Apple & mint chutney (p 63)
RECIPE NOTE: Serve this chutney with roasted pork, beetroot salad or ham sandwiches.
Ginger & pear cake (p 63)
CHEF’S NOTE: “This is one of my favourite cakes. It’s so easy to make, has the best chewy, moist texture and lots of spiced flavour. This can also be made with rhubarb instead of pear.”
Jo Barrett has made a name for herself as a sustainability pioneer, from her work with eco-activist Joost Bakker’s self-sustaining, zero-waste Melbourne house Future Food System to her latest venture, Little Picket in Lorne, Victoria. Here, the chef and her team grow, pick and source much of the restaurant’s hyperseasonal produce in the local Surf Coast Shire. Everything is made in-house, there’s no single-use plastic and the restaurant composts, recycles and reuses all it can on a daily basis.
“Reducing waste is so important to me,” Barrett says. “I don’t want to feel I’m contributing to the problem. I also like the challenge of using everything. It’s creative, and I get to draw on my cooking skills.”
One of the key lessons Barrett learned during her time at Future Food System was the importance of preserving foods.
“Once you’ve made one pickle or preserve, you’ll see just how easy it is,” she says. “I think it’s an exciting way to gain a new skill that can save
