“QUITE AN UNATTRACTIVE FOOD, REALLY. BUT OH SO YUMMY. HOMEMADE SAUSAGE ROLLS WITH TOMATO SAUCE. AN AUSTRALIAN KID’S BIRTHDAY PARTY IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT THEM. IF YOU’VE NEVER MADE THEM YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW EASY THEY ARE, PARTICULARLY IF YOU SHORTCUT AND USE STORE-BOUGHT PUFF PASTRY.”
WE HAVE TAUGHT a class called ‘From Scratch’ at our on-farm cooking school for almost 10 years. In a single day, we lead people through how to make sourdough, yoghurt, butter, labneh, biscuits, crackers, jam, pickles and bone broth.
Do I make everything from scratch all the time, or do I think YOU should? Nope and nope. If I didn’t have to work maybe I could… But I don’t think it’s practical or realistic to make everything from scratch all the time, particularly if you’re feeding a family (and particularly if it includes hungry teenagers). Above all things, this book is not supposed to stress you out. It is not written to tell you that you should make all the things all the time in order to subvert capitalism. (Although that’s an excellent idea.) It’s supposed to be a friendly guidebook to encourage you to have a go at making some of the things you might regularly eat. And you never know, once you get going… maybe you’ll never look back.
This is an edited extract from From Scratch
