A social event devoted to potatoes - the world’s most beloved vegetable. Have I just reached the promised land?
The Youth Food Movement is an amazing volunteer organisation which runs food education projects for young people. It aims to build the skills, food knowledge and experience of today’s youth so they can then contribute to creating a food system they believe in.
The event we were lucky enough to head along to in Parramatta was all about the humble spud. The YFM team had also arranged for two special guests on the night which was a lovely surprise. Firstly we got to meet Australia’s favourite gardening beard… yep, that’s right, Costa Georgiadis from ABC’s Gardening Australia! We also had the pleasure to talk to Paul West, one of the hosts from River Cottage Australia on the Lifestyle Channel and a chef with many years experience.
Costa spoke with his trademark passion about the virtues of maintaining a garden and growing your own food. He gave us a masterclass on the different types of soils to use, he’d even bought some of his own in to show us and it looked almost like Christmas pudding – definitely next level dirt!
His infectious energy really got us thinking about where food comes from, and how to appreciate the ingredients in our own kitchens. “Having your own chickens makes you respect your eggs,” says Costa. “Same goes for lemons.”
Next up was Paul, another charismatic food lover who – apart from being a TV host and chef – also runs his own self-sustaining farm. It’s funny to see the contrasting approaches to potatoes the two guys have. Paul showed us his true chef colours on how to prep potatoes (the best take really!), with little regard to things like calories and fat content. He waxed lyrical about goose fat chips and adding quality pancetta to elevate your potato dishes’ wow factor. Costa was on hand to offer up simple and nutritious dishes for more everyday options – he’s not a killjoy though, we all know decadent potato dishes are a sometimes food!
The team at YFM put on a cooking demonstration for us too. Did you know just how easy it is to make a crispy potato pancake on a sandwich press? I sure didn’t, so was surprised at the simplicity. If you’re game, you can even do it on the sandwich press in your office kitchen (just make sure you clean it first, those things are gross!).
All you need to do is grate a whole potato, toss in a little salt and spread it over the base of the sandwich press. The thickness you spread it will determine how crunchy it is when done. That’s the Costa part, now for the Paul part! Grab a butter knife and a generous scoop of butter and rub it all over the top layer of the press. You’ll need to be quick because it’s hot, then close the press and wait for the pancake to brown nicely and get crispy. Once you’ve mastered the basic pancake, you can experiment with mix-ins like fresh herbs or cheese.
After the demonstration, the folks from Nomadic Kitchen put on a delicious buffet spread for dinner. Crispy, classic roast potatoes along with an array of salads and hearty dishes – they’d put into practise all of the things we’d learned that night. Respect your ingredients and you’ll always end up with dishes of a high standard that taste amazing… and potatoes are the kings of the veggie patch (but millions of people globally already know that part).