Maybe it’s the sunshine instead of rain ( for now), or Australia’s change of government, or that I have that tsunami of relief and satisfaction that comes with having finished writing a big feature story, but I am unaccountably happy to be out and about right now. And grateful, when so many I know are at home with Covid.

So let’s get cracking.

FORAGING IN CANBERRA

A quick trip to our capital city in time to see the Jeffrey Smart exhibition at the NGA (powerful, invincible diagonals, great humour). Loved Onzieme, with its Euro wine bar sensibility and instinctual, natural cooking that’s a snapshot of the season, almost to the day. And always adore immersing myself in the hospitable warmth of Bacaro, the back bar to Italian & Sons - now with their own Regina beer, made with Canberra’s Bentspoke Brewing Co from their sourdough pizza culture. Also had a mighty dish of wild and cultivated mushrooms at Pavilion Dining at Pialligo Estate, where incoming exec chef Mark Glenn, formerly of Cumulus Inc in Melbourne, is killing it. Very clean, beautiful food that - it’s a very Canberra thing - is super-sensitive to the seasons.

Note to self: Stop at Some Cafe in Collector on every trip to Canberra, for a slab of the truly majestic date and nut loaf.

ARTHUR BOYD ART AND MORTADELLA SANDWICHES

People, you need to get yourselves to Bundanon, to share in the magic that is the Arthur Boyd art museum and wildlife sanctuary. It’s a very special, almost sacred space, in a hushed valley pinned together by a most beautifully built bridge that houses workrooms, studios and dormitories. “We locals think of it as our MONA” confides the woman at the next table.

The current exhibition is eclectic and I’m not sure I got it, but the next one is Boyd’s landscapes, as of July 2, which I will need to get back for.

Carve out some time for Bundanon’s Ramox café, in the hands of local-boy-returneth Douglas Innes-Will, whose cooking I last enjoyed at Brisbane’s GOMA restaurant. Not only does he make a fine mortadella sandwich, he knows how to put a salad together so that everything is good mates with everything else – see pic below for proof. Pray for a day in which you can sit out on the covered terrace, drink a glass of Cupitt’s Estate wine, and enjoy using the Shoo-Fly, a clever little battery-op device that makes flies buzz off.

RICK STEIN AT BANNISTER’S: TWO GOOD.

Bannisters Mollymook has long been a high point of the Shoalhaven and South Coast regions, so I was extremely happy to host their first non-cancelled Long Table Lunch for a long time, for the Two Good Foundation. Thank you to all who came to listen to the Two Good story, and who were able to support their work in supporting women in domestic violence refuges and shelters, and helping them change the course of their lives, by buying a cookbook.

[That’s a damn good cook book, by the way. The chefs involved have outdone themselves by not being cheffy, but it’s the recipes from the Two Good chefs (Jen Shaw, Pru Basser, Ivan Alurac and, for this book, Jane Strode) that are actually the highlight – EXACTLY the sort of things you want to cook right now.]

Tip: Hit up Gwylo in Mollymook for great cocktails and a twisty Asian menu from pork belly bao to miang khum, with a whacko potato with cashew cream and mee goreng sauce that I have to have again.

Thanks to the team at Rick Stein at Bannisters, you made it easy. Left to right: Pastry chef Jean-Charles Sommer, Terry, Moi, Exec chef Remi Lachiaille, and Mr Make-It-Happen, GM Rupert Sakora.

PIE STOP.

Another note to self: Stop at Milton’s Heritage Bakery for a traditional beef mince pie that will take you back to your childhood. Good gravy, good pastry - buy it cold and reheat at home to have with greens and a glass of red wine.

QUINCE, REVISITED.

For those who wanted a galette recipe for their quinces ( to use up what you made from last week’s recipe) or other winter fruits such as apples and pears, I refuse to give you a proper weighed and measured and timed one, because galettes should be as rough-as-guts and made in a hurry because you should really be out and about.

Just do this:

Thaw a square of puff pastry and cut it roughly into a round. Crush up whatever nuts are in the cupboard - I used walnuts, macadamias and almonds - and scatter them over the base. Drain your quinces and arrange on top, leaving a border. Brush the edges with beaten egg, and fold-and-crimp, fold-and-crimp the edges into a border that comes up over the fruit but leaves the centre open (for steam to escape). Scatter with granulated sugar and flaked almonds and bake at 220C conventional for 20 minutes - or more (it’s great when it all congeals and scorches). In the meantime, boil a cup of the poaching syrup down to very syrupy, and spoon over the top to serve.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to subscribe for more Jill Dupleix Eats in your inbox every Thursday. And special thanks to my right-hand man, Terry Durack, for - and this was just yesterday - joining me in eating oysters for two hours from 4pm to 6pm then going out for cocktails, then heading off to try a new wagyu ramen joint, and (when not blown away by it), sneaking into Sokyo instead for nigiri sushi, then finishing the night at a little table outside the Piccolo Bar in King’s Cross. May we forever ‘gather flowers from a galloping horse’.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s about time, folks.

Jill Dupleix Eats

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