It’s the smells that do it. Actually ‘smells’ is too basic a word for what’s happening to my olfactory senses. I’m being enveloped in aromas and it’s making me feel nostalgic, anticipatory and hungry all at the same time.

I’m standing in the beautiful wide-open kitchen in Anna Middleton’s Coopers Shoot house while Victoria Cosford is managing, or rather conducting as if we were a small orchestra, the small team around her who are learning to cook this day’s Italian feast. There’s chicken peperonata with red wine, tomatoes and herbs simmering on the stove, there’s fresh bread rolls with herbs baking; small ricotta tarts are in the oven, and the most beautiful rustic peach pie is being prepared, with the scent of nutmeg, lemon and cinnamon teasing us all with its promise of dessert.

I’m catapulted back to my childhood – to Sunday lunches in our English village when our parent’s friends would turn up and gather around our long trestle table for lunches that to us children it seemed we had to wait forever for – but then there would be that perfect moment, the table full of food, often from our own garden, or from the farm next door, the gathered guests, the bonhomie of people eating, talking and laughing together.

The long table – waiting for the conviviality of Sunday lunch – cooked by the guests…

In a sense that is what Cosford has created – even though the gathered people are there to learn Italian cooking, and are paying for the privilege, the creation of this Sunday lunch has turned us into a cohesive group all working towards the aim of breaking bread together.

For those of you have read Cosford’s beautiful book, Amore and Amaretti you will know that Cosford has had an on-going love affair with Italy – and a few Italians as well – for many years, ever since she majored in languages at ANU in Canberra in fact. Nowadays, happily settled in the Byron Shire, and in a settled relationship, Cosford is bringing not just her years of experience as a chef, but also – most importantly – her love and passion for Italian food to her teaching.

We’re a mixed bunch – there’s the owner of the beautiful house we’re working in, Anna Middleton, brother and sister Rosie and Mark Pearce, the well-known Byron and Beyond Networking creators Rosemarie and Arnold Toynbee, recent arrivals to the shire Pauline Waugh and Terry Anthony, AUM PR guru Chryss Carr and her daughter Lily, and Cliff Chandler, whose wife has bought him the day as a birthday present. Oh yes, and me, of course – armed with camera and notepad. We watch with undivided (or almost) attention while Cosford prepares the sample meal so we can see the process unfold, and by the time she’s shown us every step, all of us are starving, setting to work eagerly to recreate her meal, so we can enjoy the fruits of our labour – and enjoy them we do.

Victoria Cosford shows us how it’s done; Rosie Pearce’s Italian apron; Rosemarie Toynbee from Byron and Beyond Networking, and Cooper-Lily and Chryss Carr enjoy a mother/daughter moment…

As soon as the first bread rolls are out of the oven, we gather at the table, and it strikes me how easy it is to prepare a feast when there’s more than one person cooking. It quite definitely falls into the ‘many hands make light work’ category.   The conversation, food and wine begin to flow, and Cosford, at the head of the table, visibly relaxes as her students cheer her on for helping them create this wonderful Sunday feast. This is tasty Italian cooking at its best, aromatic, simple and delicious. I can’t wait to go back.

Baked herb ricottas

BAKED HERB RICOTTAS WITH ROAST CHERRY TOMATOES AND OLIVE BEER BREADS

Baked Herb Ricottas:

500g fresh ricotta

100g freshly grated Parmesan or Grana

3 eggs

Salt/Pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

2tsp dried oregano

Paprika or chilli powder

Extra virgin olive oil

In a bowl beat together the cheeses and eggs and season. Separately, combine herbs. Oil or spray 6 large muffin moulds or ramekins and spoon half cheese mixture into each. Cover with herbs and top with remaining cheese mixture. Smooth surfaces and sprinkle over a little chilli powder or paprika and a drizzle of olive oil then bake in a preheated moderate oven for up to an hour or until puffy and firm. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil before serving.

Roast Cherry Tomatoes:

Toss together 1 punnet of washed cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper, a good pinch of caster sugar, a dash of balsamic vinegar and a slosh of olive oil then roast for about ten minutes or until skins begin to split.

Olive Beer Breads:

3 cups SR flour

1 dessertspoon sugar

1 tsp salt

1 (standard size) can of beer

1 cup pitted black olives

In a large bowl combine all ingredients then spoon into six large oiled muffin moulds or ramekins. Bake for about 30 minutes or until crisp and cooked through. To serve unmould the ricottas and place on individual plates. Spoon around some tomatoes, add olive bread and garnish with rocket.

CHICKEN PEPERONATA

Olive oil

4 large chicken thigh fillets, skin on

Salt/Pepper

1 medium red onion, finely sliced

3 capsicum, sliced into thin strips (pref. different colours)

1 tin peeled tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

Chiili flakes (optional)

In a heavy-based frypan heat olive oil and when hot add chicken, skin-side down. Season and brown all over then remove. Drain off excess fat in pan and add onion. Cook, stirring frequently, for several minutes then throw in the capsicum strips and garlic. Continue cooking over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until soft – about ten minutes. Add peeled tomatoes and half a tin of water, herb sprigs and chilli if using. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil then lower heat to a simmer for about 20 mins. Return chicken and juices to pan and continue to simmer for 30 – 40 mins, turning occasionally, or until chicken is cooked through. Check seasoning and serve.

RUSTIC PEACH TART

150g butter

75g icing sugar mixture

1 egg

300g plain flour

5 ripe peaches, washed and cut into wedges

75g raw sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2tsp grated nutmeg

Finely grated zest 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 200C. Place chopped butter, icing sugar and egg in food processor and pulse until combined. Add flour and process until mixture comes together. Turn out dough on to floured surface and gently press together, then wrap in plastic film and rest in fridge for 20 mins. Combine peach wedges, sugar, nutmeg and lemon zest in a bowl and gently toss together. Set aside for 15 mins. Roll out pastry on large sheet of baking paper to a thickness of about 3mm. Lift baking paper and pastry on to baking tray and shape into a rough oval. Pile fruit in centre of pastry, leaving at least an inch around the sides, and use baking paper to lift sides over so the pastry half-covers the fruit, leaving an opening in the centre. Sprinkle over about a tablespoon extra raw sugar and bake 45 – 55 mins or until cooked and golden. Serve with thick cream.

Victoria Cosford’s next classes are at Cooper’s Shoot on April 26, May 3 and June 14.

Cost: $125

To contact her email her on [email protected] or call her on 0400189818, and be warned, the classes fill up quickly.

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‘Samplers’ enjoying the fine weather – and food – at this year’s festival

 Last weekend could not have been more perfect for two of the region’s best-loved festivals, writes Victoria Cosford.  Sample 2014 was the biggest and best yet, and up the road at Currumbin, the scupture festival was – well, just Swell…

Conditions for the fourth annual Sample Food Festival could not have been better. Sunshine tempered with a little light wind ensured the 10,000-plus visitors to the Bangalow Showgrounds maximum comfort with which to abandon themselves to the many food stalls, the live entertainment and the cooking demonstrations. By midday the queues stretched long and wide as punters waited cheerfully for the $5 and $10 tasting plates – peppered figs with grilled kefalograviera from Meraki; pulled pork with sweet chilli salad on a soft bun from 100 Mile Table; potato gnocchi with cavolo nero and pinenuts from the Nomadic Kitchen; steamed pork buns from Hungry Like The Wolf: the culinary choices dazzled, although, as was the case last year, it was J & R Smokehouse and their smoky brisket and pork which stole the crowd honours.

The Chandon tent was a new addition, enabling those who enjoy their bubbles, to settle under umbrellas or on the grass with their flutes. Golden Fork winner for the $5 plate was Town restaurant with its exquisite Japanese-style cheesecake with Davidson plum, quandong and almond crumb, almost too pretty to eat, while the $10 plate award went to Sarah Wheeler’s Puremelt tasting plate of three chocolates, all gluten, sugar and dairy-free.

According to Sample founder and director Remy Tancred, this was her biggest festival yet. The previous day, as a sort of amuse-gueule to the big event, two lunches were offered: a three-course Clean Living one and an Italian Feast. The latter sold out, with 150 diners tucking into a superb four-course menu which included mackerel, white polenta, buffalo mozzarella and tiramisu cooked by local and guest chefs, with guests raving over the deceptively wicked but ultimately wholesome – raw, paleo – bill of fare.

And the best bit? Prevailing throughout both days was a sense almost palpable of sheer joy at a community event attracting all ages and demographic groups and totally devoid of aggression or even bad manners. It seems that food really does have the power to bring people together in harmony.

An entry into this year’s Swell – 250cm high horse made of metal rods.

Meanwhile, an hour north was a different sort of festival, one to nourish the mind and the soul, rather than the body. Currumbin’s annual Swell Sculpture Festival drew huge crowds to a glorious beachfront amble from one artwork to another. The sun blazing down and the backdrop of sheer blue ocean makes this a fabulous feast for the senses. Above the surf club swayed and billowed a vast green octopus, while other highlights included a magnificent 250 centimeter-high horse made of bent and welded steel rods, an ominous group of hooded fiberglass ghosts and the winner, a vast firearm made of recycled steel entitled ‘Keeping Up With the Kalashnikovs’.

Victoria Cosford

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