Meet The Producers

Loriendale Orchard: Apples That Taste As Apples Should

by Christine Salins on April 19, 2012

Apples

Loriendale Orchard is nestled in the hills along Springrange Road, just north of Hall on the outskirts of Canberra.

In this picturesque setting, owners Owen and Noreen Pidgeon are dedicated to producing apples that taste like apples should.

Loriendale Apple Day

They first planted fruit for their own consumption. But, impressed with the fine flavour of the fruit and inspired by the discovery that an orchard in the area had supplied a large share of the Canberra market in the post-war years, they decided to set up a “boutique” orchard that would be farmed organically.

Loriendale

About two-thirds of their 1500 trees are apples; the rest are pears (mainly nashi), nuts, cherries, nectarines and other stone fruit.

The apples represent an incredible selection of old and new varieties from around the world, from Cox’s Orange Pippin and Belle de Booscoop, to Snowy, Topaz and Golden Reinette. Their present count is around 110 varieties from 20 countries.

The Pidgeons can often be seen at the Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra when their fruit is in season.

Loriendale Apple Day

For more than 20 years, they have also held an annual Apple Day, an event that has become a Canberra institution.

Loriendale Autumn

Held on what is invariably a glorious autumn day (as it was once again this year), it’s a great opportunity to stock up on heirloom apple varieties, freshly baked apple products and other organic produce and homegrown goods.

Handmade Goods

Apple Day

There are usually long queues and the products sell out fast, but there’s a fun and happy spirit in the air as people picnic on the lawns and local choirs provide entertainment.

Loriendale Apple Day

Many of the apple varieties are available for tasting and it’s wonderful being able to taste them side by side so that you can decide on your favourites.

We fell in love with the Svatava apples, a Czech variety that has a really nice balance of sweetness and tartness.

Apple Tasting We feasted on apple pancakes and came away loaded with apple pies, apple tea cake, dried apple, fresh apples, freshly crushed apple juice, and the Loriendale Orchard Fruits of the Orchard Recipe Book, from which the following recipes come.

Apple Pancakes

The Pidgeons have an old-fashioned apple press and we joined the long queue to take home a two-litre container of their exquisite juice. If you’ve ever experienced the joy of tasting freshly crushed apple juice, you’ll appreciate that it was worth the wait.

Apple Press

More on Loriendale: see my story in PS News.

CHICKEN WITH CIDER, SPICES AND CARAMELISED APPLES*
Serves 4
Apple3 medium apples
500 grams chicken drumsticks
1 tablespoon Chinese five spice
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup raisins
Peel and cores apples. Reserve skins and cut apples into eighths. Coat chicken drumsticks in five spice powder and season with salt and pepper.
Heat butter in frypan and fry apple peels, add chicken drumsticks and brown on both sides then remove from pan and place in large ovenproof dish.
Heat additional butter in the frypan. Dust the apple pieces and onion slices with flour and cook on low heat for 3 minutes.
Then add the vinegar, stock, honey and raisins and continue to cook gently until the mixture is reduced by half, and a rich brown colour, before pouring it over the chicken drumsticks.
Cover the dish and cook in moderate oven 45 minutes until drumsticks are fully cooked. Serve with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables.

*Suggested apple varieties: Royal Gala, Jonathan, Jonagold.

AUSTRALIAN APPLE TEACAKE
2 cooking apples
60 grams butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1½ cups self-raising flour
pinch of salt
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Cream butter, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy; then beat in the egg. Sift flour and salt together. Then fold the flour into mixture alternating with adding portions of the milk. Mix well.
Grease and flour a 20cm sandwich tin. Then spread the mixture into the tin. Place a layer of apple slices on top, arranged in a swirl.
Combine the cinnamon with the extra sugar and sprinkle onto the cake mixture then bake for 45 minutes.

Recipes from: Loriendale Orchard Fruits of the Orchard Recipe Book. 3rd edition.

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Summer Fruit

by Christine Salins on February 20, 2012

Fruit Platter

How good is this platter of luscious summer fruit prepared by Maurie? All ingredients were bought at the Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra (apart from the mint, which came from our garden).

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Honey Delight: Actively Good For You

by Christine Salins on February 14, 2012

Heart-Shaped Honey

This gorgeous honeycomb is from Honey Delight, produced in Canberra by Carmen and Todd Brown. It’s so very apt for a Valentine’s Day post, given that the word honey is a common term of endearment. And honey is such a seductive food – sweet and golden, a nectar transformed by bees in a miracle of nature.

Honey is widely used in many cuisines not only because it tastes great but also because of its nutritional and medicinal properties. ‘Active Honey’ is one that is active against bacteria, but as anyone who regularly buys it knows, honey with antibacterial properties doesn’t come cheap.

The Browns looked at all the manuka honey being brought into Australia from New Zealand and realised that the same species of tree, Leptospermum scoparium, was growing locally.

After extensive testing, they produced their first Active Honey late last year, and the good news is that it is a very keenly priced $20 for 500 grams.

BeesAs far as I know, Honey Delight is the only 15+ honey produced in the Canberra region (or at least, that is labelled as such). It’s another great example of a small regional producer doing something wonderfully innovative.

Carmen Pearce-Brown comes from a family of four generations of beekeepers who have been making honey since 1928, originally in north-west NSW.

Currently studying for her Masters degree at ANU, she became interested in therapeutic honey while doing a thesis on “how to keep well”.

It led her to wonder if the tea tree growing locally – from the same species as the New Zealand manuka – had the same antibacterial properties as the New Zealand product.

Testing by the University of NSW confirmed that their honey had the requisite antibacterial properties for a 15+ rating.

Carmen Pearce-BrownThe Browns sell their Honey Delight products every Saturday morning at the Capital Region Farmers Market, where their customers are keen to hear about the benefits of eating honey.

“We find people are very interested in how honey helps keep them healthy – they ask about the sugar content, the amount of antioxidants in honey, how local honey helps reduce hay fever, and which honey is best for you,” Carmen said.

“Food scientists around the world are uncovering the secrets of honey nutrition, and that means our understanding of how honey helps keep us healthy has come a long way. Having an affordable active honey can take us all in the direction to staying well and feeling more vibrant.”

“We are very excited to have a regionally produced honey that has such important properties. It brings this incredible honey into a price bracket that doesn’t include transport across the Tasman Sea, and the costs associated with import, and that’s going to be good for many people,” she said.

More on Honey Delight: www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com; Honey Delight’s Facebook page.

Honey Delight

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