How Wild Things Are by Analiese Gregory
How Wild Things Are by Analiese Gregory celebrates nature and the slow-food life in rugged, and sometimes wild, Tasmania.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Adam Gibson
Analiese Gregory spent many years cooking in some of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants, including one of Europe’s great kitchens, Franklin Restaurant, as an award-winning former head chef.
Most recently, Analiese has found a new rhythm to her days, spending time cooking, fishing, foraging, hunting and discovering, on the rugged island of Tasmania. A world away from her previous life.
‘I once was a girl who didn’t own trousers or flat shoes. And look at me now, Dungarees and Blunnies. My mother is probably the proudest of me she’s ever been!’ laughs Analiese.
How Wild Things Are includes more than forty recipes, including ferments, interwoven with Analiese’s compelling story.
Throughout the book’s pages, Analiese shares recipes to inspire: green garlic oil flatbread, brown sugar cured hot smoked trout, Chinese breakfast eggs and brown rice, sea urchin farinata and salt-baked beetroot with macadamia and mulberry.
Below we share one of Analiese’s recipes from How Wild Things Are: mulberry clafoutis
Manuka honey madeleines by Analiese Gregory. Photo: Adam Gibson
Mulberry clafoutis by Analiese Gregory. Photo: Adam Gibson
“It’s a matter of what you have in the house, what’s around you, as well as all the experiences you’ve had in your life so far.”
MULBERRY CLAFOUTIS
Mulberry may be my favourite clafoutis, but I’m also partial to cherry, apricot, fig and rhubarb. In fact, pretty much any stone fruit or berry is great in this dessert. In countryside France it’s often eaten cold and sliced like a tart, but at Franklin we baked them to order in the woodfired oven and sent them out hot, topped with cultured cream and honey. The cold version has become one of my favourite things to pack for a picnic, full of tart, jammy summer fruits.
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
100 g sugar
60 g (about 4) egg yolks
120 g egg
250 ml cream
70 g almond meal
10 g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
150 g fresh mulberries mascarpone, to serve (optional)
honeycomb, to serve (optional)
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
In a bowl, gently whisk the sugar, yolks and eggs without creating any foam. Add the cream and whisk to incorporate. Add the almond meal and flour and whisk gently until smooth.
Line a 20–25 cm (8–10 in) steel pan or tart dish with baking paper and pour in the batter. Drop the fruit sporadically on top and bake for approximately 40 minutes until golden on top and still slightly wobbly in the centre.
I’ve served it with local mascarpone and honeycomb, but it’s equally great with ice cream, cream or just on its own.
This is an edited extract from How Wild Things Are by Analiese Gregory published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45. Available where all good books are sold and online.