picked randomly from a hat. Each team had 5 minutes to pair up, look inside their Surprise Seasonal Box and think of a dish to make. Here they are:

Team 1: Chose to do a Dessert - Baklava.

Team 2: Chose to do an entrée and a main dish - Persimmon Canapé and Mushroom Lasagne.

Team 3: Chose to do a 'Mandala' Salad.

Then they were then given 30 minutes to complete their dish following 3 criteria, which they were going to be judged on by the crowd:

1) 1) Simple, 2) Artful 3) Flavorful.

After all the excitement and intrigue, each team did great in finishing on time. The winning team was: Team 2 with Donna and Janette who received a SmoothieGirl Seasonal Smoothie each for their efforts. Though I have to say, the other two teams produced wonderful dishes as well, and the points were close.

The focus of this challenge was to make a Botanical Culinary Cuisine dish by using fresh, seasonal produce, with the additional choice of employing a minimum amount of nuts (almonds) and one type of oil (coconut oil) and herbs. I can say that I was blown away by the creativity and skills of all the contestants. As a chef, I know that the Surprise Box produce chosen for the task wasn't the easiest to combine, so a big thanks to all the competitors and the crowd for their support.

I also promised to the potluck attendees that I would put together a recipe using only 4 different fruits and vegetables from the seasonal box that would also be a simple, artful and flavorful. Well, I already did this in advance and it's called: Topless Persimmon Ravioli - A fast, smooth & sassy fall recipe! Of course, you could easily take out the condiments that were not available at the potluck challenge and implement coconut oil and lemon and take out the chilies and nama shoyu.

I would like to say again, how grateful I am to Wayne and Tash of Peninsula Fresh Organics for their generosity in donating 3 exquisite seasonal organic boxes brimming with fresh-picked produce. Now a little about them:

They are 5^th generation market gardeners located in Baxter on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. Their produce is grown organically and their family have owned the farm for 40 years now.

They grow a wide range of produce for Farmers' Markets, as well as their Home Delivery Fruit and Veg service around the Mornington Peninsula and to some areas of Melbourne. For more information please visit their website: http://www.peninsulafresh.com/

Because the Peninsula has a milder climate and more fertile sands than other parts of the state, they are able to maintain a wider range of vegetables throughout the whole year. All produce is picked fresh the day prior to the market and on some days it is even picked early in the morning before they leave for the market to preserve optimum freshness.

Also a big thanks to Bruce, at Natural Health Supplies in Ormond Rd, Elwood for letting us use the meeting room upstairs. Bruce has owned the store for over 45 years and here isn’t anything that he dosent know about seasonal, organic produce! Thank you Bruce, for being an early trailblazer for this movement.

Of course, the Botanical Cuisine Potluck was not only for the love of health, but it was also for the love of children: raising funds for TTS Bali Project. TTS Bali Project - is dedicated to educate and support the most disadvantaged children of Bali & to create educational projects that incorporate organic & sustainable living and is sponsored by Tried.Tasted.Served. Thanks everyone for the gold coin donation… we raised $86 and the donation will go towards the expenses in setting up a direct debit account so that we can soon be on the streets of Melbourne to raise awareness and funds to educate more orphaned children in Bali and to buy a small amount of land next to the orphanage community to grow organic produce and make it part of the curriculum for children to learn all about organics and sustainability.

We also welcome your comments about how we could improve our potluck, don't be shy, we always appreciate your criticism because we want to make this all about collaborating with the Melbourne community!

Many thanks to everyone for making the world's first Botanical Cuisine Potluck happen. It wouldn't have been the same without your bright shining faces.

x Botanical Chef Omid