The secrets of Gerringong goat dairy, Buena Vista, have been made public, with one of the farm's owners ready to discuss the finer details.
Cheesemaker Fiona Weir Walmsley will appear at the True Story Festival at Coledale Community Hall, to share revelations from cheesemaking to home-made delights from her cookbook which has been flying off the shelves.
From Scratch has not only tales from the centuries-old farm but also 200 recipes from pantry essentials to baked goods and other life-affirming kitchen miracles crafted by Fiona - just one of many non-fiction books to be featured at the festival.
"It's quite a big cookbook ... and it comes out of the class we taught the most on the farm, which was 'making food from scratch'," Fiona said.
"It's in its third reprint, so we're really stoked. It's been a real surprise for me, I didn't expect it to go quite so well."
From Scratch entails things like making your own bread and butter, crackers, yoghurt, muffins and scones, cauliflower soup, pickles and tomato chili jam - and "why you'd bother in this world where it's easy to buy cheap food".
"Once you've made sourdough you don't mind paying $9 a loaf for it," Fiona laughed.
Fiona's family have been farmers since 1850 after arriving from Northern Ireland with nothing but dreams and a cooking kettle (it's still on the back verandah) before she and her husband Adam Walmsley took over the legacy and swapped dairy cows for goats.
The current farm may be smaller than the ample acreage of long ago, but it still has a "ridiculously pretty view" over the sea, and an abundance of animals (including dozens of babies to pat), vegetable and herb gardens, fruit trees and a cooking school.
"[We] grow coffee and cut flowers, raise meat chickens, laying hens, bees and pigs (that eat the whey from the cheese room and brewers' grain from a friend's brewery down the hill)," the book opens with.
Cheese lovers, and fans of ferment and preserves may have sampled Buena Vista's produce before, with Fiona and Adam selling their wares at two major markets, selected stores and cafes for several years.
Fiona will be chatting about all things goat dairy farming and her favourite recipes with Nick Rheinberger at the True Story festival.
Other notable names on the lineup of speakers include Wendy Harmer, Indira Naidoo, Chris Masters, Jodi Edwards, Bronwyn Adcock, Jack Manning Bancroft, Eda Gunaydin and Alan Sunderland.
The True Story festival is at Coledale Community Hall across Saturday November 18 and Sunday November 19.
For tickets, and session information, visit: https://events.humanitix.com/truestoryfestival.
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Desiree Savage
I write about arts and entertainment, plus other bits and pieces in between at the Illawarra Mercury.
I write about arts and entertainment, plus other bits and pieces in between at the Illawarra Mercury.
