Try one of Maggie’s recipes for your next special occasion

For Maggie Beer, preserving tomatoes is something akin to what she imagines the more devout among us feel in church.

‘I never feel so virtuous as when I’m preserving’, she says. ‘My friend and I start the day with two preserving outfits and boxes and boxes of tomatoes, and by the end of it the whole kitchen is lined with these beautiful, red, shining orbs … it’s very special for me.’
One of the key elements of Maggie’s approach to cooking is only eating food seasonally and—where possible—grown locally. She lives in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, a region known internationally for wine, though it also produces a wide variety of Mediterranean-type foods.

The Barossa is a tightly knit community that stems from what Maggie describes as the closest thing Australia has to a peasant culture. The early settlers in the Barossa were Silesians who farmed small areas of land in the Mediterranean tradition rather than the large stations that were more common in Australia’s early days.

Maggie loves the history of the valley and the close community that has survived to this day. She enjoys participating in her local community, from visiting the butcher or baker to serving on boards and committees, such as the committee for the Barossa Music Festival.

One of the other reasons Maggie loves the Barossa Valley is that the locals are also passionate about food—and for Maggie, an important element of good food is a close community to share it with. This extends to events interstate. She recently cooked a meal for guests at Melbourne University’s Newman College. While the guests dined on a five course meal prepared by Maggie and her team they were serenaded by the Newman College choir.

While Maggie loved the music, sharing her passion for cooking with new people was the most wonderful part of the experience. Sharing her love of food and food preparation is Maggie’s way of giving back to the community she lives in.

‘Community is about giving, about sharing—and that’s what food is about too’, she says.

Maggie is a very tactile person. She loves the sensation of food in her mouth and the feel of it in her hands. Her mind follows the whole journey of food from beginning to end—for example, barbequed leg of milk-fed lamb—and she lives by the maxim ‘life is too short to eat bad food, drink bad wine or use bad extra virgin olive oil’. Like all true gourmands she has the ability to know how things will taste just by hearing or reading about them.

In addition to preparing and eating food, Maggie also loves to educate people about it. She believes we have lost the connection between the farmer and the consumer through the middle man, and that flavour is suffering as a consequence. She encourages people to give their grocers feedback, and to ask them to pass it on to the growers.

‘It’s all about the flavour and perfection that comes from growing something and picking it yourself, and tasting it at its maximum … there’s something so incredibly special about picking something when it is perfectly ripe and eating it straight away’, she says.
Maggie points out that while picking your own fruit or vegetables is a luxury today, it used to be an everyday part of life for many.

‘I’m imagining picking a white peach straight from the tree—not from the supermarket shelf—and the juices running down my shirt … it’s such a simple pleasure, a joy. I can’t put the feeling into words.’

With her childhood spent in Sydney, Maggie only discovered this pleasure herself when she and her husband Colin moved from Sydney to South Australia in order to pursue Colin’s dream of farming pheasants.

Maggie opened a restaurant at the pheasant farm which operated for about ten years. It established Maggie’s reputation as one of Australia’s leading chefs, winning the Remy Martin Cognac/Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant of the year award in 1991. Now visitors to the pheasant farm can purchase a full range of Maggie’s products, and picnic by the lake, though the restaurant no longer operates.

Over 25 years since first opening the restaurant, Maggie—now a youthful 59—finds it hard to believe that she was ever a city girl. It seems the Barossa soil, seasons and the community are as deeply entrenched in her blood as the laugh lines are etched into her face—deep grooves around her eyes that indicate frequent and prolonged exercise.

Maggie’s approach to food reflects older traditions, when life-giving food was not so easily come by, and breaking bread with friends and family was a regular ritual that brought people together.

Food and community are certainly essential to Maggie’s family. When her children were growing up Maggie and Colin made the decision not to open the restaurant at night so the family meal would remain central in the family’s life. Today, spending time in the kitchen cooking with her grandchildren is one of Maggie’s greatest pleasures.

‘The sharing of the table with family and friends is an absolutely pivotal part of our life. I have two daughters and four grandchildren, and we eat together at least once a week’, she says.

Maggie inherited the tradition of sharing the table from her parents, who also had a great love of food—especially her father, who actually taught her mother to cook.

‘I always had good food as a child. At Christmas especially we had a huge, burgeoning table of food, which was shared with not just immediate family, but extended family as well. Dad would also invite people who didn’t have anywhere else to go home to join us. The table was, and still is, the centre of our lives.’

Not that Maggie shies from breaking with tradition when it suits her. She is not ‘grandmother’ to her grandchildren, preferring to be called nonna, a name she adopted after time spent in Italy. Her cooking can also break with tradition—she describes her love of food and of cooking as instinctive rather than learned.

Many of Maggie’s recipes come from experimenting with ways to use food that would otherwise be wasted, such as a crop of over-ripe tomatoes—or the Maggie Beer label’s flagship, Pheasant Paté, which was made from pheasant offal left over in the restaurant.
Maggie was surprised to discover recently that she is a descendant of Sir Joseph Banks, though her love of gardening certainly identifies her with his ilk. She plans to spend more time in the garden once she retires, although the recent expansion of her exporting business to America means that it may be many years before Maggie has time to grow old—gracefully or otherwise.

Maggie is proud of her achievements, though she believes the support of the Barossa community has been a key factor in her success. However, her own enthusiasm—which is no doubt assisted by the two double espressos (with a twist of lemon) that she has for breakfast—must take some of the credit.

One sure way to ensure the success of Maggie’s expansion to the world market would be to bottle her enthusiasm. Those lacking in energy could follow the label: for motivation, add two tablespoons Zest of Maggie.

Pictured: Maggie and her team donated their time and expertise to raise funds for charity

Visit Maggie's website www.maggiebeer.com.au

Try one of Maggie’s recipes for your next special occasion:

VERJUICE JELLY WITH SMOKED SALMON AND AVOCADO

Serves 6

400ml Maggie Beer Verjuice
200gm lightly smoked salmon cut into 2cm chunks
1 large hass avocado cut into 2cm chunks
6 gm finely chopped chervil
1 tablespoon olive oil
black pepper
5 sheets gelatine

Method:
Soak gelatine in cold water to soften, place verjuice in a stainless steel pan and warm enough to melt the gelatine—but do not boil. Remove gelatine from water, whisk into verjuice and let cool.
Dice salmon and avocado, chop chervil very fine, toss with olive oil and cracked pepper to taste. Place salmon and avocado in mould and gently pour verjuice jelly over so as not to disturb chervil coating.

Place in refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours for individual moulds or 5 hours for large mould. Jellies can be removed from moulds for serving by gently loosening the sides and allowing air in.
Serve with a fresh witlof or rocket salad.

CURRENT ISSUE | ABOUT | ADVERTISING | PREVIOUS ISSUES | LINKS

Reproduction of material from any Jesuit Publications pages
without written prior permission is strictly prohibited.
Copyright 2002 Jesuit Publications
PO Box 553 Richmond VIC 3121 Australia
Tel +61 3 9427 7311, Fax +61 3 9428 4450