Welcome to Yes, Chef! A monthly newsletter in which food writer Sophie Hansen shines a light on our regional chefs. This week she talks with academic, cook, author and social entrepreneur Rebecca Sullivan.
Cook, author, academic, regenerative farmer, social entrepreneur: these are just a few of Rebecca Sullivan’s roles. She’s also written seven cookbooks, been a “taste curator” for Slow Food Nation in the US, studied in Yale University’s World Fellows program and, more recently, she’s leading Co-Culture Lab, a global fund growing and supporting climate-resilient communities that champion Indigenous knowledge, skills, plants and food.
Her Granny Skills brand aims to protect the skills, heritage and traditions of our elders, and her home base is an off-grid straw bale in the Clare Valley, where she and partner Damien Coulthard and their two children run a 90-acre eco-farm.
Rebecca is prolific and passionate and, at the time we wrote this, is in Hawaii with her family working on a Co-Culture collaboration with First Nations Hawaiians.
Welcome to Galah, Rebecca.
It’s always spag bol. Simple, yes, but it reminds me of home no matter where I eat it. This was a staple family meal for me growing up in country South Australia.
A Victoria sponge cake loaded with jam and cream. My great-grandma Lil was an award-winning baker in the 1930s and famous for her sponge, though I never had the chance to see her make it. After she passed away, Mum gave me a little box of her belongings, which contained a stack of certificates from Women's Own Cookery competitions – all won with her legendary sponge. This discovery became the inspiration for my brand, Granny Skills.
A roast chicken stuffed with butter, garlic, saltbush and native thyme.
Ngadjuri Country, Clare Valley, SA, is home. Why? One word: family.
I actually swore I would never live again in mid-north South Australia after 10 years away in London, but I did full circle and came home. We have two boys, so being close to family has become a priority. We also wanted to live off-grid in the country in native forest, and this was the perfect place.
Strawberry gum. I am in love with it and always have been. This ingredient is usually used as powder (or oi) extracted from the leaves of the Strawberry gum or Eucalyptus olida that grows in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. It’s a super powerful protectant of the microbiome and works well in sweets and savoury recipes - think strawberry gum pavlova (see below) or strawberry gum crackers.
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Right now, my pump-up song is Bodyguard by Beyonce. For chilling out, it’s always Claude Debussy’s piano suite L.75. I played it to both my babies in my belly.
Coffee.
Controversial. I LOVE cake. Sponge every time.
Vermouth or Campari soda.
Pancakes! For me, with sugar and lemon or maple syrup, berries and a tonne of Fleurieu Milk pouring cream. For my son, Mallee, just butter. Dairy is his preference and a lot of it.
What’s more Australian than a pavlova? A pavlova with strawberry gum.
Meringue
Lemon myrtle cream
To decorate
Preheat the oven to 100°C. Use a large bowl about 20-25 cm and trace around the edges with a pencil on baking paper. Turn it upside down on a baking tray so you can see the circle outline.
Start by making the meringue. Place the egg whites, strawberry gum powder, caster sugar, water and vinegar in your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on high (9-10) for 10 minutes.
Pile the meringue into the circle on your baking paper and use the spatula to spread evenly to the edges. You can use an upward motion with a palette knife to decorate the edges and try to get a smooth top to make piling the cream easier. Rough and rustic is also fine.
Bake for 1½ hours. Turn the tray halfway through. When cooked, turn off the oven and let it cool completely in the oven before removing. If not serving within a few hours, wrap in cling wrap or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Whip the cream with the icing sugar and lemon myrtle. Pile on the pavlova and decorate with berries and flowers.
See you all next month for the March instalment of Yes, Chef! And as always, if you know of a regional chef we should profile here, please let us know.
Sophie
