![]() ![]() Dishes that are not dominated by modern technical tools and prowess but driven by flavour and connection to place. How would you describe your style of cooking? It’s serene, peaceful and except for 2 – 3 months of the year, impossibly green. We have a 25 year old oak tree next to The Field Kitchen building, which is where we have our Reception office for the chalets and the dining room & kitchen that also has a massive wood fired oven. The chalets are in a row, which sit on a ridge that slopes to the south-west, so the views from the chalet balconies take in the fields and the forest. We have a beautiful kitchen garden, lots of chickens & a duck (the fox recently came for the rest…) and Wessex Saddleback pigs. So our property is 19 acres surrounded by the Brockman State Forest, the Gloucester National Park and our neighbour’s avocado orchard. My husband Chris is a cabinetmaker / builder and has built our entire infrastructure, which has been a herculean task! The name Foragers seemed very apt given our location in the Southern Forests region of WA, where there is so much cultivated & yet to be discovered wild food to be foraged for. At the time we weren’t sure how we were going to develop things, but after thinking about our most memorable food experiences on our travels and working out what was going to work from a business and logistical perspective, we decided to build 3 more chalets, upgrade the existing cottages and build a commercial kitchen/dining room that doubled as a small restaurant / cooking school. Aside from a house and 2 sheds, our property had 4 old timber cottages that traded as a budget chalet accommodation business. We moved to Pemberton at the beginning of 2005 with the idea that we could develop a culinary tourism business. How did that come about? And how would you describe what people will find there? Once I realised that food could also be a creative medium similar to working with fibre and clay, I was happy with becoming a chef. I started a cooking apprenticeship when I was 17, so it started early, but my first career preference at the time was textile design. Was it something you’ve always known you wanted to do or did it come later in life? ![]() I’m also fascinated by how food culturally relates to people and place. I know our educated Western social code permits this admission, but I love to eat, which is a fairly strong motivator, but mostly there’s a creative force behind my love of food and cooking. Where did your love of food and cooking come from? I was lucky enough to catch up with Sophie to find out more about her book, Foragers and her magnificent veggie garden. There are a number of stunning, seasonal recipes that will be at home in any kitchen, including the kale and ricotta wraps, the salted caramel butter and a delicious riff on cauliflower cheese. ![]() The photos and recipes in this book are at once inspiring and mouth-watering, and I am determined to make my way over to this part of the world sooner rather than later. I received a free advance copy of Food of the Southern Forests and found it to be a beautiful recipe and food memoir that celebrates the diversity of Sophie’s cooking abilities as well as the wealth of terrific produce available in the region. The Southern Forests are a developing specialty agricultural area known for a wide range of excellent produce including beef, cherries, apples and truffles. In 2005, Sophie and Chris started Foragers – a farm-based cooking school and dining room with self-contained accommodation located in the Southern Forests in the lower south-west of Western Australia. From there she traveled the world pursuing her love of cooking, before returning to Australia and setting up with her partner Chris in Fremantle. Sophie is a South Australian born chef who got her start working in the kitchens of Barossa food icon, Maggie Beer. Food of the Southern Forests is the brand new book by Sophie Zalokar. ![]()
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