Welcome Autumn By Matt Fowles
There is something about the Autumn season that makes me think of red wine and wild game. I’m not sure whether it is the cooler mornings, the turning leaves on the vines or the smell of the first fire at home. Any way you look at it, it gets me thinking about heartier food and wine.
There’s also something that happens in the Australian countryside that people don’t often talk about… The bush softens. As the rains start to fall, the harsh nature of the dry and unforgiving Australian scrub, starts to soften. With the softening comes a quiet as you move through the landscape. There’s actually something very peaceful about it. It also makes sourcing food for the table that bit easier…
Our part of the world is wild – very remote, rugged and full of life. We have the most amazing native flora and fauna up our way, but we also have many introduced species that we are compelled to “manage” by the State Government. Instead of poisoning the animals, we like to make use of them and harvest them for the table. We call this ethical hunting and it is an important part of the way we live up here.
A family favourite is hare – one of the most delicious meats in the world. Not to be confused with rabbit which is a white/grey meat, hare is a dark red meat that more closely resembles venison. The way I have often described it to people is that if you took dry-aged beef and put it in a blender with five different types of mushrooms, you would have something that tastes kind of like hare. It is full of flavour, delicious and insanely complex. It’s in my top five which is hotly contested list!
My favourite way to prepare hare is to take the back straps out and roll them up in prosciutto. We call these ‘hare cigars’. I then fry them in a pan with until the prosciutto is all crispy. Take note, however, it is very important that you do not over cook wild meat – because it is lean and dense, if you over cook the meat it becomes tough and dry.
My tip this Autumn…? If you happen to see hare on a menu somewhere, order it!!