Fair Food Week

It's Australian Fair Food Week, an initiative of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance to support the People's Food Plan. The week aims to raise awareness about fairness across all aspects of the food system and understand our food supply from paddock to plate.

There are events all across Australia during the week giving people the opportunity to talk to chefs, suppliers and farmers about where their food comes from.

Celebrate fair and sustainable produce and educate yourself. Here are my event picks for the week:

Edible Streets Tour of West End Saturday 24th August lead by Dick Coperman of Northey Street City Farm identifying foods, fungi, weeds and other functional plants available in our urban landscape.

Food Connect, a local distributor of seasonal produce, is running a farm tour of two of their suppliers in the Lockyer Valley - raw honey by Phil and Robyn Dunlop and  Rob Bauer and Trude Townson's certified organic farm growing a wide range of vegetables.

Garden Dinner Society, Morningside Starry Night Dinner. This is a fantastic opportunity to eat and share food from a local community garden! Tukka head Chef, Bryant Wells well prepare a fine dining experience for a handful of guests 25th August with produce from the community garden and Tukka's  native Australian plant garden.

Check out the Fair Food website for more community events, films and informative talks. And why not visit your local markets this weekend for your fresh fruit and vegetables.

Whey Bread

I've been making fresh cheese including Feta and Haloumi for some time now but have struggled with a use for all the leftover whey, which seems so wasteful. I've been researching some ideas including making whey ricotta, using it in your hair and feeding it to your pet!

My favourite option is to use it in baking as a substitute for water or milk. This is my go to quick easy bread recipe using leftover whey.

Quick Whey Bread

1 1/2 cups fresh whey (I freeze mine in batches)

2 tsp honey

pinch of rock salt

1 packet dry yeast

2 cups of whole wheat flour

2 cups of plain unbleached white flour

In a mixing bowl combine room temperature whey, honey, yeast and salt.

Add flours cup by cup and stir, no need to sift. Once it becomes hard to stir start kneading on a clean floured surface. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky but be careful not to add too much otherwise the bread will become dense.

After careful kneading for about 5-10 mins, shape and place into an oiled baking dish. I like to sprinkle some flour on top and make some deep cuts with a knife for a rustic look. You could also sprinkle with some poppy or pumpkin seeds. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 45 mins to 1 hr.

Bake in a moderate oven for 30 mins. Easy!