From Jo Corrigan to
Adam Robinson
To follow is a beautiful letter sent
to Mr Robinson by his friend, Jo Corrigan. Ms Corrigan cooked with Robinson in
London, during the 90s. Her current occupation is working with her partner to
forage for wild things for the kitchens of knowing chefs.
Shared here, with her permission.
" I'm sitting on a beach on Phu Quoc Isle, Vietnam, having had ten
splendid days here with Matt. The flowers and the fruit are on steroids.
The sea is bath warm and roars on happily outside our villa. It's monsoon
and, whilst our fellow travellers struggle, their humour noisily suspended by
the constant downpour of inches and inches of tropical rain and the absence of
hot water due to solar interruption we are both just- well - very
content.
We are cocooned in the heat and the sheer luxury of swapping our Macedon
Ranges home, which currently battles snow and ice, for this life of freedom in
the shape of an old motorbike, beautiful people, night fish market feasts of
razor clams, grilled squid and pho, plates of sautéed morning glory, whole days
motionless... reading and reading... and sleep- the kind of sleep it's hard to
really have unless you momentarily hang your life on a high shelf.
Life at home has finally settled into a beautiful yearly rhythm where we
do exactly what we planned we always would - pretty much the length of the
year.
From February onward we go into mushroom season. Matt and the team start
in the Blue Mountains in some of the most beautiful old forests I've ever seen.
Towering, they are miles from civilisation. We see few folk through there, the
odd cattle farmer who shares the boundary with the forestry commission. These
forests are rich in all wild mushrooms, blackberries, river mint... Their
slopes are high. They test the spirit and the legs.
I travel between there and Melbourne with early loads then I catch
further tonnes off overnight freight in one of the vans and deliver to the
wholesale market and the restaurants. It's a great sustainable business. It can
be demanding, however. The light at the end of the tunnel is this period in
July, August/September when we can ramble happily and live without a
plan.
We are often joined on our mission by travellers eager for an experience
of food in the wild. The last lot boasted a very good fisherman. This made for
some pretty memorable suppers.
We finish in NSW when the local season starts on Mount Macedon around
April/May.
We spend a couple of weeks changing spots into south Australia where we
have a cabin for 3 months a year, a beautiful spot with koalas, a lemon tree, a
pub and about 20 huge forests that offer kilos and kilos of mushrooms at a time
of year that others find it difficult to source them. Sometimes we head into
Adelaide, catching a game of our beloved Collingwood and driving happily
through the Adelaide Hills and a favourite spot, Basket Range, where wild
watercress is delicious right from the stream. We found lovely Porcini here one
year... under a set of swings in a park!
Spring. September offers us morels. We head to the snow country after
the thaw. We're still yet to crack the tonnes that we experience with the other
varieties but we get a little better every year. Matt is such a happy camper if
we can come home with 40 kg. They don't taste as strong as European morel but
they're thrilling to sleuth out and always sell well.
Cooking is still my first love. However, I do not miss the shape of it
in terms of restaurant life. Where did honest food go? I know it's on our table
at home. It is in the homes of our friends. That's where we eat more and more.
I don't miss owning a restaurant. I don’t miss fielding a young chef’s
desire to create something 'new' when all we really need is to combine a menu
that reflects a good combination historically. A menu that will take into
account the skill on board and the ingredients available locally. Then back all
that up with good, honest warmth and hospitality. We supply many, many kitchens
that champion these values, certainly values that The Brackenbury instilled in
me. Since joining Matt in his quest to put hard to get gear onto the chopping
boards of like-minded chefs I have so enjoyed walking into those businesses and
seeing faces instantly light up as they chat excitedly about what they will
cook with whatever we have brought them.
In previous summers we have lent our time to part time gigs, event
catering and so on. Instead, this year, we are going to finally complete our
dream of growing 12 different heirloom tomatoes on a large scale. We did a
test amount last year in our back garden and produced a good 70 kilos which
went to favoured chefs. Wonderful! I wrote a form letter last month and,
being in winery rich/organic country I popped it through twenty or so letterboxes.
I wasn't prepared for the response. 10 properties offered spare land, a tractor
and bore water and so the project took joyous flight. We chose three of the
local wineries and we start ploughing and preparing next week. They will
receive vegetables for the house on return. One fellow, giving us the biggest
area, has requested 6% of our total crop earn. A good deal in the end.
To aid the size of all of this we finally purchased a beautiful big
green house. We have this delivered the day after we get back and our seedlings
will go in. Joy.
Hoping my yearly yarn finds you both well and enjoying both your
businesses. I do check them out from time to time and do dream of visiting. I
do know I'll find honest cooking there and it's not too far to go to find
it."
